94 DR. FINSCH ON A NEW SPECIES OF FRUIT- PIGEON. [Jail. 20, 



been given by Captain John Vine Hall*, whose interesting and 

 instructive paper may be referred to for further information. 



In respect of animal life on Rapa, Capt. Vine Hall only tells us 

 that wild goats are in abundance, as well as rats ; of the birds he 

 says only, " there are a few fowls wild in the bush, some widgeon, 

 and of course sea-gulls ;" but he does not mention pigeons. I am 

 not aware whom we have to thank for the discovery of this re- 

 markable Ptilonopus ; but I think I am not wrong in suspecting that 

 the specimen was obtained during the period when the Panama and 

 New-Zealand line of steamers was running. This line was stopped 

 some time ago ; so that it will now be very difficult to get more spe- 

 cimens of this bird. 



The geographical distribution of the Fruit-pigeons in the numerous 

 islands of the Pacific is very interesting, and confirms the rule that 

 insular regions produce a great quantity of species, peculiar in 

 many cases to very small islands. Thus we find only Ptilonopus 

 perousii generally distributed over the Central Polynesian island- 

 groups, i. e. the Friendly, Navigators', and Feejee groups. Pt.fas- 

 ciatus, Peale, is found on the Feejees, Navigators', and the small 

 island Uea of the Wallis group. All the other groups possess their 

 peculiar species : — the Friendly Islands, Pt. porphyraceus, Forst. ; 

 the Society Islands, Pt. purpuratus, Gmel., and Pt. chrysogaster, 

 Gray ; the Marquesas, Pt. mercieri, Des Murs, and Pt. dupetit- 

 thouarsi, Neboux ; the Paumotu group, Pt. coralensis, Peale ; the 

 Hervey (Cook) Islands, Pt. rarotongensis, H. & F., and the very 

 unsatisfactorily known Pt. chalcurus, Gray ; the Pelews, Pt. pelew- 

 ensis, H. & F. ; the Mariannes, Pt. roseicapillus, Less. ; the New 

 Hebrides and New Caledonia, Pt. grayi, Gray, and Pt. holoseri- 

 ceus, Temm. Although some of these are nearly allied to each 

 other, they are nevertheless valid species, which keep their distinc- 

 tive characters always exact. At least, after a long acquaintance 

 with most of them, I can declare that I have never found speci- 

 mens which would lead to the belief that there exist interme- 

 diate forms between them. It must be remarked as a singular 

 fact that in those island groups where two species occur, these are 

 totally different and confined in their distribution to certain loca- 

 lities. Thus in the Society Islands we find Pt. purpvratus only on 

 Tahiti, Pt. chrysogaster on Huaheine. As very prominent features 

 in the geographical distribution of the genus Ptilonopus in the 

 Pacific, we must further notice the total absence of Pigeons on the 

 Sandwich Islands, and the occurrence of very peculiar species on 

 certain remote and isolated islands. Thus the beautiful Chryscena 

 victor, Gould, is confined to Taviumi, one of the smallest islands 

 of the Feejee group, whereas Chryscena luteovirens, H. & J., lives 

 in "Viti-Levou and Ovalau, and now we learn that so small an 

 island as Rapa produces one of the most remarkable species of the 

 genus. In considering all these points we shall find it extremely 

 difficult to explain what has caused such extraordinary phenomena 



* " On the Island of Rapa" in Trans, and Proceed, of the N. Z. Inst. vol. i. 

 (1869), pp. 128-134. 



