52 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 
than one sense, and which satisfied, as a cooling 
drink or a rare, delicious fragrance satisfies. A 
medium-sized, stocky bird flew with steady wing- 
beats over the jungle, in black silhouette against 
the sky, and swung up to an outstanding giant 
tree which partly overhung the edge of my clear- 
ing. The instant it passed the zone of green, it 
flashed out brilliant turquoise, and in the same 
instant I recognized it and reached for my gun. 
Before I retrieved the bird, a second, dull and 
dark-feathered, flew from the tree. I had 
watched it for some time, but now, as it passed 
over, I saw no yellow and knew it too was of real 
scientific interest to me; and with the second bar- 
rel I secured it. Picking up my first bird, I 
found that it was not turquoise, but beryl; and a 
few minutes later I was certain that it was aqua- 
marine; on my way home another glance showed 
the color of forget-me-nots on its plumage, and 
as I looked at it on my table, it was Nile green. 
Yet the feathers were painted in flat color, with- 
out especial sheen or iridescence, and when I 
finally analyzed it, I found it to be a delicate cala- 
mine blue. It actually had the appearance of a 
too strong color, as when a glistening surface re- 
flects the sun. From beak to tail it threw off 
