( 351 ) 



with roniKl yellow dots anil spots, a larijrr one betwi'eii veins 4 and ."i; fringe evenly 

 mottled brown and yellow. 



Uijidwiiiij : with the red suffusing only the basal half, which is lionnded by 

 an irregular serpentine yellow streak, which throws off two similar streaks to outer 

 margin below middle, the lower one interrupted; onter iialf full of yellow spots 

 and dots. 



Underside liver-brown without any red tinge, and with the yeUow dots and 

 dusting' largely developed, the onter line wholly yellow, witli the brown beyond it 

 less interrupted. 



Head and shoulders yellow varie<l with pale and dark brown and black ; the 

 shoulders most clearly yellow ; tlioi'ax and abdomen brown mixed with red; legs 

 black and yellow. 



Expanse of wings : 28 mm. 



2 c?<? from La Oroya, ){. Inambari, Mini) ft., .January lOoO, wet season 

 (Ockenden) ; and 2 cJ c? from Fonte I'ua, Ujiper Amazons, July lOClO (Klages). 



THE BIRDS OF VELLA LAVELLA, SOLOMON ISLANDS. 



Bt the HON. WALTER ROTIISCII IM>, Pn.D., and ERNST HARTEET, Ph.D. 



(Plate XIII.) 



THE island of Vella Lavella is one of the central group of Solomon Islands, 

 to which belong the islands New Georgia or Rnbiana, Rendova, Kulam- 

 bangra, and Gizo. "We have already had collections from Gizo, Knlambangrn, 

 Rendova, and New Georgia, all brought together by Mr. Albert S. Meek, who has 

 now visited Vella Lavella. This last island is close to Gizo and Knlamliangra. 

 As no bird has ever been collected before on Vella Lavella, a collection I'rom there 

 is a priori of great interest. Moreover, while the majority of the species are, of 

 course, identical with those from the other islands of the central gronp, some most 

 interesting new forms have been discovered by our indefatigable collector, Albert 

 Meek. In Xoritates Zoologicar 19U.5, jip. 243, 244, we have explained that the 

 central group of the Solomou Islands can be regarded as a faunistic area different 

 from the northern chain (Bougainville, Choiseul, Isabel) as well as from the 

 Guadalcanar group, and the southern group (San Christoval and Ugi). 



An interesting feature of the birds of Vella Lavella is the fact that the forms 

 peculiar to that island show a tendency towards a melanistic coloration. Mi/zoinchi 

 eichhorni atrata has the upper surface black instead of dark olive as in .1/. cichhorni 

 eichhorni ; Fachjcephala melanonota is above deep black instead of yellowish olive 

 as in r. astrolahi ; Monarcha brodiei niyrotectus has the upper wing-coverts blue- 

 black instead of white. 



The ornis of the island of Ronongo, close to Vella Lavella, remains to be 

 exj)lored, but not many new forms can be expected from there. 



1. Megapodius diiperreyii eremita Hartl. 



Cf. Nov. Zovl. I'.IOS, p. 244. 



•?> S3 ad., 2 'V ? ad., 1 S j'nll., Vella Lavella, Fcliruary and Man-li 1908. 

 Nos. 3791, 38U0, 387U, 3883, 3909, 3928. 



