Avifauna of the Fiji Islands. 287 



From Sydney to Fiji is a week's journey, and the 

 unpleasant damp heat is an unwelcome change after the 

 cool breezes of Soutliern Australia. After leaving Sydney 

 and steering in a northerly direction the Mutton Bird 

 became extremely numerous. We soon passed between some 

 remarkable rocks, Lord Howe Island and Ball's Pyramid, 

 situated in the middle of the Pacific. Lord Howe Island 

 rises to a height of 2840 feet and is evidently the breeding- 

 place of a number of sea-birds. There were great numbers 

 of Gannets {Sula serrator), Noddies of two kinds [Anous 

 stolidus and A. cinereus), Storm-Petrels [Thalassidroma 

 mel ana g aster), and several Red-tailed Tropic Birds {Phaeton 

 rubricaudu) ; the last-named species was seen to dive from 

 an extraordinary height with a plunge which outrivalled 

 that of any Gannet. 



A few black Boobies [Sula cyanops) were seen as we 

 rapidly approached the Fiji group. 



Ornithology was not the primary object of my work in 

 Fiji ; medical and microscopical investigations necessarily 

 claimed the most of my time and attention. Being unable to 

 obtain any local assistance, I had little leisure for collecting 

 and preserving skins. However, I kept a daily record of the 

 birds seen in the vicinity of my house and tlie garden, which, 

 having lain uncultivated for some time, had become over- 

 growai with thick jungle. 



Although a considerable amount has been written on 

 Fijian ornithology, yet little has been added to our knowledge 

 within the last twenty years ; still more is to be learned, I 

 am aure, and this investigation must be quickly undertaken 

 or else it will be too late. With the object of stimulating 

 and directing the attention of ornithologists to this point, 

 these notes have been written, although, I admit, they are 

 extremely incomplete. 



Two events have happened since Finsch, Hartlaub and 

 Layard wrote, which have profoundly modified the propor- 

 tional status of the local avifauna. I refer to the introduction — 

 to my mind, an almost criminal act — of the Mongoose and 

 the Mynah {Acridotheres tristis) from India. The former 

 of these pests was introduced some twenty-five years ago to 



