Sydney Porter—Notes on Birds of Fiji



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interfere with the bird. On the islands, where the mongoose is, the bird

nests far out of the reach of this pest ; the white people seldom if ever

shoot it, and rats and cats cannot affect it, so while these conditions

continue it will never become extinct. I have never seen it far away

from the regions bordering the seashore ; this is no doubt owing to its

finding most of its food from the coco-nut palm, a plant which depends

on the sea for the distribution of its seed, the nuts falling into the water

or on to the beach and being carried often many hundreds of miles

before they are cast up.


No bird has a swifter flight than this lovely Lory, the Swallow and

the Swift in ordinary flight are slow compared to it. The incredible

speed with which it flies from one tree to another make it impossible

for the eye to follow it. There is just a misty flash of scarlet and green.

The mystery is how it manages to thread its way through the densely

planted palm plantations at such a. speed without colliding with the

trunks.


Around one small village in Kandavu, the name of which I have

forgotten, I found this Lory exceedingly common. Its shrill cries

could be heard from almost every tree and small parties could be seen

in the heads of most of the coco-nut palms, even in the centre of the

village.


Besides the two birds which had been procured for me I only met

with another bird in captivity in the islands, belonging to a gentleman

in the Government service, who under no conditions would part with

it. It was one of the tamest and most delightful birds I have ever come

across. It had complete freedom and would come when called and play

like a kitten, tumbling and rolling over and over. When told to put

out its tongue it would shoot out this long brush-tipped appendage as

far as possible in a way too comical to describe.


How my two birds managed to survive the voyage to New Zealand

I don’t know. At all events, they did, and seemed none the worse for it

either. Once landed in New Zealand they soon made themselves at

home. Here they managed to rid their plumage of some of the horrible

sticky mess in which I found them. They had been fed mainly on

sweetened bread and milk, which is the usual food for Kulas in Fiji,

so no wonder they never look in good condition and soon die of fits.



