NO. 6 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I92O 4/ 



and occasional wet thickets, the latter sheltering a luxuriant growth 

 of ferns. The natives are, however, rapidly destroying the pine trees 

 both by burning the forests repeatedly and by girdling the pines for 

 splinters, which are sold in the markets as kindling. 



Furcy and Petionville are not far from Port au Prince. Both are 

 easily accessible and are among the few localities which have been 

 visited by naturalists. 



Nearly 10,000 specimens of plants were collected, as well as a 

 number of land shells and insects. 



The birds obtained by Dr. Abbott during this expedition numbered 

 201 skins, with a few alcoholic specimens and skeletons. By far the 

 most interesting ornithological observation made w^as the discovery 

 in some abundance of aii introduced weaver bird, Hyphantornis 

 cucuUatus (Miiller), a native of West Africa. This species was 

 found at several points in Haiti, where it occurs in colonies and 

 afifects much the same type of country as do related species in Africa. 

 Nearly completed nests, without lining, were found about the middle 

 of May, but no eggs had been deposited at this date. They are 

 strongly woven of narrow strips of palm or banana leaves, and 

 have an entrance at the side. An illustration of the manner of nest- 

 ing is shown in figure 59. Two smaller species of west African 

 weavers, belonging to other genera, are known to occur in Porto Rico, 

 where they have existed for many years, but the date and circum- 

 stances of their introduction, as well as those of the species dis- 

 covered in Haiti, are at present unknown. 



MALACOLOGICAL FIELD-WORK IN CALIFORNIA AND THE 

 HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 



On the way to the First Pan-Pacific Scientific Congress held in 

 Honolulu, August 2-20, 1920, Dr. Paul Bartsch, curator of mollusks. 

 U. S. National Museum, stopped for three days in Glacier National 

 Park, where some collections were made. 



He also spent a day on shipworm investigation about Mare Island, 

 where he had placed at his disposal, by the commandant of the station, 

 a tug and pile extractor, and the necessary officers and men to make 

 every minute of his stay count, the result being a careful examina- 

 tion of pilings throughout the stretch of San Pablo Bay and the 

 adjacent shores of San Francisco Bay. This investigation resulted 

 in establishing the fact that the mollusk which has been doing the 

 damage estimated at some $25,000,000 last year is a new species of 

 Teredo, which Dr. Bartsch has named Teredo beachi in honor of the 

 commandant of Mare Island. 



