The Queen of the Jungle commanded this blog's attendance at yet another garden party for Larry the Cussing Lorikeet . Larry , a real party animal , in a wolf-whistling mood , brought along a supply of honey and water, his version of mead , popular with mad monks in bygone ages , to wet his whistle .
He arrived in his cage, carried by his owner, maritime skipper, cruising yacht artist , Jenn Payne , of Mission Beach , once named by American songwriter , actor and author , Jimmy Buffett as Australia's No. 1 Parrot Head . The cage , naturally , contained one of Larry's Purple People Eater triangular nests in which he sleeps. Sometimes he has a sip of rum or home brew beer as a nightcap .
Out of the cage , he hopped about the Queen's pad , where he had spent many months as a guest in the past , inspecting every nook and cranny , nibbling here and there , shredding , at times firmly ordered to stop by her majesty . Climbing onto the table , he eyed off the German biscuits and cakes the Queen had provided, offered her a kiss if she poured him a honey hit .
A bit of a lad , perhaps in need of a visit to SpecSavers , he chatted up a cute toy Curlew , below .
Nothing missed his close attention, including the cup into which teabags were placed. Jenn revealed that Larry had a narrow squeak at Mission Beach , a python found on his cage . While the party progressed, Larry repeatedly ran through his vocabulary, which includes, Bugger! . There were frequently imitations of a telephone ringing , which Jenn said was the exact sound of a phone some friends had in Cairns who looked after him 10 years ago .
Later this year , Larry will sail to the Gold Coast to attend a Buffett Parrot Head Party and will no doubt pick up more interesting new sounds and squeals during the partying . His portrait features on a painted coconut showing him sipping a Buffett Margarita , a drink which ageing Buffett no longer favours because of the sugar content . Tequila is now his slurp of the day at sunset .
