346 



BATCH IAN. 



[CfHAr. XXIV. 



modification exactly opposite to that %vhicli produced 

 the wingless birds (the Apteryx, Cassowary, and Dodo), 

 appears to have here taken place ; and it is curious that 

 ill both cases an iosuhir habitat should have been the 

 moving cause. The explanation is probably the same aa 

 that applied by Mr. Darwin to the case of tlie Jiadfira 

 beetles, many of which are win*j;les3, while some of the 

 winged ones have the wings better develope.d than the 

 same species on the continent. It was advantageous to 

 these insects either never to fly at all, and thus not run 

 the risk of being blown out to sea, or to fly so well aa to 

 be able either to return to land, or to niigrate safely to the 

 continent. Had Hying was worse than not Hying at all 

 So, while in snch islands as New Zealand and ilauritius, 

 far from all land, it waj safer for a ground-feeding bird 

 not to tly at all, and the short-winged individuals con- 

 tinually sorviving, prepared the way tor a wingless group 

 of birds ; in & va.st Archipelago thickly strewn with 

 islands and islets it was advantageous to be able occa- 

 sionally to migrate, and thus the long and strong-winged 

 varieties maintained their existience longest, and ultimately 

 supplanted all others, and spread tiie race over the wliole 

 Archipehigo. 



Besides this pigeon, the only new bird I obtained during 

 the trip was a rare goat-sucker (Batrachostomus crinifrons), 

 the only species of the genus yet found in the Moluccas. 

 Among my insects th(i best were the rare Fieris aruna, of 

 a rich chrome yellow colour, with a black border and 

 remarkable white antennse — perhaps the verj' finest but- 

 terfly of the genus ; and a large black wasp-iike insect, 

 with immense jaws like a stag-beetle, which has been 

 named Megacbile pluto by Mr. K. Smith. I collected 

 about a hundred species of beetles quite new to me, but 

 mostly very miiuite, atid also many rare and handsome 

 ones which I hud already found in Batchian. On the 

 whole I was tolerably satisfied with my seventeen days* 

 excui-sion, whicli was a very agreeable one, and enabled 

 me to see a good deal of the island. I had hired a roomy 

 boat, and brought with me a small table and my rattan 

 chair. These were great comforts, as, wherever there was 

 a roof, 1 could immediately instal myself, and work and 



