422 DR. COMRIE ON THE ZOOLOGY OF NEW GUINEA. [May 16, 



"Washington and Fanning are the only islands of the group 

 (containing besides the islands Christmas and Palmyra) in which 

 the bird is found. Washington and Fanning are situated closely 

 together, distant from one another 77 nautical miles in a north-westerly 

 and south-easterly direction, and they are remote from the other 

 islands of the group. 



" To quote again from ' Fanning' s Voyages :' ' As at Fanning' s, so 

 here | Washington] we could perceive no token of its being at all 

 inhabited.' 



"They are still uninhabited ; but the natives of the groups south 

 of the equator visit them occasionally to gather the cocoa-nuts 

 and to express the oil that is in them. We found such a party 

 at Washington Island at the time of our visit. We engaged some 

 of the Kanakas to catch the Lories alive for us. They used two 

 pieces of bamboo, each about a yard in length. On one was perched 

 a tame bird ; and from the end of the other was suspended a running 

 noose made of the bark of the cocoa-nut tree. The tame bird as it 

 was carried along uttered a harsh, rasping sound ; and others came 

 out of the trees and perched alongside it on the bamboo stick, and 

 the man noosed them by means of the other bamboo." 



Mr. Sclater remarked that it was of great interest to ascertain 

 iwsitively the correct habitat of this Lory. Dr. Finsch, relying 

 upon Bourjot's assertions, had indicated Fanning Island as its most 

 probable patria, but was not without much doubt on the subject. 



Dr. Gunther read an extract from a letter received from Com- 

 mander W. E. Cookson, R.N., of H.M.S. ' Peterel,' dated Coquimbo, 

 March 9, 1876. Commander Cookson stated that two of the large 

 Land-Tortoises procured from the Galapagos Islands in June 1875 

 were then on board, and that he was in hopes that he should be able 

 to land them alive in England, where he expected to arrive in the 

 beginning of next June. 



The two tortoises were male and female, and, although not of a 

 very large size, were the largest he was able to procure, and were un- 

 doubtedly adults : the male weighed 270 lbs., and the female 1 1 7 lbs. 

 Besides these, he had the shell, head, and feet of five others from 

 Albemarle and Abingdon Islands. 



Commander Cookson had also collected and preserved specimens 

 of Amblyrhynchus cristatus from the different islands of the group 

 which he had visited, and had preserved some of the several kinds 

 of fishes which were caught during their stay. Commander Cookson 

 anticipated being ninety days at sea on his homeward voyage, and was 

 afraid there would be some difficulty in keeping the Tortoises alive, as 

 they were great eaters ; he had, however, laid in a large supply of 

 cactus, of which they were very fond. They wonld also eat soaked 

 biscuit. 



Dr. Peter Comrie, Staff-Surgeon R.N., exhibited the zoological 

 specimens which he had collected during the survey of the S.E. 



