﻿26 
  COLLECTIONS 
  FROM 
  MELANESIA. 
  

  

  b. 
  5 
  imm. 
  Port 
  MoUe, 
  May 
  1881. 
  Legs 
  and 
  feet 
  greenish 
  grey. 
  

  

  c. 
  2 
  juv. 
  Port 
  Molle, 
  May 
  1881. 
  Legs 
  and 
  feet 
  red; 
  bill 
  black. 
  

  

  d. 
  Pull. 
  Thursday 
  Island, 
  July 
  1881. 
  Bill, 
  legs, 
  and 
  feet 
  black 
  ; 
  

  

  iris 
  brown. 
  

  

  e. 
  S 
  j^iv. 
  Prince 
  of 
  Wales 
  Island, 
  Aug. 
  1881. 
  Iris 
  reddish 
  orange; 
  

  

  bill 
  greenish 
  black 
  ; 
  legs 
  and 
  feet 
  olive-brown. 
  

   /. 
  S 
  ad. 
  Booby 
  Island, 
  Aug. 
  1881. 
  Soft 
  parts 
  as 
  in 
  preceding. 
  

   g. 
  6 
  juv. 
  Booby 
  Island, 
  Aug. 
  1881. 
  Legs 
  and 
  feet 
  greenish 
  grey. 
  

  

  The 
  very 
  interesting 
  series 
  collected 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Coppinger 
  ranges 
  from 
  

   the 
  tiny 
  nestling 
  to 
  the 
  fully 
  adult 
  bird. 
  The 
  age 
  of 
  a 
  specimen 
  is 
  

   easily 
  determined 
  by 
  its 
  under 
  tail-coverts, 
  which 
  are 
  yellow 
  in 
  the 
  

   immature 
  birds 
  and 
  deepen 
  into 
  rich 
  orange 
  in 
  the 
  adult 
  ones. 
  It 
  

   will 
  be 
  noticed 
  that 
  young 
  birds 
  were 
  found, 
  both 
  in 
  May 
  and 
  

   August, 
  just 
  beginning 
  to 
  put 
  on 
  the 
  bright 
  plumage 
  of 
  the 
  breast 
  ; 
  

   those 
  killed 
  in 
  August 
  are 
  getting 
  the 
  rose-coloured 
  crown. 
  This 
  

   either 
  shows 
  that 
  the 
  breeding-times 
  are 
  not 
  identical 
  in 
  Torres 
  

   Straits 
  and 
  at 
  Port 
  Molle, 
  or 
  that 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  brood 
  is 
  reared 
  in 
  

   the 
  year. 
  

  

  60. 
  Megapodius 
  duperreyi, 
  Less. 
  

  

  Oustalet, 
  Bibl. 
  Haiites 
  Ehccles, 
  xxii. 
  p. 
  17 
  (1881). 
  

   Megapodius 
  assimilis, 
  Masters 
  ; 
  Ramsay, 
  t. 
  c, 
  p. 
  196. 
  

  

  a. 
  5. 
  Prince 
  of 
  Wales 
  Island, 
  Torres 
  Straits, 
  Aug. 
  1881. 
  Bill 
  

   reddish 
  brown, 
  with 
  yellow 
  edges 
  ; 
  legs 
  bright 
  orange 
  ; 
  iris 
  

   light 
  reddish 
  brown 
  ; 
  scales 
  of 
  toes 
  dark 
  reddish 
  brown. 
  

  

  h. 
  <S 
  . 
  Booby 
  Island, 
  Aug. 
  1881. 
  Iris 
  dark 
  brown. 
  

  

  M. 
  Oustalet, 
  who 
  has 
  recently 
  written 
  a 
  monograph 
  of 
  theMega- 
  

   podes, 
  unites 
  M. 
  tumulus 
  of 
  Australia 
  and 
  M. 
  assimilis 
  of 
  Masters 
  

   with 
  the 
  well-known 
  M. 
  dvperrcyi 
  ; 
  and 
  on 
  looking 
  over 
  the 
  series 
  

   in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum, 
  I 
  confess 
  that 
  his 
  opinion 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  well 
  

   founded. 
  

  

  61. 
  Rallus 
  pMlippensis, 
  L. 
  

  

  Hypotsenidia 
  philippensis, 
  Ramsay^ 
  t. 
  c. 
  p. 
  199. 
  

   a. 
  (S 
  . 
  Channel 
  Rock, 
  June 
  1881. 
  Iris 
  red. 
  

  

  62. 
  Porphyrio 
  melanonotns, 
  Temm, 
  

   Ramsay, 
  t. 
  c. 
  p. 
  199. 
  

  

  a. 
  2 
  • 
  Booby 
  Island, 
  Aug. 
  1881. 
  Iris 
  bright 
  orange-red. 
  

  

  63. 
  .Slsacus 
  magnirostris 
  {Geoffr.). 
  

   Ramsay, 
  t. 
  c. 
  p. 
  196. 
  

  

  a. 
  2 
  • 
  I^ort 
  Molle, 
  Quccsland. 
  

  

  