OHAP. XXXI J THE KINQ-Smn. 



443 



thought they could get some. Thej^ explained that they 

 shoot the birds with a bow and arrow, the arrow leaving a 

 conical wooden cap fitted to the end as lai'ge as a teacup, 

 so as to kill the bird by the violence o"f the \Ao\y without 

 making any wouud or siieddiug any blood. The trees 

 frequented by the birds are very lofty ; it is therefore 

 necessary to eriict a small leafy covering or hut anumg the 

 branches, to which the hunter mounts before daylight in 

 the morning and remiiius the whole day, and whenever a 

 bird alights they are almost sure of securing it. {See 

 Illustration,) Ihey returned to their homes the same 

 evening, and I never k^w anything more of them, owing, 

 as I afterwards found, to its being too early to obtain 

 birds in good plumage. 



The fir^t two or three days of our stay here were very 

 wet, and 1 obtained but few iiiaecte or birds, but at length, 

 when I was beghming to despair, my boy Eaderoou 

 returned one day with a apejcinien which rejjaid me for 

 months of delay and expectation. It was a small bird, a 

 little less than a thrusli. The greater part of its jdnmage 

 was of an intense cinnabar red, with a gloss as of 3pnu glass. 

 On the head the feathers became short and velvety, and 

 shaded into rich orange. Beneath, from the breast down- 

 wards, was pure white, w^ith the softness and gloss of silk, 

 and across the bieast a baud of deep metallic green sepa- 

 mted this colour fruui the red of the tln-oat Above each 

 eye was a round spot of the same metallic green ; the bill 

 was yellow, and the feet and legs were of a fine cobalt 

 blue, strikuigly contrasting with all the other jmrts of the 

 body. Merely in arrangement of colours and texture of 

 plumage this little bird was a gem of the tiret water, yet 

 these comprised oidy half its strange beauty. Springing 

 from each side of the breast, and ordinarily lying concealed 

 under the wings, were little tufts of greyish featliers about 

 two inches long, and each terminated by a broad band of 

 intense emerald green. These plumes can be raised at the 

 will of tlie bird, and spread out into a pair of elegant fans 

 when the wings arc elevated- But this is not the only 

 ornament. The two middle feathers of the tail are in the 

 form of slender wires about five inches long, and which 

 diverge in a beautiful double curve. About half an inch o( 



