CHAPTER XI 



FOREST SCENES 



ANYONE who has stayed near the upper forest during 

 December or January, and has quietly watched for 

 a short time among the trees, will not complain of 

 scarcity of bird life to admire and study. The beautiful 

 creatures will come and alight all around us, if we only remain 

 perfectly still, seeking their food as they hop on the ground, or 

 flutter from branch to branch. We may watch their nests and 

 see their eggs, and then the newly fledged birds, noting from 

 day to day how they develop ; until one morning the nest is 

 empty, for its little inmates have found out their power of wing, 

 and have left it to set up for themselves and add another little 

 company to the tenants of the forests. It may be truly said 

 that the note of one bird or another is never silent at this time 

 of the year all day long, while some are heard also at night. I 

 remember especially watching one of the two species of goat- 

 sucker, which are found here : for although it is called Matdri- 

 dndro, or " day-sleeper," from its nocturnal habits, it may be 

 seen in shady places at midday ; its beautifully mottled shades 

 of brown and grey giving it, no doubt, protection, from their 

 resemblance to its surroundings. They have the habit of rising 

 from a slight elevation straight into the air ; then they let 

 themselves suddenly fall, to resume their ordinary mode of 

 flight. It will also fly along the paths, permitting one to 

 approach it again and again, and when flying it reveals the 

 black and white colouring under the wings. They feed ex- 

 clusively on nocturnal insects, chiefly moths and beetles. 



While speaking of the birds of the ulterior, one must not 

 forget the owls, of which six or seven species are known in 

 Madagascar ; two of these, the scops owl and the barn owl, are 

 tolerably plentiful. The last-mentioned appears to be exactly 

 identical with the almost world-wide and well-known bird of 

 that name. As among most other peoples, the owl is regarded 



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