74 MALACCA PARRAKEET. 



The home of the Parrakeet is in the very heart of 

 the Tropics a district or country full of beautiful 

 birds and radiant insects. I mean the peninsula of 

 Malacca. There are Trogons, in their rich costume, 

 and with their crimson breasts. There is the curious 

 " Rain-bird," clad in black and maroon, and with 

 white stripes and a bill intensely blue. There are the 

 Toncans, with their immense bills, which look so 

 heavy, but in reality are so light, and carried with 

 such ease. There are brilliant Kingfishers, some 

 of which dart about like a flame of fire. The 

 Kingfishers, I must tell you, have some relations 

 in the islands close by, that are never found near 

 the water. Two of their tail-feathers are im- 

 mensely long, and spread out at the end like a 

 spoon. The birds are called Kinghunters, to dis- 

 tinguish them from their neighbours that live 

 upon fish. They do not eat fish, but they feed on 

 snails and insects. The Kinghunter spies its prey 

 on the ground, as it sits watching on some branch 

 of a tree. It gives the same sudden dart or swoop 

 that the Kingfisher does, and rarely fails of its 

 object. 



