74 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



Megapodius pritchardi, and is among the smallest of the genus but lays 

 a very large egg. The average measurements of the bird are : length 

 304 mm., circumference 228 mm., and spread of wings 609 mm. The 

 average measurements of the light buff-colored egg are : long diameter 

 76 mm., short diameter 45 mm. The bird lays its egg in the ash hills 

 of the 1886 eruption on the western side of the lake shore. It then 

 buries the egg 1 to 2 meters deep in the ash and fills up the hole all the 

 way to the surface. The temperature of the ash at the spot where the 

 egg is laid is 98. i° F. ; this heat is not connected with the heat of the 

 volcano, but is rather a Dutch-oven effect. When the chick is hatched 

 it scratches its way out of the ash and is ready to begin life's battles. 

 I could not find any evidence of the male bird tending the young 

 chicks, as is usual with this genus in Australia and the Philippines. 



The most important product of the soil is the cocoanut. The island 

 is a veritable paradise for cocoanut palms, for they have never been 

 attacked by the rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoscerae, the scourge of 

 the South Sea Islands. It is one of the few islands in the Pacific free 

 of that pest, probably because of its isolated position and consequent 

 lack of communication with other islands. The trees here grow very 

 tall, the roots forming a dense network extending out in all directions 

 for many feet, enabling them to withstand the intense trade winds. 

 This tree gives the natives shelter and food; it also furnishes a wel- 

 come substitute for drinking water, as there is no fresh water on the 

 island except the rain water that is caught in small tanks, which is 

 quickly used up in the dry season. The water of the green cocoanuts 

 is therefore the natives' only beverage, and on the warmest days it is 

 found to be cool and a very refreshing and wholesome drink. The 

 extensive use of cocoanuts for domestic purposes by the natives does 

 not seem to decrease the crop to any extent, for copra (the meat of 

 the ripe cocoanut) is the one and only export from the island. 



There is evidence that the western side of the island is rising. The 

 western shore of the lake shows an uplift and the lava is covered with 

 lime deposits in the shape of large blisters, probably formed by blue- 

 green algae. Under these blisters were found numerous small crabs 

 of the genus Metasesarma. Tow-net hauls were made from time to 

 time in the lake with good results, one of the interesting specimens 

 thus collected being a small shrimp of the genus Caridina, but no fish 

 were found in the lake The water is no doubt accumulated rain water, 

 and its alkalinity is due to the volcanic gases bubbling up from below. 

 Five small sulphur lakes are located on the southern end of the island 

 near the crater lake, one a bubbling lake giving off sulphuretted hydro- 

 gen gas, the temperature of which was 98 F. Samples of water from 

 all the lakes and craters were collected and brought back for analysis. 



