Purple f^uvhirrff!. 41 



were in very foir pluma.ijo, tho rook poinp: out of colour. For 

 the firsl. two o^ three weeks T hai them eageri in the inner 

 eompartment oi' my hea'erl aviary, 1>ut they were not very 

 happy and spei^t their time ei^hor in tryin.s: 'to q;oi out or in 

 quarrelling, so oiio fine f'av T look mv onu-agr' in both hands 

 and opened fli-^ rage door. Thoy wove out in a fla^^h and 

 two minutes lifoi' wore dispo.-' i'l'r thfmsolvos in tho 'opou 

 night. Pi'osoplly tho oook bui'st into song, tho first timo 

 I had hoard liiin ;ind tlioui^'li T had road of tho volume of 

 sound this tiny oroaturo can pro luce, I was thoroughly as- 

 tonished at its power and sweetness. From that moment, the 

 Sunhirds made thomselvos thoroughly at homo. They chose 

 favourite twig- and porohod on thom and kopt unremitting 

 watch for inserts. A largo pear tree and a small apple tree 

 are close to tho ond of their flight, and whon in flower 

 these attract o largo number of flies, gnats, and other in - 

 sects, and vor^- few of those escaped the Sunbirds. Tt was 

 most interesting to watch them hawking, hovering and turn- 

 inn in the air after their in-ey. and when they hail cani-dit it. 

 returning to their chosen twig to watch for another victim. 

 Often their caotures were so minute that I could only tell 

 that they had been successful by seeing them swallow. The 

 staple food provided for them is run honey mi^:ed with Nestle's 

 condensed milk, the cheap white grapes sold by grocers, ripe 

 pears in season and now-and-then a little sponcre cake. They 

 are by no means very particular, and dip their beaks into 

 anything that seems promising. They are very fond of the 

 '"green fly," vdiich so infested the fruit trees last summer, 

 and would (doa- a twig of these pests with wonderful rapidity 

 and thoroughness. Tt was a 'grea*^ joy to them when I brought 

 my sweeping-net into thoiv aviary and gradually allowed its 

 contents to escape: they would perch on a twig close by and 

 hawk and snap to their heart's content. Fresh ant's eggs did 

 not appeal to thom, but they took very kindly to wasp grubs 

 in the comb, treating the luckless grubs as they do grapes, 

 viz., piercing the skin and surking up the contents. What 

 surprised me more, was to And them fond of young green 

 peas; they would quirklv demoMsh a whole pod full leaving 

 only the emptv skin. The peas must be quite young or 

 their skins are too tough for the Sunbirds to pierce. An- 



