Neirs from X&k: Guinea. '5r>l 



a fantastic appearance, especially when millions of fireflies 

 are seen flitting abont in all directions ; their lights reflected 

 in clear smooth water increase the luminosity to nearly 

 double. I may mention hei'c that when at anchor at Kiwai 

 Island, early in the raoi'ning and a little before sunset, thou- 

 sands of the black-and-white Fruit-Pigeon {Carjjophaya spi- 

 lorrhoa) were seen, as at Yule Island, going from the east to 

 the west to their roosting-place, and in the morning would be 

 seen returning from the west to the east ; so that I consider this 

 species of Pigeon to be almost as plentiful in this part of the 

 world as the American Passenger Pigeon {Ectopistes migra- 

 torius) is in North America/' 



"■Prom our anchorage at Attack Island, on the 20th 

 December, we saw large fllocks of the Ibis strictipennis, or 

 Straw -throated Ibis, flying at a great elevation in a north- 

 west direction/' 



^'My curiosity was very much excited on hearing of Mr. 

 Stone's supposed discovery of a ' very large bird,' and of foot- 

 prints of ' bufl'aloes ' on the Baxter River, and on reading in 

 'Nature' of the discovery of the dung of a 'rhinoceros' in 

 New Guinea by Captain Moresby. 1 do not allude to the 

 imaginative fauna of a Captain Lawson, because the disco- 

 veries of Captain ?iIoresby and Mr. Stone are amply sufficient 

 to excite the most sanguine hopes of any naturalist. But, alas ! 

 I was doomed to disappointment ; for I found the fauna of the 

 Fly River very poor, considering the character of the country 

 and the vegetation. I could not get a glimpse of the gigantic 

 bird, with a spread of wings of 22 feet (very considerately 

 reduced by Mr. Stone to 16 feet) ; nor was I fortunate enough 

 to see the dung of Captain Moresby's rhinoceros, nor the 

 beast itself, nor even the footprints of the buffaloes. I think 

 I did, however, see the bird mentioned by l\Ir. Stoue ; and I 

 have also seen comm.on heaps of dung so large as to make 

 me wonder when I first saw them. With respect to the large 

 bird, from what I have heard from more than one person who 

 was up the Baxter River, I can safely reduce it to the moderate 

 si/ce of the Red-necked Hornbill {Buceros I'uficollis) ; pro- 

 bably, in the excitement for novelties, tAVO or thi-ee bird.-^ 



SER. 111. VOL. VI. 2 B 



