THE FLAME-TREE'S VISITORS 123 



so feeble and faint as to be inaudible a few yards off. 

 Patience and stillness are the price of it. And with a 

 squeak in chorus the choir disperses, to meet and sing 

 again in a few minutes in another part of the reddening tree. 



" MOOR-GOODY " 



Aptly imitating its most frequent note, blacks have given 

 the name of" Moor-goody," to a sedate little bird rarely seen 

 away from the jungle, and then only in the shadiest of bushes. 

 Many of the birds are distinguished and named in accordance 

 with their notes. " Wung-go-bah " describes the noisy pitta ; 

 " Wee-loo " the stone plover ; " Coo-roo " the tranquil dove ; 

 " Piln-piln " the large-billed shore plover ; " Kim-bum-broo " 

 the fasciated honey-eater ; " Calloo-calloo " the manucode ; 

 41 Go-bidger-roo " the varied honey-eater, and so on. 



" Moor-goody " (shrike thrush) has the most tuneful and 

 mellow call of all, and in obedience to the general law 

 which forbids beauty to sweet-voiced birds, is soberly clad 

 in two shades of brown, cinnamon the breast, dust the 

 back. But it is of graceful form, and soft of flight as a 

 falling leaf; the eyes are large and singularly tender and 

 expressive. Often terminating in a silvery chirrup, the 

 note, varied with melodious chuckles and gurgles of lulling 

 softness, is exceedingly pleasing, the expression of a bird of 

 refinement, content and sweet temper. Coming at frequent 

 intervals from the jungle or the heart of the mango trees or 

 acalypha bushes, and wheresoever foliage is thickest, the 

 sound is always welcome, as it tells of some of the most 

 desirable features of the tropics quiet, coolness, and the 

 sweet security of shade. It tells, too, of the simple life 

 spent in seclusion in contradistinction to the "envious 

 court " of the roysterers in the glare of the leafless flame-tree. 



THE FLAME-TREE'S VISITORS 



A final note in reference to the flame-tree may be per- 

 mitted. As it is the popular rendezvous during September, 



