Letters frcm the Pacific. 107 



small Pigeons myself. They are not at all shy ; but, as already 

 explained, the difficulty is to discern the small green body, 

 so much like the leaves around it. The Carpophagce are there- 

 fore easier to obtain ; besides they are much more common, 

 and are not at all shy. They roost generally higher up in the 

 trees, and need heavier shot. The call of these birds is a 

 deep roo-oo, two or three times repeated, but is far less often 

 heard than the lively call of the Ptihpus. Of the Carpo- 

 phaga I got young ones, and old ones in moult, as well as 

 birds in full dress ; so that the breeding-season must vary 

 very much, and extend over nearly the whole year. Both 

 these Pigeons feed upon various fruits ; and it is astonishing 

 what large-sized ones they are able to swallow. In Coquille 

 harbour I observed the same species of birds as I mentioned 

 above, but I got besides Numenius phoeopus and Phaeton flavi- 

 rostris (captured on the nest), and I found large breeding 

 colonies of Anous melanogenys, the loosely constructed nest 

 being placed on the branches of mangrove trees, mostly at a 

 considerable height, and not accessible even to good climbers. 

 In the dense mangrove-woods, partially flooded at high tides, 

 I found another winged animal, which old Gessner would 

 have, taken for a bird, and which I at first took for the same. 

 On the occasion of my first hunting-party, I saw for a moment 

 a large winged animal between the tops of the trees, and 

 exclaimed '^An Owl ! an Owl ! " beginning to consider at the 

 same moment whether it would turn out to be Asio bra- 

 chyotus or a new and interesting species. When, however, 

 the same animal made its appearance a second time, I found 

 the supposed Owl to be Pteropus ualensis, so erroneously 

 called by the English " Flying Fox/' and by the Germans 

 '' Flying Dog 'M ! 



In the whole avifauna of Kushai, of which I append a 

 list, we find the total number of species to be twenty- 

 two, of which only three, Zosterops cinerea, Sturnoides 

 corvinus, and Ptilopms hernsheimi are peculiar to the island. 

 The others have a wider distribution in the Western Pacific, 

 or are migratory birds. To those acquainted with the 

 next high island, Ponape, it must seem very strange not to 



