1874.] LETTER FROM REV. S. J. WHITMEE. 185 



about four years ago he was one of a large party hunting feral 

 pigs in the mountains of Upolu, when they came upon a burrow 

 which one of the party pronounced to be the hole of a Puna'e. My 

 informant says that he put his arm into the hole, and at its extremity 

 (which he could barely reach) he found the bird. He drew it out, 

 and, taking it home, tried to tame and feed it ; but it would not 

 eat, and soon died. The other man lives on Savaii. He is the son 

 of a noted old bird-catcher long since dead, one who, before fire-arms 

 were known in these islands, made bird-catching his profession. He 

 tells me that his father taught him when he was a youth where to 

 find the Puna'e, and he has frequently taken it out of its burrow. 

 He describes the burrow as being about 3 or 4 feet in length, curv- 

 ing downwards and then rising to near the surface, where the nest 

 is placed. It is only a few days since I first met with this man. I 

 have commissioned him to try and find out the haunts of the bird ; 

 and if possible I will try and examine its burrow for myself. 



" The testimony of the Samoans has been so general in favour of the 

 burrowing of the Pareudiastes that I have long felt convinced of the 

 correctness of this view, which the observation of Drs. Hartlaub and 

 Finsch tends to confirm ; but within the past month I have received 

 some contrary evidence, which, if correct, shows that at least some 

 individuals of the species build upon the surface and not in a burrow. 



" A few months ago I showed the plate of the Pareudiastes in 

 P. Z. S. for 1871 to the Rev. George Brown, a missionary of the 

 Wesleyan Society, residing on Savaii, where I believe the bird is 

 more plentiful than on Upolu. Mr. Brown intimated to the natives 

 his wish to procure specimens of the bird and of its eggs ; and a few 

 weeks ago a living bird and two eggs were taken to him. The man 

 who took them to him declares that he caught the bird on the nest 

 with the two eggs in question under it. This nest, he says, was on 

 the ground, and composed of a few twigs and a little grass. Mr. 

 Brown has kindly given one of the eggs to me, and I forward it to 

 you for your inspection. 



"I confess that when I first examined the egg I concluded it to be 

 one of our Porphyrio which the man had represented to be that of 

 the Pareudiastes in order to get a higher price for it. A closer in- 

 spection, however, and comparison with the only egg of the Porphyrio 

 which I now have by me, leads me almost to believe that this is the 

 egg of the Pareudiastes. The eggs of the Porphyrio vary in shape and 

 colour ; but the egg in question is of much less breadth, longer, and 

 lighter in colour than any Porphyrio eggs I have seen here, if I mis- 

 take not. Should I be able shortly to procure some eggs of the 

 latter bird I will send them to you for comparison. 



" The Pareudiastes evidently feeds upon insects. The Samoans 

 are very clever at taming and feeding birds ; but I believe they have 

 never yet succeeded in keeping this bird alive more than a few days. 

 The man who caught the one I sent to Canon Tristram last year 

 tried to feed it on vegetable food ; but it died in a few days. Another 

 lately procured on Savaii died in the same way on a vegetable diet. 

 But one caught two months ago, after being fed by cramming with 



Proc. Zool. Soc— 1874, No. XIII. 13 



