Brigham.] 70 [October 17, 



Phoonicopterus. 



* Phoenicopterus ruber. Immense numbers of these birds 

 can be seen in the lake. I visited their breeding places twice, but un- 

 fortunately they had not commenced laying at the time of my depar- 

 ture, early in April, and I only saw the remains of last year's nests. 

 Their principal food is a small bivalve shell found everywhere in the 

 lake. They also eat small fish which they catch in the same way as 

 the Wood Ibis does, by trampling in the mud until the Avater is so tur- 

 bid as to be opaque, and the fish can not see them. I shot several thus 

 employed, the jesojjhagi and stomachs of which were filled with small 

 fish, about an inch in length. My friend, Mr. Sargent, was so kind 

 as to send me a large number of eggs of this bird. These resemble 

 very nearly those of the gannet, and specimens can be selected which 

 I think cannot be distinguished from eggs of that bird. Three spec- 

 mens selected as extremes, measure 97X54, 91X58, 88X58 mill. 



Dendrocygna. 



* Dendrocygna arborea. Young were brought to me in 

 March, in the downy state, and partially fledged early in April. 



Anser. 



* Anser cCBrnlescens. Mr. Sargent states that a small flock 

 of white or adult birds of this species visited the island several years 

 ago, and were all killed by the inhabitants. 



Mr. W. T. Brigham exhibited a distorted skull of a child 

 which he had brought from the Hawaiian Islands, remarking 

 that the practice of compressing by boards or bandages was 

 only carried on among the Hawaiians during early childhood ; 

 the distortion afterwards apparently passed entirely away, 

 since the skulls of adults were remarkably symmetrical. 

 Hundreds of skulls had come under his observation, but 

 while he had seen many children's skulls distorted, he had 

 never observed any signs of it in those of old men. The 

 compression was frequently made with curved and carved 

 boards, so as not to produce a flat surface. It was related 

 that the native nurses attempted to practise the same custom 

 on the children of the first missionaries who came there. 



Dr. J. Wyman remarked that in the present instance the 

 compression did not appear to have been produced by band- 



