^"lel^'J WILSON, Papua, the Land of Birds. 273 



Papua — The Land of Birds 



By A. H. WILSON, visiting Ornithologist from Great Britain. 

 Communicated by Dr. J. A. LEACH, C.M.B.O.U. 



Australia's nearest neighbour and largest possession — Papua- 

 has always attracted me as a field for bird-observation since, as 

 a boy, I saw Gould's book and tried to believe his colours were 

 not imaginary. This year, armed with a telescope, I went there 

 to see for myself, and spent many delightful weeks among birds 

 in such numbers and variety that identification of species was 

 difiicult. The official "Handbook of Papua," I9I2, which, 

 though now out of date, precedes the war years, and therefore 

 a period during which little or no research was earned out, 

 states that over 500 species of birds are found, of which 50 or 

 60 genera are peculiar to the island. 



Now this statement is beyond dispute, because over 500 species 

 certainly abound there, but the words "over 500" to me imply 

 less than 600, and even less than 550, and I know that, if such 

 a number only has been recorded, there is open a vast field for 

 a man or a society wishing to add new species to science. I have 

 seen four birds which neither Gould, nor Australian museums, 

 nor Papuan collections have given names to. In four days de- 

 voted to the watching and identification of birds I had distin- 

 guished 158 different species. Is it humanly possible to find over 

 one in four of the birds of a country about as large as New 

 South Wales and Victoria together in four days, never moving 

 more than 10 miles from a given centre ? 



Papua seems to be the m.eeting place of birds from Mongolia, 

 through Siam and Borneo to India, with those of Australia and 

 the Islands, birds in vast numbers and every hue. One hot mid- 

 day in the jungle I stopped on my way, below a hollow- centred, 

 bushy tree, near a few tall cotton-trees and breadfruits. Idly I 

 made a squealing noise like a small bird in trouble, and in a few 

 seconds came fussily a pair of dappled Flycatchers, black and 

 grey. They bustled over my head excitedly, but would not leave. 

 I went on calling, and suddenly I saw a pair of Honey-eaters ap- 

 pear, a shining glory of gold below, with heads as black as jet. 

 These and the first-comers joined with me in uproar, attracting 

 a Black-crested Flycatcher, all sombre black with crown erect, 

 and behind him yet another Flycatcher, like a Foxhound, white, 

 black and tan. Then the babble increased with sudden cres- 

 cendo as a flock of the glossy Calornis arrived, the Starling 

 that rivals the opal and flashes a brilliant ruby eye. A Pink-headed 

 Fruit Pigeon last appeared from overhead, and now there were 

 six varieties in view, with a Parrot calling above, when suddenly 

 all grew silent, and not a bird could be seen on my humble tree : 

 but a Grey Falcon with rosy breast sailed overhead. 



I had thought that a flock of Black Swans rising from water 

 made a considerable noise, but that is nothing to the d'^afening 



