p 



J^"-'"] DoDD. A Naturalist in New Guinea. 141 



1919J ' 



Pittas were heard, one having a very mournful note. The 

 Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo was always present, at the foot of 

 the ranges or on the top ; its monotonous " Pee-pee-pee " could 

 be heard at all hours of the day and night, so one wonders 

 whether it ever sleeps. At Port Darwin I have heard it hour 

 after hour at night. It has occurred to me that these sleepless 

 birds (Cuckoos) may deposit their eggs in other birds' nests at 

 night. The Koel and Channelbill not only call out at night, 

 but fly too. The Long-tailed Nightjar is another bird with a 

 monotonous note, its "Chop-chop-chop" being kept up, at 

 intervals, at night. Some dislike the species ; I am used to it. 

 I have heard it called the " Fever-bird " — an absurd term, but 

 given it because fever patients are often irritated and kept 

 awake by it. A blackish Malurus, with yellow- white patch 

 on the shoulder, was frequently seen ; it is rather larger than 

 Australian Wrens, and all individuals seemingly are alike — all 

 that I saw were. In flying they pass readily as males of Papilio 

 cBgeus. The Dollar-bird and the Shining Starling, Calornis 

 metallica, were present at Sapphire Creek in October. The 

 former, I think, purposed nesting in a E. platyphylla, but we 

 saw no nests of the latter, they, seemingly, being only intent 

 upon feeding on a shrub with smallish, whitish berries occurring 

 in the vicinity. Whether the Starlings in New Guinea migrate 

 as those in Queensland do I am unable to say ; the Queensland 

 communities arrive in August and depart in April. 



Kangaroos, wallabies, rats, wild pigs, and Cassowaries were 

 near us at times, our shooting boy getting a fair-sized pig one 

 day, and was accounted a hero by the dusky gentlemen around. 

 We, of course, allowed him nearly all the animal. Nothing was 

 wasted, even the hide, after a perfunctory singeing, passing as 

 a delicacy. Our boys did a thriving trade with the plantation 

 blacks, for they crave for meat, and often came to us with a 

 coin wanting to purchase tinned beef, &c. That " beek " (pig) 

 was talked of for many days. 



There grows in the scrubs a very fine nut, maybe a Terminalia. 

 It is egg-shaped, slightly flattened, and from four to four and 

 a half inches long. The kernel is two inches long by three- 

 quarters thick, and is crisp, rich, and tasty. The shell is 

 three-quarters of an inch thick, and extremely hard. The 

 natives open it readily with a sharp stone struck by another. 

 It requires to be eaten soon after falling, or it becomes rather 

 tough. I sent some to Kuranda, which were pronounced good. 



Our meals were largely made up of vegetables and fruit. On 

 the plantation we obtained sweet potatoes, bananas, and 

 pineapples ; from the blacks pumpkins, two smaller varieties 

 of bananas, and several species of yams ; and from port 

 occasional parcels of English potatoes and onions. A selection 



