Turning now from boars to birds. Many of the Madagascar birds are by no means deficient in the power of producing sweet sounds of a very pleasing character and in considerable variety of note; and there are some few whose song has even been considered to resemble that of our European nightingale. Although in the cold season there are comparatively few birds seen or heard, yet it is not so in the warmer months, or in the lower forest all through the year. Staying near the upper forest in the month of December 1884, we sat down on the margin of a stream, enjoying greatly the beauty of the woods and especially the singing of the birds. Never before had I heard in a Madagascar forest so many different notes, or so constant a sound of bird life. Besides this, there was the low undertone of water over the rapids some little distance away and the hum of insects. It was a great enjoyment just to sit and listen, and see the birds as they flew around us. Among these were the _Sòikèly_, a species of sun-bird, a very little fellow, who sat on the topmost point of a bare branch. There are three species of Nectarinidæ found in the island, one of which, the glittering sickle-billed sun-bird (_Neodrepanis coruscans_) belongs to a genus peculiar to Madagascar. Many of the birds of this family rival, in the Old World, the gem-like and metallic tints of the hummingbirds of the New World, and this is true of those found here. M. Pollen observes of them that they live in flocks, and all day long one sees them darting about the flowering shrubs, sucking with their long tongue the nectar which forms their principal food. Their song is long, very agreeable, but little varied, and they have the habit of suspending themselves by their claws from the small branches. The male bird of one species has metallic tints of purple, green, red and yellow. The other species is black underneath, with green and purple metallic reflections on head, back and wings. [Sidenote: ROLLERS]