Avifauna of the Fiji Islands. 293 



River several years before. I kept it in captivity for nearly 

 a year, but it died a short time before I left. This species 

 has a peculiar goat-like odour, which is very noticeable 

 in the skins, and this made my bird less attractive as a pet 

 than it otherwise would have been. 



The cry is peculiarly harsh. My captive bird never 

 learned to talk ; it had a peculiar cackling note, uttered 

 during the night-time, which was quite distinct from that of 

 the other species. 



Of the rarer birds peculiar to Fiji this will be the first to 

 become extinct at no very distant date. 



[ ? adult. March 29, 1910. Suva, Vitilevu. This 

 specimen is just finishing its moult of body-feathers only. 

 Wing 230 mm. ; tail 233; tarsus 22 ; bill 25 *.— C. B. T.] 



Calliptilus solitarius. (Plate V.) 

 CaUiptilus solitarius Salvad. Cat. Birds, xx. p. 42. 

 The " Kula " of the natives was dubbed solitarius by 

 Latham, though, like previous observers, I am quite at a loss 

 to understand the reason, for I never saw a more sociable 

 bird. Round the centres of civilization it is now only 

 occasionally seen. It has a peculiarly shrill cry, sounding, 

 in the distance, not unlike a squeaky wheel. Though it has 

 suffered severely from the attentions of the Mongoose, 

 large flocks still frequent the forests in the more inacces- 

 sible places in Yitilevu. In Kandavu it is said to be very 

 abundant. It was seen in great numbers flitting about the 

 cocoannt-palms in Taviuni and in Oneata, but not in 

 Lakeniba or in Loma-Loma. In Taviuni I obtained some 

 nestlings in December. The nesting-holes in decaying 

 stumps were known to the planter ; some of these he 

 exposed and closed the aperture thus made with stones, so 

 that they could be visited year after year. They were 

 situated on a level with the ground, so it is easy to under- 

 stand how this peculiarly handsome species has suffered 



[* All measurements of bills are taken from the anterior part of the 

 nasal apertm-e to the tip of the bill, to my mind the only method of 

 obtaining imiformity, — C. B. T.] 



