164



Sydney Porter—Notes on Birds of Fiji



NOTES ON BIRDS OF FIJI


By Sydney Porter


(Continued from p. 139)


The Yellow-breasted Shrike or Thickhead (Pachycephala


kandavensis)


I only saw this lovely bird once, though I heard it many times.

I was attracted to it by its flow of extremely melodious notes. These

birds are hard to distinguish when in the trees, for their plumage

harmonizes so well with the foliage in spite of their bright colouring.


Perouse’s Fruit Dove (Ptilinopus perousei marice)


This is one of the exquisite Doves which adorn the forests of Fiji.

A more lovely creature cannot be imagined, but the full beauty of

its plumage is seen by few except the so-called “ sportsman ”—

usually an Englishman, who carries his traditional love of “ sport ”

to the South Seas—who slaughters it, for this bird is exceptionally

wary and difficult to approach, at least I found it so. It is found in

small flocks in the forest; the flocks are composed of pairs, the brilliant’

male and his sombrely coloured spouse flying together.


They come out to feed on the berry-bearing trees very early in the

mornings, and can be seen moving about in the trees with a rapidity

which is very unPigeon-like. In fact all the Fruit Pigeons are

exceedingly active during the period they are feeding. Afterwards

they seem to get lethargic and remain motionless for hours. These

birds are especially fond of the Perminto or “ All-spice ” berry. In an

old and now disused plantation of these trees near Suva the birds were

very abundant, but one could never get close enough to study their

habits. The flight of these birds is exceedingly swift and totally unlike

that of any other Pigeon. Locally it is known as the Painted Dove,

but I am sure “ Rainbow Dove ” would be more appropriate, for no

bird looks more as though it had been painted through human agency.


I heard from time to time of people who had some of the Fruit

Doves in captivity, but I never succeeded in getting hold of any.



