30 LETTER FROM DR. A. B. MEYER. [ Jan. 19, 
Another informant tells me Sterna bergii breeds on his rocks in 
November. 
While at Suva lately I saw Charadrius fulvus in pairs, the male 
in full nuptial dress. 
The testes of Chrysena luteovirens, Columba vitiensis, and Carpo- 
phaga latrans were also much developed ; but I obtained eggs of the 
latter two months ago. I have eggs and young of Platycercus 
splendens and P. personatus, the latter nearly fully fledged. By the 
way, Professor von Suhm, of the ‘Challenger,’ and I, after going care- 
fully into the subject, have come to the conclusion that the “Orange 
Dove” of Savinni and Lanthala (Chrysena victor, Gould) is a phase 
of plumage of the “Green Dove” (C. luteovirens); the change is 
hardly more remarkable than the adult change of Ptilinopus perousei, 
also from green to yellow, though a very light one. 
The Fiji Islands are very destitute of birds, very few being seen or 
heard in the forests ; and its shores are equally void of bird-life. An 
exception there is in the case of the little Swift, Collocalia spodio- 
pygia, which seems universally distributed, both inland and in the 
maritime regions. Charadrius fulvus goes up the river a long way, 
and is sometimes seen in flocks of two or three hundreds, as I saw 
them on the Rewa. It is very strange, however, to look on the sea, 
as I do from my house, and not to see the white wing of a Tern for 
weeks at a time; of Gulls there are none. I have seen a Puffinus 
(probably P. nugaz) in my cruising ; and Sterna fuliginosa and Anous 
stolidus (or A. leucocapillus) appear in large flocks; Gygis alba I 
saw lately on the east coast of Viti Levu (this is not included in the 
table of distribution) ; and I have detected the tail-feathers of Phaéton 
rubricauda in the heads of some natives. Anas superciliosa is 
common on the rivers, and Dendrocygna vagans in the marshes on 
the west coast of Viti Levu; it is called by the planters the “ Moun- 
tain Duck ;”” and they say it comes from the interior. 
Levuka, Ovalaii, Fiji. 
September 6, 1874. 
January 19, 1875. 
Robert Hudson, Esq., F.R.S., V.P., in the Chair. 
The Secretary called attention to a letter recently received from 
Ternate, in which the writer (Mr. A. A. Bruijn) stated that he 
possessed living examples of Dasyptilus pesqueti, and of four species 
of Paradise-birds, namely Paradisea papuana, Seleucides alba, 
Diphyllodes speciosa, and Ptilorhis magnifica. 
The Secretary read a letter received from Dr. Adolf Bernhard 
Meyer, communicating some remarks on the new Bird of Paradise 
lately discovered in Eastern Waigiou, and described by Mr. S. C. T. 
