NOVITATBS ZOOLOGICAE. 



Vol. XX. OCTOBER 1913. No. 3. 



LIST OF THE COLLECTIONS OF BIRDS MADE BY 

 ALBERT S. MEEK IN THE LOWER RANGES OF THE 

 SNOW MOUNTAINS, ON THE EILANDEN RIVER, AND ON 

 MOUNT GOLIATH DURING THE YEARS 1910 AND 1911. 



By the Hon. WALTER ROTHSCHILD, F.R.S., Ph.D., and ERNST ^ 



HARTERT, Ph.D. ' /7 rp— /<W<. 



FOR several years we had iu vain urged our indefatigable correspondent Albert 

 S. Meek to make an attempt to collect in the Charles Louis or in the Snow 

 Mountains (which form the eastern much higher continuation of the latter) in 

 Dutch New Guinea, but not until 1909 did he declare himself to be willing to 

 undertake this somewhat difficult expedition. 



On May 1 Mr. Meek left Samarai for Port Moresby on his boat the " Shamrock," 

 and on the 22nd reached Merauke, the new settlement on the south coast of Dutch 

 New Guinea. From there he went along the coast in a Dutch patrol boat. The 

 Dutch authorities, especially Mr. Hellwig, the Resident at Merauke, Mr. Kalff, 

 Assistant-resident, Captain van der Bie, and later on Captain van der Ven, Captain 

 SchaefFer, and other officers of the inland expeditions were exceedingly kind to 

 Meek, and all our thanks are due to them. 



Most of Meek's collections were made on the Setekwa River, a small tributary 

 of the Oetakwa River, and at elevations from 2500 to 300U ft., two and three days 

 inland from " Canoe Camp," on the Oetakwa River. No attempt seems to have 

 been made to reach greater heights of the Snow Mountains. In going up the 

 river Mr. Meek had to depend entirely on the Bornean canoes belonging to the 

 Dutch Military Expedition. In his book, A Naturalist in Cannibal Land, on 

 pp. 216, 216, Mr. Meek writes : " On the way up from' Canoe ("amp my own boys 

 had to do all the carrying, because it was impossible to enlist any help from the 

 natives. The country through which we passed was of a limestone formation, 

 very savage and inhospitable. The limestone came ont in sharp ridges, and was 

 full of holes and caverns, making the march slow, difficult, and painful. As a 

 result of three days' hard work we got to a height of some 2500 ft., still in very 

 inhi)Kj)itable country, and aniong timid or semi-tiostile natives. The weather was 

 hot, and fever very bad in our camp. We found it imj)ossible to get any native 

 food, and so we had to do without vegetables. The only relief we had from the 

 tinned food and rice which we carried with us was an occasional grilled pigeon." 



Mr. Meek during Ills stay, liesides the collection of birds, made very large 

 collections of lei)ido])tera, containing nnmerons new species. 



In December Mr. Meek had a cordial oiler from the captain commanding the 

 Eilan<ien River Expedition to join his forces. This ofirr was too good to be 



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