Sydney Porter—Notes on Birds of Fiji



101



mats. In an old book on Fiji published about the middle of the last

century I came across the following : “ For nearly a hundred years

past the Friendly Islanders have traded with Fiji. The scarlet feathers

of a beautiful paroquet were the leading attraction, the birds abounded

in one part of Taveuni [this would be P. taviunensis] where they

were caught by nets and purchased by the Tongans, who traded with

them in exchange for the fine mats of the Samoans. They paid the

Fijians for the paroquets with small articles of European manufacture,

bowls, and the loan of their women 55 !


Fortunately, the sale of the Parrakeets has now been stopped,

a measure which I heartily agree with, for if the wretched birds were

not purchased by the Samoans to be periodically plucked, they were

bought by Indians who kept them in terribly inadequate cages until

they died of semi-starvation. True, a few are now smuggled into Suva

but nothing like the numbers which came over a few years ago.


I never saw the birds in flocks, only in odd ones or pairs. They are

not birds of the open country, but of the dense forests and the thick

jungle bordering the native clearings. I never saw them low down

but always on the tree-tops or in the higher branches.


Near the village of Talaulia we found the Parrakeets in the mango

trees feeding upon the ripe fruit. They seemed to waste a terrible lot,

for under the trees lay a large amount of half-eaten fruit, but no doubt

the so-called “ flying foxes ”, or fruit bats, were also to blame.


Very often the brilliant colouring of tropical birds harmonizes with

the foliage of the trees but not so with this one, the brilliant scarlet

and blue are always most conspicuous when the birds are in the trees.

I should imagine that the dark species such as P. tabuensis, etc., are

even more easy of observation with their almost black under parts

and even more brilliant blue.


All the time the birds fed in the trees they uttered their loud harsh

cries. I don’t suppose that the birds do much damage to the native

crops which, as far as I could see, consisted of bananas which were

always picked and eaten in a green state, usually baked over an open

fire (no bird would ever eat a green banana), coco-nuts, and various

root crops, such as yams, etc.


Fortunately I was able to obtain twelve of these gorgeous birds :



