THE TONGA ISLANDS.

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within is a smaller cage, in which there is thehen bird, who also makes a peculiar noise, as ifin answer to the one on the outside; but bethis as it may, both cock birds and hens areattracted towards the spot, and are shot bythe sportsman. This sport is practised by nonebut the king and very great chiefs, for trainingand keeping these birds require exceeding greatcare as well as great expense. One man is ap-pointed to each pair of birds, and he has no-thing else to do but to attend to the managementof them; and, if this is not done with greatskill, they will not make the noise necessary toattract others. So much attention, in short,is paid to these birds, that their keepers areauthorised to go and demand plantains forthem, of whomsoever it may be, and howsoeverscarce may be this article of food, even if therewere a famine, and the people almost starving :if a keeper, even on such occasions, sees a finebunch of plantains, he will go and taboo it,which he does by sticking a reed in the tree,and telling the proprietor that those plantainsare tabooed for the use of the birds. Thesekeepers live well, and are, in general, very inso-lent fellows, sometimes committing very greatdepredations, under frivolous pretensions ofprocuring food for their birds. The sufferersometimes makes a complaint to the king, or