WHITE— A Sketch of the Life of Samuel White. 207 



Two only of Mr. Mathews' differences are constant— a 

 slightly larger bill in E. tricolor, and a shorter wing in 

 E. aurifrons. 



If hew genera are to be accepted on such grounds as 

 these, species will have to be abolished as a. division in orni- 

 thology, and what we now call species will become genera — 

 for I should think there are very few species in which such 

 differences could not be discovered by careful search. 



A Sketch of the Life of Samuel White- 

 Ornithologist, Soldier, Sailor, and Explorer. 



By His Son, (Gapt.) S. A. White, M.B.O.U. 



X. THE ORNITHOLOGIST AND SAILOR. 



So soon as possible after the yacht came to anchor a boat 

 was put off, and Samuel White with two of his collectors 

 landed on the eastern island, and to the 01^110^^8' great 

 delight, they secured several rifle birds Ptiloris paradisea 

 inctoriae) all in good plumage. One can understand the keen 

 delight these lovely birds gave my father, especially to capture 

 them in their natural habitat. The collectors came off to the 

 vessel at sunset, and the owner gave orders to lay at anchor* 

 for a few days. Samuel White in his notes says, "The island 

 I was on was a small one about half a mile long, very scrubby, 

 from the sea to top, and thickly matted with vines, and almost 

 impregnable in places. The birds were few, there being but 

 three or four species, the rifle birds were moderately 

 numerous for that family of birds on such a small island. The 

 whole island was scratched over by megapodes, consequently 

 there were no land shells seen. I saw several large logs of 

 cedar lying on the beach. The weather was very unpleasant. 

 Squalls of rain began after dark last night, and continued all 

 day." 



The next day Samuel White remained on board, and 

 served out the week's stores, and skinned a dozen or more 

 birds. Some of the crew went on shore. The collectors 

 landed on one of the islands, but came off at midday without 



