30 THE BIEDS OF THE FIJI ISLANDS. 



altitude of 800 or 1000 feet above the level of the sea. The lower portion 

 has evidently at some time been felled and cultivated, but is now covered 

 with a second growth of timber. This, though of fair size, contained little 

 to interest us — now and then a stray ' Orange Dove/ in the young or green 

 plumage. As we ascended the range the timber became finer, and young 

 ' Orange Doves ' became more plentiful. 



"As we hunted about, an odd chuckling sound, like a coachman starting 

 his horses, was heard ; and ' Pretty ' (the Laconi boy), knowing what we 

 wanted, excitedly whispered ' Manu-raanu dum-dum,' which is, being inter- 

 preted, ' the red bird.' 



" We dived into the ' bush ' after the boy, w^ho peered up into the green 

 leaves ; suddenly he stopped, beckoned excitedly, whispering ' Manu-manu 

 dum-dum ' in a rapid voice, and pointed upwards. We gazed in vain, till 

 what we had taken for the gorgeous tint of a dying leaf suddenly sprang to 

 another bough. The ' coachman ' tried to start his horses again ; and at 

 every 'chuck' the 'gorgeous orange' jerked up and down in the oddest 

 manner. It was CJirysoena victor of Gould, in all his glory ! which in a few 

 moments fell like an orange-and-gold ball headlong to the ground. 



''Brethren of the B. O. U. (I know you can rejoice with me over the 

 acquisition of a rare bird of beautiful colours and strange appearance), 

 picture to yourselves our delight as we handled the brilliant Orangebird, 

 with the sunlight gleaming through its golden wings, and lighting up the 

 emerald-green of its bill and feet, and of the cere round the yellow-bufi^ eye, 

 now closing, alas ! in death. 



" We ' lifted [him] up tenderly,' stroked the smooth feathers of the 

 strangely coloured head, and recalled the moment when Mr. Gould exhibited 

 the first specimen in the rooms of the Zoological Society. How little did I 

 dream that I should be the first, perhaps the only one, of those present who 

 gazed on the beautiful bird, to shoot it in its native haunts," 



Again, p. 151: — 



" This gorgeous Dove is the glory of the forest of Taviuni, and, I now 



