108



On sunbirds in their native haunts.



whilst I sat still and admired. When, to my regret, I had to go

home and leave them, the little birds followed me for a while and

then disappeared. This is the sunbird of the rocks.


In Port Elizabeth I made the acquaintance of a fourth species

of sunbird ( Cinnyris amethystinus) . This bird is larger than either

Cinnyris chalybeus or Anthrobaphes violacea, and of a heavier

build. It is a living gem, like the birds described ; it is of a shining

velvety black with a metallic green cap and a metallic purple throat.

It flies in a straight line, uttering sharp shrieks, reminding one of

our kingfisher at home when he flies.


In Port Elizabeth I saw this bird for the first time in a villa

garden, and, later on, I saw several in a park at Mossel Bay. This

park is against the slope of a mountain. Part of it has been planted

but the greater part contains its natural vegetation, and it is full of

interesting birds. In this last part the protea bushes were quite

numerous and full of flowers, and, at the time of my visit, there

was a nice gathering of sunbirds. The double-banded one was

there, of course, and then, from different directions, black ones

would come to drink from the sugar-water of the flowers, sitting on

the edge as on a cup. Some were in colour and some were partly

grey. Also Malachite sunbirds ( Nectarinia famosa) would come to

feast. This is a largish bird in a wonderful shining green and black

dress, with two very much lengthened tail-feathers. I met with this

same bird near Oudhshor'ra, the great ostrich-hreeding place, and

one could find it amongst the flowering bushes along the roads.

Near the Cango Caves in the Zwarte bergen in this same district

the Malachite sunbird was quite a common sight.


Along the road grew tall meagre-looking slender bushes with

long pale, yellow pipe flowers, so-called “wild tobacco trees.” 3 n front

of the flowers of these bushes the birds would hover like a humming¬

bird, the slender stems not allowing them to perch on them.


A sixth species of sunbird I met in Natal around Durban.

The town is surrounded by low thick woods, which grow against

the mountain side, and Mr. Casey, the director of the Durban

Zoological Gardens, was my kind guide, to find me open spaces

where it was likely to meet with birds. In those open spaces of the

wood I often saw a metallic green sunbird (Anathrephes collaris)



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