TOWNSEND AND WETMORE: THE BIRDS. 155 



often kept as a pet by the natives, a custom which has aided its 

 distribution. One which I secured at Rangiroa became very tame, 

 and Hved on board the Albatross for several weeks, when it was 

 drowned by faUing into a pail of water. Its greatest delight was to 

 walk back and forth on a light rope stretched across my stateroom. 

 The water birds obtained were Hefcractitw incanm, Megahpterus 

 mclanogenys, Procclslcrna ceridea, and Sterna hinata. 



Makatea, (Metia, Aurora, Recreation), where the Albatross 

 made a brief stop on 26 September, was revisited for a few hours on 



6 October. It is one of the few elevated islands in the Paumotus, 

 having a height of over 200 feet, with perpendicular cliffs along the 

 north shore. It has a length of five miles and is densely wooded, 

 with many large trees. The higher parts are difficult to penetrate 

 with the thickly tangled \-egetation and massed pinnacles of sharply 

 weathered limestone. Our stay was too brief to permit of collecting 

 more than a few yards distant from the shore. The land birds found 

 here were fruit pigeon {Ptilopus coralensw), large pigeon (Globicera 

 aurorae), and warbler (Conopodcras atypha erema), the last being new. 

 All are common. The water birds were Pluvialis dominicus fulvus, 

 Phaeopus tahitiensis, and Anous stoUdus pileatus. This was our first 

 meeting with the large pigeon Globicera. It is rather common and 

 was observed later at Tahiti. This bird is called Ru-pee by the natives. 

 The dense forests of Makatea doubtless harbor species of land birds 

 which could only maintain themselves with difficulty in the scattered 

 cocoanut groves of the atolls. 



NiAU, also called Creig and Faau, is an atoll about four miles in 

 diameter and is well wooded. It is somewhat higher than the neigh- 

 boring atolls, having an elevation of twenty-six feet. Our stop on 



7 October of two hours afforded little time for collecting. The only 

 bird obtained was the fruit pigeon {Ptilopus coralensis) which is 

 abundant. 



Apataki, sometimes called Hagemeister, is a partly wooded atoll 

 eighteen miles in diameter. Anchoring on the evening of 7 October 

 and sailing the following morning, only one bird was secured, a warbler 

 {Conopoderas atypha agassizi), which, however, proved to be unde- 

 scribed. 



TiKEi, or Romanzoff, is a small, well-wooded island about three 

 miles in diameter and with no central lagoon. The Albatross 

 anchored at Tikei for a few hours on 8 October. The only birds 

 collected were Conopodcras atypha atypha and Pluvialis dominicus 

 fulvus. I found here the egg of a White-crowned black noddy balanced 



