MALACCA PARRAKEET. 75 



The rarest and most beautiful of the Kinghunters 

 is called the Racquet-tailed Kingfisher, and lives 

 in the island of Amboyna. Its red bill and white 

 breast, and deep purple wings, and blue spots, 

 give it a lovely appearance. It bears the palin of 

 beauty even here, where Nature is so profuse of 

 colour, and seems never weary of decorating bird, 

 insect, and flower. 



Here, too, in Malacca, are found our friends 

 the Cuckoos, in dresses of green and brown, and 

 rejoicing in perpetual summer. And in the thickest 

 part of the forest a Pheasant, called the Great 

 Argus Pheasant, runs along the ground ; but is 

 seldom seen, and rarely caught. 



