SUN-BIRDS 187 



it digs up the ground in search of roots and often does much 

 damage to plantations. The hunting of the wild boar is a 

 favourite sport with the Malagasy of certain districts, and 

 Europeans who have joined in the hunt have found it an exciting 

 sport, with a distinct element of danger, for the beast, when 

 infuriated, is a formidable animal from its long and powerful 

 tusks. Some naturalists are of opinion that there are two 

 distinct species of this river-hog, one found in the upper forest, 

 and the other on the coast and the lower forest region ; of these, 

 the latter is the larger animal. 



Turning now from boars to birds. Many of the Madagascar 

 birds are by no means deficient in the power of producing sweet 

 sounds of a very pleasing character and in considerable variety 

 of note ; and there are some few whose song has even been 

 considered to resemble that of our European nightingale. 

 Although in the cold season there are comparatively few birds 

 seen or heard, yet it is not so in the warmer months, or in the 

 lower forest all through the year. Staying near the upper forest 

 in the month of December 1884, we sat down on the margin of a 

 stream, enjoying greatly the beauty of the woods and especially 

 the singing of the birds. Never before had I heard in a Mada- 

 gascar forest so many different notes, or so constant a sound of 

 bird life. Besides this, there was the low undertone of water 

 over the rapids some little distance away and the hum of insects. 

 It was a great enjoyment just to sit and listen, and see the birds 

 as they flew around us. Among these were the Sdikely, a 

 species of sun-bird, a very little fellow, who sat on the topmost 

 point of a bare branch. There are three species of Nectarinidae 

 found in the island, one of which, the glittering sickle-billed 

 sun-bird (Neodrepanis coruscans), belongs to a genus peculiar 

 to Madagascar. Many of the birds of this family rival, in the 

 Old World, the gem-like and metallic tints of the humming- 

 birds of the New World, and this is true of those found here. 

 M. Pollen observes of them that they live in flocks, and all day 

 long one sees them darting about the flowering shrubs, sucking 

 with their long tongue the nectar which forms their principal 

 food. Their song is long, very agreeable, but little varied, and 

 they have the habit of suspending themselves by their claws 

 from the small branches. The male bird of one species has 

 metallic tints of purple, green, red and yellow. The other 



