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Sydney Porter—Notes on Birds of Fiji



He is a very common bird, and bis habitat is not necessarily near

water, for he is not a fish-feeder but subsists mainly on insects, small

crabs, centipedes, etc.


A friend once described the Fijian Kingfisher as the bird which

talked with its tail ! To those who know the bird this is a very apt

description, for no bird I know makes so much use of his caudal

appendage. When sitting still his tail is continuously jerked about at

all angles. He is a tame and confiding bird, and is often to be seen in

the gardens of Suva, but his favourite haunt is in the bush bordering

the mangrove swamps, where no doubt he feeds to a large extent

on the tiny crabs, which are so plentiful, and the strange little fish,,

Periophthalmus barbarus , which climb out of the water and take an

airing on the roots of the mangrove trees. On Kandavu Island I found

the Kingfisher very common.


The Fijian Fantail-Flycatcher (Haplornis lessoni)


A charming little sprite, clad in pale grey and white, and often met

with in the thick bush bordering the native clearings on Kandavu

Island. The bird is nothing like as familiar as his New Zealand name¬

sake, and I don’t think he belongs to the same family as that bird.

Its actions are very Warbler-like as it hunts through the dense

vegetation for the small insects upon which it feeds. He is inquisitive

and will come out of the undergrowth to get a good look at one, but he

is soon off again and never stays round like the New Zealand Fantail.


It is not a common bird and I did not observe it many times whilst

in Fiji.


The Kandavu Honey-eater (Meliphaga provocator)


This strange bird is very characteristic of Kandavu. It is the first

bird one hears on entering the forest, and its loud melodious notes can

be heard from a long distance. I usually saw the birds in pairs in the

forests and mangroves bordering the seashore. In most tropical

countries the forest, when it has been untouched by man, comes right

down to the water’s edge, but in Fiji the forest seems to run right into

the sea. It is a very strange experience when walking in the forest to

come suddenly right on to the sea itself. One often sees forest giants



