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Sydney Porter—Notes on Birds of Fiji



islands, such as Kandavu, Taveuni, Ngau, and Koro, there are still quite

a . large number of birds left and especially on the Lau Archipelago ;

all these places are quite free from the mongoose and the whites

who kill for killing’s sake. On none of the islands are the wonderful

Parrakeets common. By reports from various government surveyors

to whom I spoke, I learnt that the Masked Parrakeet is not extinct

as it is supposed to be, and that a few still linger in the dense forests

on the mountain ranges in the centre of the island of Yiti Levu. In

the old days before the mongoose had thinned its ranks, this bird was

reckoned a pest owing to its eating the sweet corn and various tropical

fruits and was killed in large numbers by the fruit planters. I tried

to get those in authority to try and capture a few and release them on

some of the smaller uninhabited islands which were free from the

mongoose, and I think that this may be done.


The distribution of the Fijian Parrakeets is very strange and

is something like that of the large West Indian Parrots. Each of the

five larger islands has its distinct species.


There is no hope that these beautiful Parrakeets will ever grace

our aviaries again, for strict protective laws have been recently passed

and the capture or keeping of any species is forbidden. My birds were

procured from Indians who had the birds before the protective laws were

passed ; these they had originally purchased from the Fijians who had

hand-reared them and brought them from the other islands for sale.

Once there was quite a trade with the Parrakeets from the different

islands, the birds being brought over by the natives in canoes and sold

on the quay. Now all this is forbidden.


I had rather a difficulty in getting the Government of Fiji to allow

me to export any of these Parrakeets, but eventually I got permission

to take the birds away with me and I persuaded them to allow me to

receive a pair of the Masked Parrakeets should at any future time a

pair be secured, but of this I am not very hopeful.


There is no danger now that any of these birds will become extinct

except the “ Masked ”, for unlike most parts of the world to-day

there is no active destruction of bird life by either the natives or the

whites. The forest will never be felled as in New Zealand, for the



