154 bulletin: museum of comparative zoology. 



in the mountains at Nukuhiva. It was not uncommon for them to 

 approach the vessel when we stopped for deep-sea sounding or dredg- 

 ing, and specimens shot from the deck could easily be recovered by 

 lowering a boat. The first tropic birds were observed 600 miles north- 

 east of the Marquesas. 



Gallus has long been wild on the mountains of Nukuhiva. All the 

 specimens that I killed looked very much like the richly colored one 

 that was preserved. It was ver^*- interesting to hear the cocks crowing 

 in the high woods. I found that they could fly like pheasants, making 

 strong flights across wide ravines. 



The large, thrush-like warbler of Nukuhiva {Conopodcras percerms) 

 is the most interesting bird of the island and by far the best songster 

 we heard in Eastern Polvnesia. It is not uncommon to hear several 

 of them singing loudly on a single tree. Herman Melville in "Typee" 

 that classic of the Marquesas, says, "Birds, bright and beautiful birds, 

 fly over the valley of Typee . . . but alas the spell of dumbness is 

 upon them all — there is not a single warbler in the valley." This 

 statement is altogether at variance with our experience. Everywhere 

 about the village of Tai-o-hae, only a few miles from the valley of 

 Typee, the woods rang with the melody of the warblers. This species 

 is the size of a mockingbird and its sulphur-yellow under parts render 

 it quite conspicuous. 



The Paumotu Islands. — After leaving the Marquesas, the Alba- 

 tross proceeded through the Paumotu, Tuamotu, or Low Archipelago, 

 making brief stops at a dozen of the islands. There are seventy-eight 

 islands in this Group, the main body of which is more than a thousand 

 miles in length. With few exceptions they are atolls with enclosed 

 lagoons of considerable size. The atolls are usually well forested 

 with cocoanut trees, the principal species, and with low trees and 

 shrubs. They do not vary much in vegetation or general appearance. 

 The population is limited, the entire Archipelago having not more 

 than 4,000 inhabitants. The lagoons yield much valuable pearl shell, 

 but the export of copra is probabh' of greater importance. 



Our first anchorage was at Rangiroa, where the Albatross re- 

 mained at anchor from 21-24 September. Rangiroa, also called 

 Rahiroa, Vliegen, Deans, and Nairsa, is an atoll with a great lagoon 

 more than forty miles in length. The land birds obtained were the 

 Blue lory {Choriphihis pcruxianus) and a warbler {Conopodcras aiijpha 

 nesiarcha), the latter described as new (p. 210). 



The small Blue lory {Choriphihis peruriaruis) obtained at Rangiroa 

 and later at Bora Bora and Aitutaki, is a fairly common species and is 



