52



Mr. Philip H. Bahr,



They appear to have become thoroughly acclimatized and

feel the cold very little. Their food in captivity consists solely

of millet seed, and they require plenty of water for drinking and

bathing.


Calliptilus solitarius, the Fijian Tory, the “Kula”of the

natives, and no doubt mis-named solitarius, because it is always

seen in parties, and never singly, flying and screaming about the

cocoanut palms. In Mongooseland it is becoming extremely

rare and confines its range to belts of high trees and low lying

swampy places, where it is free from the attentions of this pre¬

dacious little animal.


It is extremely abundant in some of the smaller islands,

notably Kadavu and Taveuni. Possessed of the most magnificent

plumage of scarlet and green with an erectile Elizabethian ruff,

it has every quality of becoming a charming pet.


On enquiry I learned that no success had attained any

efforts to keep them in captivity. They were said to become

very tame, but that they never lived long and died in convulsions

without any previous warning. The diet recommended was

mummy apple (pawpaw), honey or sugar water. In their wild

state they appear to feed mostly on the flowers of the cocoa-nut

palm. I quite despaired of procuring any to experiment with.

No one in the colony had any for sale; advertisements in the

local papers and appeals to the natives were unattended by any

success. In November I despatched my native assistant “Jesse”"

to his own island to see what he could do. He brought back

three young specimens of Pyrihulopsis splendens , and one adult

“ Kula,” which the natives had caught as it emerged from its.

nesting-hole. This was a magnificent specimen, but it entirely

refused to feed in captivity.


On a visit to the island of Taveuni in Dec., 1910, I was more

fortunate; one of the planters there is an ardent aviculturist

and knew of a number of nesting-holes of this species. He had,

however, not had much success himself with this species in cap¬

tivity. These holes were situated low down in dead stumps

which had been left in his cocoa-nut plantation. An opening

had been cut away opposite the nest and cleverly closed up

with stones. This site was, in the majority of cases, on a level



