okelau--shouted out in fear, and ran to
tell the captain, and Mr. Houston.

"They brought me below and made much of me, and gave me something to
drink which made me sleep for many hours.

"When I awakened I was strong and well, but my eyes were _malai_
(bloodshot). That is all."

CHAPTER XXIII ~ TWO PACIFIC ISLANDS BIRDS: THE SOUTH SEA CORNCRAKE AND
THE TOOTH-BILLED PIGEON

THE SOUTH SEA CORNCRAKE

Although I had often heard of the "corncrake" or landrail of the British
Isles, I did not see one until a few years ago, on my first visit to
Ireland, when a field labourer in County Louth brought me a couple,
which he had killed in a field of oats. I looked at them with interest,
and at once recognised a striking likeness in shape, markings and
plumage to an old acquaintance--the shy and rather rare "banana-bird" of
some of the Polynesian and Melanesian Islands. I had frequently when in
Ireland heard at night, during the summer months, the repeated and
harsh "crake, crake," of many of these birds, issuing from the fields of
growing corn, and was very curious to see one, for the unmelodious cry
was exactly like that of the _kili vao_, or "banana-bird" of the
Pacific Islands. And when I saw the two corncrakes I found them to be
practically the same bird, though but half the size of the _kili vao_.

_Kili vao_ in native means bush-snipe, as distinct from _kili fusi_,
swamp snipe. It feeds upon ripe bananas, and papaws (mamee apples), and
such other sweet fruit, that when over-ripe fall to the ground. It is
very seldom seen in the day-time, when the sun is strong, though
its hoarse frog-like note may often be heard in cultivated banana
plantations, or on the mountain sides, where the wild banana thrives.
At early dawn, or towards sunset, however, they come out from their
retreats, and search for fallen bananas, papaws or guavas, and I
have spent many a delightful half-hour watching them from my own
hiding-place. Although they have such thick, long and clumsy legs, and
coarse splay feet they run to and fro with marvelous speed, continually
uttering their insistent croak. Usually they were in pairs, male and
female, although I once saw a male and three female birds together. The
former can easily be recognised, for it is considerably larger than its
mate, and the coloration of the plumage on the back and about the eyes
is more pronounced, and the beautiful quail-like semi-circular belly
markings are more clearly