Bii'ds of the Fiji Islands. 139 



vain, till what we had taken for the gorgeous tints of a dying 

 leaf, suddenly sprang to another bough. The '^ coachman " 

 tried to start his horses again ; and at every '' chuck " the 

 " gorgeous orange " jerked up and down in the oddest manner. 

 It was Chrysana victor of Gould, in all his glory ! which 

 in a few moments fell like an orange-and-gold ball headlong 

 to the ground. 



Brethren of the B. 0. U. (I know you can rejoice with me 

 over the acquisition of a rare bird of beautiful colours and 

 strange appearance), picture to yourselves our delight as we 

 handled the brilliant Orangebird, with the sun-light gleaming 

 through its golden wings, and lighting up the emerald-green 

 of its bill and feet, and of the cere round the yellow-buflf eye, 

 now closing, alas ! in death. 



We *' lifted [him] up tenderly,'^ stroked the smooth fea- 

 thers of the strangely- coloured head, and recalled the moment 

 when Mr. Gould exhibited the first specimen in the rooms of 

 the Zoological Society. How little did I dream that I should 

 be the first, perhaps the only one, of those present who gazed 

 on the beautiful bird, to shoot it in its native haunts. We 

 think of friends far away, till " Pretty " recalls us to Taviuni 

 and the woods with a tug at the sleeve, and the magic word 

 " Manu-manu ;" and there, within easy range, with drooping 

 wings and uplifted tail, swinging in the loop of a pendent 

 liana, a jet-black bird, that at once reminded us of the Indian 

 Robin {Thamnobia fulicata) , jerked itself from side to side, 

 while it progressed by short leaps up the liana. As I thrust 

 a cartridge into the breech of my gun, the bird darted ofi" 

 through the trees, exposing to my astonished gaze the ex- 

 quisite white satin patch that adorns the tail of Lamprolia 

 victoria ! 



Before my trip was over, many a sable beauty lay in my 

 hand ; and probably my first acquaintance was one of them, 

 as we found them, though distributed, pretty local, and at- 

 tached to certain spots. My son and I usually brought home 

 a row of birds, numbering from sixteen to twenty or more, 

 pendent from a long stick, carefully carried by " Pretty," and 

 shaded from the sun or rain by a long banana-leaf. After an 



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