The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

X.] BALI AND LOMBOCK. T21of the great Laughing Jackass of Australia. Tim lx,'.autifullittle violet and orange species (Ceyx ruficlorsa) is found insimilar situations, and darts rapidly along like a flame of fire.Here also I first met with the jiretty Australian Bee-eater(Merops ornatus). This elegant little bird sits on twigs in openplaces, gazing eagerly around, and darting off at intervals toseize some insect which it sees flying near ; returning afterwai'dsto the same twig to swallow it. Its long, sharp, curved bill, thetwo long narrow feathers in its tail, its beautiful green lolumagevaried with rich brown and black and vivid blue on the throat,render it one of the most graceful and interesting objects anaturalist can see for the first time.Of all the birds of Lombock, however, I sought most afterthe beautiful ground thrushes (Pitta concinna), and alwaysthought myself lucky if I obtained one. They were found onlyin the dry plains densely covered with thickets, and carpeted atthis season with dead leaves. They were so shy that it wasvery diflicult to get a shot at them, and it was only after a gooddeal of practice that I discovered how to do it. The habit ofthese birds is to hop about on the ground, picking up insects,and on the least alarm to run into the densest thicket or take aflight close along the ground. At intervals they utter a peculiaicryof two notes which when once heard is easily recognized, andthey can also be heard hopping along among the dry leaves. Mypractice was, therefore, to walk cautiously along the narrowpathways with which the country abounded, and on detectingany sign of a Pitta's vicinity to stand motionless and give agentle whistle occasionally, imitating the notes as near aspossible. After half an hour's waiting I was often rewardedby seeing the pretty bird hopping along in the thicket. Then Iwould pei'haps lose sight of it again, till, having my gun raisedand I'eady for a shot, a second glimpse would enable me to securemy prize, and admire its soft puflfy plumage and lovely colours.The upper part is rich soft green, the head jet black with astripe of blue and brown over each eye ; at the base of the tailand on the shoulders are bands of bright silvery blue, and tiieunder side is delicate bufi" with a stri^De of rich crimson, borderedwith black on the belly. Beautiful grass-green doves, littlecrimson and black flower-peckers, large black cuckoos, metallicking-crows, golden orioles, and the fine jungle-cocks—the originof all our domestic breeds of poultry—were among the birds thatchiefly attracted my attention during our stay at Labuan Tring.The most characteristic feature of the jungle was its thorniness.The shrubs were thorny ; the creepers were thorny ; the bambooseven were thorny. Eveiything grew zigzag and jagged, and inan inextricable tangle, so that to get through the bush with gunor net or even spectacles was generally not to be done, andinsect-catching in such localities was out of the question. Itwas in such places that the Pittas often lurked, and when shotit became a matter of some difiiculty to secure tlie bird, and