FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 129 
ful. One misses the usual number of gulls found in bays and 
harbors. 
Almost immediately on landing, the attention of the visitor is 
drawn to small flocks of strong-flying brown and white birds with 
a patch of white in the wing and which are possessed of loud and 
rather harsh, discordant cries. In the coconut and mango trees, 
on and about the buildings adjacent to Victoria Parade, the prin- 
cipal thoroughfare of the city, along the beach at low tide, in the 
more or less cultivated regions, everywhere, in fact, the hardy, 
inquisitive and belligerent mynah (Acridotheres tristis) is found. 
This species was introduced into Fiji many years ago in an attempt 
to control insect pests but it has found other food more easily 
available and so agricultural interests have not benefited by its 
presence. It partakes somewhat of the characteristics of the 
European house sparrow with respect to nesting habits, fecundity 
and adaptability and, in general, is held in ill repute by natives 
and Europeans alike. 
*‘Indeed, an interesting analogy prevails between the Asiatic 
people and the Fijians on the one hand and the Mynah and the 
native Fijian birds on the other. The hardier and more aggressive 
Chinese and Indians, the latter introduced in great numbers into 
Fiji largely under the indenture plan of labor, are slowly but sure- 
ly forcing down the Fijians who, though seemingly powerless to 
help the situation, hate the newcomers most heartily; the more so 
as they see business and property along with wealth and all that 
goes with it gradually coming into the power of the invaders. So 
it is with the hardy and aggressive Mynah as compared with the 
native birds. This crafty and quarrelsome introduced species 
stands back for no native bird and is gradually outstripping the 
native species in the struggle for maintenance. The same condi- 
tion prevails in the Hawaiian Islands and may become true in 
New Zealand. 
‘“‘The Mynah is a trimly built bird about ten inches in length 
with the upper parts, breast and sides brown, the head and neck 
black, the lower parts white and a white bar on the wings. The 
short blunt bill is yellow and there is a bare patch of yellow skin 
behind the eye. Mynahs are mainly terrestrial and gregarious; 
they have a considerable variety of notes and are great imitators. 
Their nests, loose bulky affairs, are sometimes placed on the branch- 
es of trees but more often in gutters and unused chimneys of 
