114 Ornithological Letters from the Pacific. 



they are not native species^ but the offspring of imported tame 

 birds, which have run wild and have returned to the original 

 plumage of Gallus ferrugineus of Sumatra. This appears 

 to me a most interesting fact in support of the stability of 

 species, and goes to prove that nature is able to maintain a 

 species, even if a great deal of the original character be lost 

 under the continued influence of domestication. 



In speaking of the ornithology of Ponape, it is a most agree- 

 able duty for me to mention the name of Johann S. Kubary, in 

 whose house I spent some delightful days. The fame of this 

 indefatigable traveller and naturalist will be already known to 

 the readers of ' The Ibis/ more especially in connexion with 

 the Museum Godeffroy at Hamburg, for which Kubary was 

 working in the South Seas ten years. How he worked, and 

 with what enormous zeal and diligence, can only be under- 

 stood by those who have had the pleasure of seeing all his ex- 

 tensive manuscripts in various branches of science, which 

 treat not only of zoology, but also of anthropology, ethno- 

 logy, and language. No doubt Johann Kubary is the best 

 living authority on the Pelews, Ruck, Ponape, Nuguoro, and 

 the Carolines generally ; and his researches would furnish the 

 most accurate and minute details on this portion of Micro- 

 nesia. Alas ! his various careful and extensive reports, with 

 the exception of a very limited number, remain in the 

 archives of the Museum Godeffroy ; and we can only 

 express a wish that they may be published to the scientific 

 world as soon as possible. The name of Kubary, hitherto 

 merely known as that of a good collector, would then also be 

 known as that of an excellent observer to whom science 

 should feel indebted for ever, as having obtained, through 

 him, a full knowledge of the Caroline archipelago, as well as 

 of various other parts of the Pacific. 



I append a list of the birds of Ponape; those marked with 

 an asterisk I was fortunate enough to obtain or to observe 

 myself. 



1. Asio brachyotus (L.). 

 *2. Trichoglossus rubiginosus (Bp.). 



