BIRDS^ REPTILES, AND FISHES. 246 



soKtary specimen of another larg-e pigeon — with the 

 throat white^ and the plumag'e with purple and 

 g-reen metallic reflections — was ohtained, also a small 

 dove of a new species, with pink forehead and broad 

 cream-coloured pectoral band, which has been named 

 by Mr. Gould Ptilonopus strophium. The only 

 other bird which I shall mention is a very fine king'- 

 fisher (Halcyon saurophaga), with white head, neck, 

 and lower parts, green scapulars, and blue wing's 

 and tail, previously known by a single specimen 

 from New Guinea in the British Museum. It is 

 a very shy bird, frequenting the margin of the 

 island, usually seen perched on some detached or 

 solitary branch, as if sunning itself, and darting off 

 into the dense brush upon being approached. 



Small lizards were plentiful, but we met with no 

 large ones or snakes during our rambles on the 

 Duch&,teau Isles. These islands are probably much 

 resorted to by turtle, as they were daily seen swim- 

 ming about, and one was caught on shore during our 

 stay by a party of natives. The variety of fishes 

 caught at this anchorage was considerable, and fur- 

 nished many additions to the ichthyological collec- 

 tion, to which the paucity of other objects in zoology 

 for some time back enabled me to bestow much 

 attention.* Among the genera most remarkable 



* Besides many kinds preserved in spirits, which have not yet 

 been examined, my collection contained stuffed specimens of about 

 forty species of Louisiade fishes. These, I have been informed 

 by Sir John Richardson, have nearly all been previously described 

 from other parts of Oceania, the Indian Ocean, and the China 



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