6 Mr. A. Haaguer on tlte Protective 



time as the mimosas shed their leaves, both assuming a 

 general brown tint, the bird thus still retaining its assimilative 

 coloration. The females are of a brown colour at all seasons, 

 which naturally renders them — w'inter and summer — incon- 

 spicuous amongst the branches o£ trees. 



I can also speak from experience regarding the Black 

 Sunbird (C. ametliystinus), having had the good fortune to 

 watch many, both in the gardens of Johannesburg, and 

 amongst its natural scrub on Modderfontein. I can do no 

 better than quote Dr. Stark's words : — ". ... so closely does 

 the nearly black plumage of C. aviethystimis assimilate in 

 colour with the dark naked branches of the tree, that as long 

 as the bird is still it is not easily distinguished on its perch."" 

 This I can fully substantiate. One instance, that of a young 

 male in the " Brown," is perhaps worth quoting. In my 

 Journal, under date (September 3rd, .1899, I find : — " While 

 strolling through an orchard I heard the plaintive ' peep ' of 

 a Sunbird, so I halted and crept under the tree from whence 

 the sound emanated. I searched the branches carefully, 

 and finally traced the call to a certain twig. I then climbed 

 the tree cautiously, but look as I would I could not locate the 

 bird amongst the twigs and blossoms, although as soon as I 

 remained quiet it continued uttering its cry. I was beginning 

 to lose patience when the bird moved, changing its position, 

 and only tlien I saw it^ wondering at the same time why I 

 had not done so sooner." Mrs. Barber also relates the 

 following of this species : — " The Black Sunbird is never 

 absent from that magnificent forest tree the ' Kaffir-boom ' 

 {Erythrina caffra) ; all day long the cheerful notes of these 

 birds may be heard amongst its spreading branches, yet the 

 general aspect of the tree, which consists of a large mass of 

 scarlet and purplish-black blossom without a single green 

 leaf, blends and harmonizes with the colours of the Black 

 Sunbird to such an extent that half a dozen of them may be 

 feeding amongst its blossoms without being conspicuous or 

 even visible." 



