Ornithological Notes in the New Hebrides. 607 



XXXVIII. — Ornithological Notes in the New Hebrides. 

 By A. M. Farquhar, Captain R.N.* 



Having spent five months of 1899, viz. from May to Ootober, 

 in the New Hebrides, I think some notes of my cruises in 

 those waters may be of interest to the readers of ' The Ibis.' 

 Roughly speaking, these islands lie between latitudes 15° 

 and 20° South and longitude 166° and 170° East. They are 

 volcanic in nature, the soil consisting of disintegrated lava 

 and coral. There are at least four active volcanoes in the 

 group. All the islands are mountainous, some of the peaks 

 being nearly 6000 feet high. The largest of the islands are 

 Espiritu Santo and Mallicollo ; here the natives are still 

 cannibals, which adds some excitement to bird-collecting. I 

 was much assisted in my ornithological pursuits by the 

 officers of H.M.S. 'Wallaroo^ and by my steward, James 

 Heaver, who helped me with the skinning. 



Arriving at Fila, in the island of Efate, on the 10th of 

 May, I landed that evening. Not many birds were to be 

 seen, except Artamus melanoleucus , great imml;ers of which 

 were hawking round the higher branches of a huge banyan. 

 I came across these AVood-Swallows in various parts of the 

 group ; they have a cui*ious habit of sitting in a row along 

 a bare branch, and 1 generally found them infested with a 

 parasitical fly. 



From Efate I went to South-west Bay, Mallicollo, where 

 we stayed some time. The forest iiere abounds in the fine 

 Pigeon Globicera pacifica, the loud booming note of which 

 may be heard at a great distance. When looking for small 

 birds, I found great difficulty in preventing the natives taking 

 me after these Pigeons, as they could not understand why 

 I should trouble about such insignificant little things as 

 Honey-eaters, Flycatchers, Zosteropes, &c., when there was 

 bigger game about. Globicera pacifica has an extraordinary 

 large lump at the base of the bill. Laer on, at Eromanga, 

 I shot a good many Pigeons of this genus, and I then noticed 



* [These notes were apparently intended as an introduction to 

 Dr. Sharpe's account of Capt. Farquhar's collection of birds (above, 

 p. 3.S7), but did not reach us until after Dr, Sharpe's paper had been 

 published, — Edd.j 



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