360 



eed by the constant irritation of insect-bitis on my 

 legs, kept me in the house for several weeks, and 

 the east wind became so strong, and the weather 

 so wet and boisterous, as to render travelling by 

 sea in a small boat out of the question. A little 

 later, one of my bird-skinners left me, and the other 

 was laid up with intermittent fever, so I was com- 

 pelled to make the best of it , and get what 1 could 

 in the small island till the commencement of July, 

 when we returned direct to Macassar. 



Having thus given an outline of my journey, I shall 

 proceed to give some account of the ornithology and ge- 

 neral natural history of the Aru Islands , and a sum- 

 mary of the collections I have made there. The very 

 first bird likely to attract one's attention at Dobbo 

 is a most beautiful brush-tongued parroquet, closely 

 allied to Trichofjlossus cyanogrammus Wagl. It fre- 

 quents in flocks the Casuarina-trees which line the 

 beach, and its crimson under wings and orange breast 

 make it a most conspicuous and brilliant object. lts 

 twittering whistle may be heard ahnost constantly in 

 the vicinity of the trees it frequents. Almost the only 

 other birds which approach the village are a swal- 

 low {Hirundo nigricaiis Vieill)., found also in New 

 Guinea and Australia, and an Artamus , probably A. 

 pajmensis Tcmm., which perches occasionally on the 

 house-tops, or on dead trees in the neighbourhood. 

 A little black-and-white wagtail flycatcher [B/iipidura 

 sp.) may also often be seen among bushes, and on 

 the sea-beach , chirping musically, and waving lateral- 

 ly its expanded tail whenever it alights. 



In the forest which evervwherc covers the islands, 



