50 



Campbell, Additions to " H. L. White Collection. 



r Emu 



Li=.t Oct. 



ThURsoAY 'O^y^^ C.York 



during the latter part of his stay. It was also unfortunate that 

 he was debarred by the authorities from landing on Saibai Island, 

 close to the New Guinea coast. An epidemic (influenza, so called) 

 was raging among the inhabitants of the Strait islands, and Saibai 

 was declared, up to that time, " clean " ; therefore strangers were 

 not permitted to land. Moreover, Mr. M'Lennan, with consider- 

 able Christian fortitude, had been assisting at the Thursday 

 Island hospital to nurse sick and dying inmates, both white and 

 coloured . 



The period of field-work extended from ist November, 1919, 

 to 13th April, 1920. During that period Mr. M'Lennan observed 

 116 species, of which, by excessive toil and patience, he secured 

 118 specimens, representing 61 kinds, of which 40 or 41 are 

 common to both AustraUa and New Guinea — an extremely inter- 

 esting and valuable collection. 



The following are some critical remarks and general observa- 

 tions on the material collected, which I have had the privilege 

 of examining at the National Museum, Melbourne, and by the 

 kind permission of Mr. White I was enabled to peruse the 

 collector's field-notes, a few of which I furnish, within brackets, 

 following my remarks on the species concerned. 



{Nomenclature according to the R.A.O.U. "Check-list" and 

 Mathews's " 1913 List." Names with an asterisk {*) are species 

 couimon to both Australia and New Guinea.) 

 Megapodius assimilis, Masters. Eastern Scrub-Fowl. 

 M. reinwardt assimilis. 



