608 Capt. A. M. Farquhar — Ornithological 



that the Eromanga bird differs considerably in colouring and 

 that the lump on the bill is much smaller than in Globicera 

 pacifica; it has now been described as G. farquhari (above, 

 p. 349). 



It was at South-west Bay that I first made the ac- 

 quaintance of Meriila mareensis, being attracted by its alarm- 

 note, which is very like that of our Common Blackbird; it 

 has another note, which may best be described as '^siss, 

 siss/' It was the only bird of the kind I saw there, though 

 I afterwards found it fairly common at Hog Harbour, 

 Espiritu Santo ; it was always extremely wild, and I only 

 shot one during my stay in the New Hebrides. Five others 

 were snared for me by the natives ; all six specimens proved 

 unfortunately to be hens. I obtained three or four clutches 

 of eggs, all two in number. 



A pretty little green Pigeon [P til opus grey i) was common ; 

 also Chalcophaps chrysochlora, which is generally to be found 

 feeding on the ground in the native clearings. The inhabi- 

 tants catch them by means of an ingenious snare constructed 

 of twigs, with a noose made of fine fibre, Macropygia rufa 

 was frequently met with at South-west Bay, though not in 

 such numbers as in cultivated portions of tiie New Hebrides, 

 Twice, M'hile in the islands, a bright yellow dove of this 

 genus was described to me, but though an officer of H.M.S. 

 * Wallaroo^ once came across it, I failed to obtain a speci- 

 men ; indeed, by all accounts, it is very rare. 



Butorides stugnatilis and Demiegretta sacra were common 

 along the edges of the mangrove lagoon, and I found the 

 nests of the latter on a small rocky island, placed on the 

 ground, but it was too early for eggs. As 1 had come to 

 South-west Bay in H.M.S, 'Wallaroo^ for the purpose of 

 punishing the natives implicated in the murder of a trader, 

 it was not safe to stray very far from the ship. My ex- 

 cursions, consequently, were restricted to below an 800-ft. 

 level , indeed I found it difficult while in the islands to get 

 above this height — not, as a rule, on account of the natives, 

 but "cnerallv owing to want of time and to the density of 

 the forests and the danger of fever when camping out. 



From South-west Bay I went to Pangkumu, cast coast of 



