306 Dr. P. 11. Balir : Notes on the 



head and a yellow bill. One specimen only was procured 

 and was said to be an adult male ; it has apjoarently never 

 been seen since. I would venture to suggest, however, 

 that it may be a freak of a similar nature to the bird 

 described above. 



[c^'juv. Aug. 11, 1910. Suva, Vitilevu. Wing 57 mm. 



? ad. Aug. 11, 1910. Suva, Vitilevu. Wing 56 mm. 



? ad. Aug. 11, 1910. Suva, Vitilevu. Wing 57 mm. 



These specimens are typical. The adults are in fresh 



plumage, one still having a few body-feathers in quill ; 



the young bird shews no moult. Either the breeding-season 



is an extended one or the juvenile plumage is worn for 



some time, as I find in the British Museum a specimen 



in that plumage shot on February 28; on the other hand, 



there are some getting the red head in October and November. 



— C. B. T.l 



jNIegapodius sp. inc. 



There is a general belief amongst Europeans in Vitilevu 

 that a Megapode similar to that found in Ninafou [M. stairi 

 Gray) lately existed there, and has been exterminated by 

 the Mongoose. The attention of ornithologists not having 

 been seriously drawn to the subject, I append a valuable 

 note which I have received from Dr. B. Glanvill Corney: — 



" Tliere is, or was until eight or ten years ago, a bird in 

 the interior and northern coast tracts of Vitilevu called 

 the ' Sasa'; described as having speckled plumage and run- 

 ning along the ground among reeds, cane-brakes, and under- 

 growth. By 'reeds,' in Fiji, are meant light canes — 

 Eulalia japonica — not rushes. The Sasa did not fly, and 

 seems to have been a mound-builder. 1 once met m ith some 

 dogs in a remote mountain village that the natives had 

 specially trained to hunt the Sasa, uhich they described 

 as KoU dankata sasa, i.e. Sasa-eatcliing dogs ; but? I never 

 succeeded in seeing a Slisa, nor did my friend ]Mr. Frank 

 11. S. Baxendale, who, as Assistant Resident Commissioner 

 in the hill districts, lived for more than a year in the Sasa 

 country. His successor, INlr. Georgius Wright, however, 

 had several living specimens in his possession for some time, 



