As the season advances the people burn the grass over the hillsides and open moors, as we saw at Ambàtomànga when coming up the country. There can be no doubt that to this practice is largely attributable the bare and treeless appearance of the central provinces. The young trees which would spring up, especially in the hollows and sheltered places, have no chance against the yearly fires which sweep over the country, and the little vegetation which has held its own is constantly liable to be lessened as time goes on. Sometimes a dozen fires, long curving lines of flame, may be seen at once in different directions, and these give a strangely picturesque appearance to the nights of springtime in Imèrina.
BIRDS
The weather often becomes very hot and sultry before the rains come on, and the usually bright clear skies and pure atmosphere of other months are exchanged for thick oppressive days, when the distant hills disappear altogether, and the nearer ones seem quite distant in the dense haze. This is probably due, to a great extent, to the grass-burning just described, and also to the frequent burning of the forest away to the east. As the weather gets warmer a few birds come up from the wooded regions of the country, and wherever there is a small patch of wood the oft-repeated cry of the Kankàfotra, the Madagascar cuckoo, may be heard, much resembling the syllables “kow-kow, kow-kow-koo.”
And here we must notice more fully the birds to be seen in Imèrina. They are few compared with those in the warmer and forest regions, and are mostly of powerful flight, principally birds of prey, swifts, swallows and water-birds. The two coast regions—east and west—are, on the contrary, well peopled with birds of all sorts, and while the greater part of these inhabit indifferently one or the other region, there are a certain number which have their habitat almost exclusively in one region only, and give it its special characteristics. There are also some which keep to a still more limited area, not going beyond a very restricted range. As far as is at present known, two hundred and ten species of birds have been found in Madagascar; and the very special character of its avi-fauna may be seen from the fact that it includes forty-one genera and a hundred and twenty-four species, which are all peculiar to the island.
RAPACIOUS BIRDS
The rapacious birds of the country comprise twenty-two species, the majority being hawks, kites and buzzards, with several owls and two eagles. The most common bird of this order is the Papàngo or Egyptian kite, a large hawk found all over the island. It may be seen every day flying gracefully along in search of lizards and snakes, and the mice, rats and small birds which form its chief food, and continually swooping down upon its prey. When the long dry grass is being burned on the downs the papàngo may be noticed sweeping backwards and forwards close to the edge of the blazing grass, so as to pick up the smaller creatures escaping the advancing flames, or those which have been overtaken by them and killed. I have occasionally observed hundreds of these birds in the neighbourhood of Ambòhimànga, describing great circles, at an immense height, and have wondered how such large numbers could obtain food. This kite is the dread of the country-dwelling Malagasy, for it swoops down on their chickens and is only scared away by their loud cries and execrations. From these habits comes one of its provincial names, Tsimalàho—i.e. “the one who does not ask,” but takes without saying “by your leave.” It is constantly seen in company with the white-necked crows, and, like them, feeds near the villages, especially near where the oxen are killed.
Another very widely spread rapacious bird is the little lively and noisy Hìtsikìtsika or kestrel, which is found in or about every village, often perched on the gable “horns” of the houses, or even on the extreme point of the lightning conductors. It is by no means shy, and one can sometimes approach it quite closely and see its bright fearless eyes, before it darts away. It is fond of the same resting-place and, after a noisy chatter with its mate, takes a sweeping flight for a few hundred yards and returns to its former condition. Several native proverbs refer to the kestrel’s quick restless flight and its frequent habit of hovering aloft, poised almost motionless, or with an occasional quivering of the wings, which, in Malagasy idiom, is called “dancing,” for the native dances consist as much in a graceful motion of the hands as in that of the feet. Among some tribes, or families, the kestrel is a tabooed bird and it is crime to kill it.
HAWKS
Another hawk worth noticing, although much less common than the two previously mentioned ones, is the lesser falcon, a small but very courageous bird, which has long attracted the attention of the Malagasy for its swiftness. The native name, Vòromahèry, or “Powerful bird,” is also that of the tribe of Hova Malagasy who inhabit the capital and its near neighbourhood, and this falcon also was adopted as a crest or emblem by the native government, and its figure was engraved on their official seals. Its flight is extremely rapid, more like that of an arrow than that of a bird.