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My Sunbirds' Aviary.



breasted Sunbird (Cinnyris leucogaster or Talatala ) it was necessary

for the birds, after capture, to be conveyed across the Transvaal

Yeldt for six wearisome weeks in a rough waggon ; then followed a

five days’ journey in the train to the coast, and, lastly, the three

weeks sea journey home. Yet some even of those reached these

shores in almost faultless condition, and to my mind this speaks

well, not only for the well-known “pluck” and determination to

live, which forms an interesting feature of these apparently frail

birds, but also proves the care and diligent attention bestowed upon

them by those to whom I owe so many of my finest and rarest

specimens. Cinnyris mariquensis , like most of the genus, rejoices in a

rather short tail, but his garment on the back, head and upper throat

is of cloth of gold—old gold, shining with almost every metallic hue

as the light strikes him ; his mantle is deep black, his rump blue; a

band of sapphire encircles his gorget, and below there is another

band of scarlet — truly a bird of the sun. He has a pretty song, too,

though not so sweet as the Malachite, and this is heard at its best

when he challenges another male, for this species is particularly

pugnacious, and it is almost impossible to cage two together in a

small enclosure.


A pretty sight is to watch all these birds when it has been

possible to obtain for them some branches of Honeysuckle, Big'nonia,

Lethoea, or other flowers containing nectar. Some of them will

perch on the blooms, twisting backwards and forwards into every

conceivable position and attitude. Others, the Malachite for in¬

stance, enjoy hovering over the blooms, after true humming birds’

fashion, all plunging their long beaks into the very heart of the

flowers in order to extract the honey by means of their flexible

tongue. But they can also take solid food in the way of small

insects—spiders, flies, green fly, etc., when in season — though in a

few cases the mixture seems to be much more relished. Nearly all

will also eat fruit, large pieces of the moistened sponge cake, like

the Sugar-birds. As this is rather fattening, and one must beware

of fits with all these genera, I find it necessary to dose all at times

with a pinch of sulphate of soda dissolved in the syrup.


To conclude these few notes, I will say that besides the great

beauty of most representatives of the Sunbirds’ family, besides their



