Birds of the Fiji Islands. 147 



My son said he saw a Pachycephala on the Rewa which was 

 much lighter than P. torquata ; probably it was P. icteroides, 

 as he did not see any collar. He was so close to it that he 

 refrained from firing, lest he should blow it to pieces. A 

 native brought him a wonderful egg and nest ; and on ques- 

 tioning him as to the parentage, he took him into the garden, 

 and, pointing to a bright yellow flower, said the body was like 

 that. We have no other bird of this colour; so I shall de- 

 scribe these eggs provisionally as those of this species. 



The nest is a loose structure of rootless fine twigs, stems of 

 a fern, dried ferns, and leaves ; about 6 inches across by 4 

 deep ; diameter of cap about 3 inches. 



The egg is of a coffee-colour, lightest at the small end, 

 darkest at the obtuse end, near which is a broad band of black. 

 Axis 14'", diam. 9'". Surface polished. 



Aplonis tabuensis, Gmel. 



We did not find this species at Ngila, but in the forest at 

 the back of "Na Mala,^^ a second plantation belonging to 

 Mr. Mason, some ten or eleven miles further south. It was 

 feeding in flocks in a forest-tree bearing large black berries 

 in clusters. It is not uncommon near Levuka; and I intro- 

 duce its name here chiefly to notice another instance of 

 variation. 



I have two birds from the island of Fortuna, similar in 

 every measurement to the Fiji species, except that the bill is 

 stouter every way, but not longer ; and the whole bird is im- 

 bued with a black shade. The sheen of the Fijian A. tabu- 

 ensis is coppery, especially about the head ; that of the other 

 is of iron. I propose to call it Aplonis fortun^e, sp. nov. 



Ptilotis procerior, F. & H., 

 is unknown in Taviuni ; and its place is supplied by a species 

 that I at first took for P. carunculata, Gmel. But the more I 

 look at it, the more I doubt its identity with that bird ; with- 

 out actual comparison, however, with specimens from Tonga, 

 which is, I believe, the real habitat of P. carunculata, I can- 

 not quite decide the point. Measurements go for little in 

 this species, hardly two individuals agreeing together; but not 



