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NOVITATES ZOOLOGICAE. 



Vol. XXI. FEBRUARY 1914. No. 1. 



J 

 ON A COLLECTION OP BIRDS FROM GOODENOUGH;33>'^ 



ISLAND. 



By the Hon. WALTER r.OTIISCHILD, F.RS., Ph.D., and Dr. ERNST HARTERT. 



THE D'Entrecasteaux group of islauds, so called after the unfortunate admiral 

 D'Eutrerasteaux, who died iu these seas during bis expedition in search of 

 La Perouse, consists of the three maiD islands, Normanby, FergussoQ, and Good- 

 enough. Tbe islands have been well described by Captain Moresby iu the Journal 

 of the Roijnl Geographical Societi/ for 1875, and iu his book Discoveries and Surmi/s 

 in JSew Guinea and the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, London, 1ST6. 



The first birds collected in this group were some small collections sent by 

 Audrew Goldie and Karl Huustein to London and Sydney. They contained the 

 wonderful novelties Paradisea decora and Otidiphaps insularis, which were 

 described by Salvin and Godman {Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1883, p. 34, and Ifjis, 

 1883, pp. 131 and 199). The birds collected by these two pioneers and able 

 collectors were, however, not properly labelled, and half a dozen birds which have 

 never been found anywhere else than on these islands were thus described with the 

 erroneous statement that they came from S.E. New Guinea. 



Afterwards Basil H. Thomson, Lamberto Loria, and Albert S. Meek collected 

 on tbe islands. 



The following articles deal entirely or chiefly with the avifauna of the group : 



1. Tristram : " On a small Collection of Birds from the Louisiade and D'Eatre- 

 casteanx Islands." Ibis, 1889, p. 553. 



2. Salvadori ; " Uccelli delle Isole D'Entrecasteaux." Ann. Mus. Civ. Genova, 

 ser. •>, vol. X. (xxx.) p. 828, 1891. 



In this article a number of species: Monarcha inornatus (Garn.), Rhipidura 

 setosa (Quay & Gaim.), Paclnjcephala fortis Gadow, Mamicodia comrii Scl., Pkontj- 

 gammus kunsteini Sharps, Ptilinopus superbtis (Temm.), Sterna bergii Liciit., and 

 Anous leucocapillus Gould, were mentioned as occurring on Goodenough Island. 



3. Hartert : " Some New and other Rare Birds from Fergusson Island." Nov. 

 Zool. 1895, p. 61. 



4. Rothschild and llartert : " List of a Collection made by Albert S. Meek on 

 Fergusson, Trobriand, Egum, and Woodlark Islands." JSloo. Zool. 1896, p. 233. 



After the first collections receivetl from Mr. Meek were worked out in the 

 last article, he visited both Fergusson and Goodenough Islands once more ; the 

 specimens which he then collected have been mentioned in our various " Notes 

 on Papuan Birds," in Nov. Zool. 19U1-1907. 



Though the most striking discoveries, such as Paradisea decora and Pliony- 

 gammus, were naturally made by the first collectors, the ornis became only more 



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