A CAPE CART JOURNEY. 31 



famosa {Le sucrier malachitte of Le Vaillant), with 

 its rich green coat, black wings and tail, bright 

 yellow sides and lengthened tail feathers. Le 

 Vaillant's name, " Le sucrier,'" is an apt enough one, 

 for all these birds are passionately fond of " sweets," 

 and obtain their sugary supplies from various flowers 

 — and in particular the proteas — by means of their 

 peculiarly long brush - tipped tongues. Another 

 specimen proved to be the Nectarinia violacea (the 

 Soui mango, orange of Le Vaillant), a bird of truly 

 beautiful colouring. The head and shoulders are 

 wholly of a bright green, breast a rich violet, back, 

 wings, and tail dull brownish-green, the stomach of a 

 magnificent orange ; altogether a very notable bird, 

 even in this land of gorgeous, but too often songless, 

 feathered prodigies. The Nectarinia violacea is 

 decidedly scarcer than its congener the Famosa. 

 Another sun-bird shot during this journey, a day or 

 two earlier, was the Nectarinia afra, distinguished 

 by Le Vaillant as Le sucrier a plastron rouge. The 

 painting of this bird is striking. The breast, back, 

 and head are darkish green, slightly interspersed 

 with blue and bronze ; the wings and tail are 

 brown. At the foot of the breast there is a thin 

 blue ring, or band, and beneath that a much broader 

 one of red (the plastron), which nearly covers the 

 stomach, and there are brilliant side feathers of 

 yellow, as in Nectarinia famosa. We could not 

 sufficiently admire these striking birds, and presently 

 went on our way rejoicing. Later on they were 

 skinned and prepared in a rough way — sufficiently, 

 at all events, to preserve the plumage. 



At mid-day, or shortly before, we outspanned for 

 dinner or lunch — which you will — at a farmhouse 



