78 Mr, AV. R. Ogilvie-Graut on the Birds collected 



more beautiful, so that those without any special knowledge 

 of birds may, if they care to do so, form some idea of the 

 marvellous types which have been brought home from the 

 interior of South-western New Guinea. 



It is certain that the resources of that wonderful island 

 are not nearly exhausted : on the contrary, every fresh 

 collecting expedition sent to the interior produces remark- 

 able novelties, and large chains of high mountains are still 

 unexplored. The members of our Expedition were fortunate 

 in procuring no less than 2200 skins of birds in New Guinea, 

 representing about 235 species, of which ten proved to be 

 new to science. A number of new birds were also obtained 

 by the late Mr. Wilfred Stalker in the mountains of Ceram, 

 which he visited before joining the main Expedition at 

 Amboina. His premature death by drowaiing, a few days 

 after he landed in New Guinea, was an immense loss to the 

 Expedition, though his place Avas ably filled by Mr. Claude 

 Grant, who worked with his characteristic zeal and en- 

 thusiasm. 



It will be noticed that the great bulk of the birds inhal)iting 

 New Guinea belong to a comparatively small number of 

 families, but that each of these is represented by a large 

 number of different species, especially in such groups as the 

 Pigeons, Parrots, Flycatchers, and Honey-eaters. 



Amongst the Pigeons, of which no fewer than twenty- 

 seven different kinds were obtained, it would seem as 

 though, in some instances at least, Nature had almost come 

 to the end of her resources in devising ncw^ and wonderful 

 arrangements of colour and markings ; for in some of the 

 smaller Fruit-Pigeons, such as Ptilopus gestroi and P. zonurus, 

 we find two perfectly distinct species, occurring side by side, 

 possessing almost exactly the same remarkable scheme of 

 coloration, and only differing in certain minor points to be 

 found in the markings of the wing-coverts. Another very 

 similar instance is to be seen in Ptilojms coronulatus and 

 P. nanus, almost the same colours and pattern being repeated 

 in both. 



The collection ol^itained by our Expedition is a very 



