IMckmore. loi) [November 18, 



Prof. Albert S. Bickmore exhibited a few of the birds 

 which he had collected in the eastern part of the East Indian 

 Arcliipelago, especially on the Island of Burn. 



The most remarkable family for their variety and the brilliancy of 

 their plumage was that of the doves, of which specimens of eight 

 species were secured on that island alone. The next noticeable 

 family was that of the parrots, of which six species were collected. 

 For a part of the time that Mr. Bickmore was on Buru, a tree larger 

 than our oak was filled with bright scarlet flowers, and v/hole groves 

 of these trees Avere fre(piently seen. In the branches of these trees 

 hundreds of the scarlet Luri, l^los rubra Wagl., and the green and 

 red parakeet, Trichor/lossus cyanogranimus Wagl., would gather in 

 the early morning and poise themselves with their wings while they 

 tore in pieces the richly colored flowers. The largest of the parrot 

 family, the Tanyf]nathus affinis Wall., seemed to be partial to the 

 fruit of the teak tree, and also came to fcfed in the morning and 

 evening. When one was shot its cries alwa}-s brought back its 

 mate, and sometimes tlie whole flock would return as if desirous to 

 render assistance. The lichly colored Edectu.i paniceus Scop, only 

 perches in the tops of the highest trees, and therefore is one of the 

 most didicult of the parrots to shoot. The richest of all the gaily- 

 plumaged parrot family in that region is the castori rajah, or 

 " Pidnce parrot," as it is called by the Malays. These brilliant birds 

 ahvays fly in pairs, and it is most startling and delightful to the 

 naturalist to see them dart by him and instantly disappear into the 

 dark jungles.^ 



Mr. Bickmore also spoke of the difficulty of making a collection of 

 birds where there is a continuous rainy season for half the year, and 

 especially on account of the swarms of ants that eat up almost every- 

 thing but arsenic. His collection had remained jiacked up for two 

 years and a half and yet the sheen and brilliancy of the plumage 

 was unimpairjJ. Hl' had himself searched, and employed many 

 natives to search also, for bii-ds' eggs, but he had not been able 

 to procure any on that island, except those of the Megapodius 

 WaMacei, each of which is fully one-third of the size of the bird's 

 body. ]\Ir. Bickmore also exhibited a pair of the large bats of that 

 region. The wings of the male measured four feet and four inches 

 from tip to tip, and that of the female four feet and eight inches. 



1 For a more detailed account of the habits of those bird-, see "Travels in the 

 Kast Indian Archipelago," by Albert S. Bickmore, A. M. 



