XVI. 

 BIRDS OF THE SPICE ISLANDS. 



>U have heard many times of the Spice 

 Islands. The name brings with it the 

 idea of fragrance and of beauty. Here 

 grow the clove, the cinnamon, the nut- 

 meg, and all the precious spices of the East. 



And here also we come upon a splendid array 

 of birds and insects, such as are rarely met with 

 even in the Tropics. 



Here the Parrots abound in vast numbers, and 

 are much sought after. But' the native does not 

 lay his snare for them in order to teach them to 

 talk, or to sell them to the European, so much as 

 for another reason. The small Parrakeets that 



