1876.] OF THE NAVIGATORS' ISLANDS. 491 



nut trees ; and it seemed not to be affected by the glare of the day- 

 light. It feeds on lizards, beetles, &c. 



2. CORIPHILUS FRINGILLACEUS, Gm. 



Abundant in tbe early morning before the sun gets hot, on the 

 flowers of the cocoa-nut trees, sipping the sweetened dew caught in 

 the freshly opened spathes. When this is dried up by the heat, they 

 are off to the forest, and feed on some of the many-petaled flowers 

 of the tall trees. During the time that the " coral trees" (Ery- 

 thrinai) are in flower, they may be shot in dozens, as these trees 

 form their favourite resort. 



I have procured specimens of this lovely little Parrakeet from the 

 island of Futuna ; and they are very abundant on Vavaw, the most 

 northern of the Friendly Islands. 



3. EuDYNAMIS TAITENSIS, Sparrm. 



I saw a single specimen of this Cuckoo in December, and was in- 

 formed by a gentleman collecting for Messrs. Godeffroy, of Ham- 

 burg, that they are not uncommon. 



4. Halcyon pealei, F. & H., 



is confined to the island of Tatuila, which, unfortunately, I was un- 

 able to visit. In Samoa it is replaced by 



5. Halcyon recurvirostris, Lafr. 



which is tolerably common in the more open parts of the forest, in 

 the clearings and native gardens. It usually sits perched on a dead, 

 protruding branch, on the look-out for insects {Gryllce), after which 

 I have seen it dart like a Flycatcher, hovering in the air and return- 

 ing to its post of observation. It also darts at Cicada sitting on the 

 trunks and branches of trees, off which it seizes them with unerring 

 aim. 



6. Collocalia spodiopygia, Peale. 



One of the commonest birds in Samoa, skimming about the open 

 country, or amid the cocoa-nut groves, with equal facility. 



7. Myzomela nigriventris, Peale. 



I did not find this lovely little " Sugar-bird " at all plentiful ; those 

 I saw were chiefly on the flowers of the Banana. 



8. Ptilotis carunculata (Gm.). 



Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub are, I think, in error in figuring this 

 bird with a white iris, and describing it "hide alba." I have now 

 shot a fair number in Loma Loma, iu Samoa, in Tonga Tabu and 

 Vavow ; but in not one was there the least approach to a white iris ; 

 brown, or ashy brown was the colour in all of them. It is very 

 common everywhere ; and in the early morning, before sunrise, when 

 the country rings with its loud notes, as a friend observed, "it is 

 the nearest approach of any to a song-bird ! he is trying to be a 



