214 Mr. P. L. Sclater on Recent 



just returned from New Guiuea. Of this liiglily suecess- 

 ful expedition a full account is given in the third volume 

 of Corals 'Cosmos/ from which we extract the following 

 particulars'^. Beceari left Amboyna in the schooner 'Deli ' 

 on the 22nd January last year^ and arrived at Salawatti 

 on the 31st. The next day he crossed to Sorong on the 

 opposite (western) coast of New Guinea, whence he made an 

 excursion to llamoi, and obtained a fine pair of Casuarlus 

 uniappendiculatus. From Sorong he proceeded along the 

 north coast of New Guinea to Dorei Hum, where he as- 

 cended the adjoining mountain-range " Gunong JNIorait " 

 to a height of about 1200 feet. On the top of the mountain 

 he shot with his own gun two splendid specimens of Dasy- 

 ptilus pecqueti, one of the rarest of the Parrots, of which the 

 exact habitat was until recently quite uncertain. Not being 

 sufficiently satisfied with the view into the interior from 

 Gunong Morait, Beceari proceeded some miles further along 

 the coast, to Has, and again ascended the mountain-range to 

 the height of about 1000 feet. Thence he descended to the 

 banks of a new and hitherto quite unknown river, the Wa- 

 Samson, which appears to drain the south-western slope of 

 the Arfak Mountains, and runs into the sea near Sorong. 

 In this excursion the principal rarity obtained was Seleucides 

 alba ; but Sericulus aureus, Gymnophaps albertisi, and other 

 scarce species were seen. Rejoining the schooner at Sorong, 

 Beceari crossed to "Wakkere, at the south-eastern point of 

 Waigiou, and remained four days in search of Diphyllodes 

 wilsoni, of which, on the last day, one of his hunters obtained 

 a fine male bird. He also obtained information of the exist- 

 ence here of an Epimachus, which will perhaps turn out to 

 be E. ellioti, the habitat of which is unknown ; and was told 

 that the newly discovered Diphyllodes gulielmi III. is really 

 from Sorong, and not from Waigiou, as is supposed by Dr. 

 Meyer. Two days' voyage from Waigiou brought Beceari to 

 Havre Dorey, whence, after an excursion to Andai, he again 

 departed for a tour round the great Bay of Geelvink. From 

 Dorey he first visited Moral and Warbusi, two , places im- 

 * "Recenti Spedizioni alia Nuova Guinea," Cosmos, vol. iii. }). 73. 



