A DAY AT CHRISTMAS ISLAND. 129 



also a small insectivorous bat flying about, but could not 

 catch it. 



The native rats, Mus Maclearii and M. nativitatis. Thorn., 



do not appear till dark, and as we left before sunset we could 

 not secure any specimens. There are several kinds of lizards 

 here, two of which I caught ; one was a very dark, coloured 

 gecko inhabiting the old stumps and rotten trees lying on the 

 ground. As is constantly the case in islands and especially 

 in oceanic islands there are no snakes here, though Mr. ROSS 

 has seen, he tells me, their skeletons washed up on shore. 

 But the most conspicuous denizens of the forest are the large 

 blue and red land crabs (Birgus latro) which are exceedingly 

 abundant living in holes in the ground, but constantly 

 wandering about in the woods. Insects are not numerous. 

 I noticed three species of butterfly, a yellow Terias, (T. am- 

 plexa) a Hypolimnias and what was probably the endemic 

 species Vadebra Maclearii, but I could only get a single spe- 

 cimen of the first named species. Mr. ROSS presented me 

 with a pair of very fine maroon-coloured hawkmoths, and 

 told me that there was another and much finer kind to be met 

 with of which he hoped to secure specimens. Of other insects 

 I saw an abundant species of small red wasp, and a fine 

 large Buprestid beetle, of a light but brilliant green colour 

 glittering all over, and a large green larval mantis, too young 

 to identify. 



I append a list of all the animals and plants recorded, as 

 far as I know, from the island, and hope that Mr. ROSS, who 

 takes much interest in his insular home, will be enabled to 

 assist us in getting a more complete idea of the fauna and 

 flora of Christmas Island. 



