rwood, and
the climbing plants, that render travelling, for pleasure alone,
uncommonly fatiguing, yet a person, by remaining in one place, may shoot
as many in a day as would serve six or eight others. The principal sorts
are large brown parrots, with white or greyish heads; green parroquets,
with red foreheads; large wood pigeons, brown above, with white bellies,
the rest green, and the bill and feet red; two sorts of cuckoos, one as
large as our common sort, of a brown colour, variegated with black, the
other not larger than a sparrow, of a splendid green cast above, and
elegantly varied with waves of golden, green, brown, and white colours
below. Both these are scarce, but several others are in greater plenty;
one of which, of a black colour, with a greenish cast, is remarkable for
having a tuft of white curled feathers hanging under the throat, and was
called the _poy_ bird[147] by our people. Another sort, rather smaller,
is black, with a brown back and wings, and two small gills under the
root of the bill. This we called the small wattle bird, to distinguish
it from another, which we called the large one, of the size of a common
pigeon, with two large yellow and purple membranes also at the root of
the bill. It is black, or rather blue, and has no resemblance of the
other but in name, for the bill is thick, short, and crooked, and has
all together an uncommon appearance. A gross-beak, about the size of a
thrush, of a brown colour, with a reddish tail, is frequent; as is also
a small greenish bird, which is almost the only musical one here, but is
sufficient by itself to fill the woods with a melody that is not only
sweet, but so varied, that one would imagine he was surrounded by a
hundred different sorts of birds when the little warbler is near. From
these circumstances we named it the mocking bird. There are likewise
three or four sorts of smaller birds; one of which, in figure and
lameness, exactly resembles our robin, but is black where that is brown,
and white where that is red. Another differs but little from this,
except in being smaller; and a third sort has a long tail, which it
expands as a fan on coming near, and makes a chirping noise when it
perches. King-fishers are seen, though rare, and are about the size of
our English ones, but with an inferior plumage.

[Footnote 147: It had this name from its tuft of feathers, resembling
the white flowers used as ornaments in the ears at Otaheite, and called
th