Malachite sunbird Malachite sunbird The malachite sunbird ("Nectarinia famosa") is a small nectarivorous bird found from the highlands of Ethiopia southwards to South Africa. The pollinate many flowering plants, particularly those with long corolla tubes, in the Fynbos. The sunbirds are a group of small Old World passerine birds, and are placed within the family Nectariniidae, which is found across Africa, the Middle East and into South-east Asia. Also called green sugarbird. The malachite sunbird has two subspecies. The nominate "N. f. famosa "occurs mainly in South Africa, Lesotho and western Swaziland, although its range just extends into southern Namibia and Zimbabwe.
The Malachite Box was presented to the author for his 60th birthday on 28 January 1939. Several test copies were published in January. A special deluxe edition, decorated with malachite, was sent to the 1939 New York World's Fair. The mass market edition published in autumn of the same year. The book was an instant success. It has been republished many times. Overall, twenty three editions of the stories were released from 1941 to 1945. The second edition of the collection was released by the Moscow publishing house Sovetsky Pisatel in 1942. The book was awarded the Stalin prize. The third edition of