270 ^h•. \V. P. Lowe on I he [Ibis, 



here f settle! down to work — cliieiiy on Tasso LsUukI, — but 

 paying a t"e\v short visits to Yatwurd, Mayahgb;!^ Rotoonibo, 

 and other ishinds, as well as a day's sail up the liokelle River 

 to Mabile, where the river becomes more narrow and difficult 

 of passage on account of the large rocks in the river-bed. 

 It was here tliat I saw on 16 April a Kori Bustard, which 

 almost without doubt was Otis kori strutldanculus. So far as 

 I know, no Kori Bustard has been recorded from the West 

 C.'oast, and it is therefore possible that, had I obtained a 

 specimen, it would have proved to belong to an nndescribed 

 race — possibly a tlark form of the North-African Kori 

 Bustard. I also came across a small dry pond where the bird 

 dusted itself, and was able to examine many feathers from 

 the wings. 



On my return I stayed at IMahera, and it was here I 

 discovered the new Giant Swift [Micropus frr/uatorialis lowei), 

 which Mr. Bannerman has described, in abundance. 



I shall now confine myself chiefly to Tasso Island. It 

 may be of interest to say that the word Tasso means " a 

 resting-place," where all the native boats sto[) on their 

 journeys up and down the river waiting for wind and tide. 

 Mayahgba means " shaky island " — possibly on account of 

 tlie wind ; Yatward was named after a chief of the island ; 

 whilst the large long island of Rotoomba, which swarms 

 with game ami is nearly all covered with thick bush, means 

 " Croat island," on account of the so-called "Bush-Goats" 

 (^Cej^Jialopus ni<jer), which seem to occur here and not on any 

 of the other islands. 



The rather important village of Tasso is at the north- 

 west corner of the island, and is one of the few spots not 

 surrounded by a dense belt of mangroves. It was, no 

 doubt, like Bense Island, a stronghold of the Dutch and 

 Portuguese slavers — as the still remaining old cannons half 

 buried in sand prove. The island is loughly about three by 

 four miles in extent and distant a mile from the mainland 

 It is probably about 60 ft. high and, like the mainland, of 

 volcanic origin. It has a light sandy soil, and is for the 

 most part covered with low scrubby bush, which is burnt 



