Recently published Ornithological Wvi-ks. 385 



73. Finsch's ' Voyage of the ' Samoa * .* 



[Samoafahrten. Reise in Kaiser Wilhelms-Land und Englisch-neu- 

 Guinea in den Jaliren 1884 u. 1885, an bord des Deutschen Dampfers 

 "Samoa." Von Dr. Otto Finsch. Bvo. Leipzig: 1888.] 



Everyone interested in New Guinea should read Dr. Finscli's 

 " Samoa fahrten/^ which has nothing to do with the Samoan 

 Islands, but is a narrative of the voyage of discovery oi: the 

 s.s. ' Samoa ' along the coast of the new imperial colony 

 " Kaiser- Wilhelm-Land " and the adjacent islands of the 

 " Bismarck Archipelago." Starting from Sydney, the Impe- 

 rial Commissioner proceeded first to Mioko, one of the smaller 

 islands of the Duke-o£-York group, between New Britain 

 and New Ireland. Thence excursions were made for a 

 period of nine months, during which the whole German 

 coast of New Guinea and the greater part of the shores of 

 New Britain and New Ireland were visited. Some excellent 

 harbours were discovered, one of which, appropriately named 

 " Finsch-Hafen," has now, we are informed, become the 

 proud site of the new capital and the seat of government of 

 the German protectorate, whence regular steam communica- 

 tion is kept up with Cookstown in Queensland. 



The passages relating to birds in Dr. Finsch^s narrative 

 are not numerous, but are of some interest. An account is 

 given (p. 94 et seqq.) of the species to be heard and observed 

 at Friederich-Wilhelm-Hafen, on the north coast of New 

 Guinea, where a species of Pinarolestes appears to play the 

 part of a Nightingale. Landing on Fergusson Island, one 

 of the d'Entrecasteaux group, Dr. Finsch was fortunate 

 enough to shoot an example of Manucodia comrii (Scl. 

 P. Z. S. 1876, p. 459), one of the finest and rarest of the 

 Paradise Crows. He also observed that, judging from the 

 quantities of its feathers used for ornamentation by the 

 natives in the neighbourhood of Albrecht^s River, on the 

 north coast of Emperor William's Land, Dasyptilus pecqueti 

 must be quite abundant in that locality. Maps and charts 

 and excellent illustrations in the text serve to render Dr. 

 Finsch's little volume still more acceptable. 



