103 



[Vol. xxxi. 



found feeding on the fruits of the pandan trees up to 8000 ft. 

 A pair of Pipits were seen in the rocky bed of a stream at 

 9000 ft. and the droppings of a strange game-bird, probably 

 the Anurophasis monorthonyx obtained by Mr. Lorentz on 

 Mt. Wilhelmina, were noticed at 10,300 ft. Beyond that 

 point the only birds seen were a Pigeon (Gymnophaps albertisi), 

 a Sun-bird, and a Rock-Thrush. No Birds of Prey were seen 

 above €000 ft. Insects are remarkably scarce and mammals 

 are very few in the higher regions. A pair of Black Pha- 

 langers were caught at 8000 ft. by natives, who refused to 

 part with them. On the ridges about 10,000 ft. were seen 

 many tracks of Echidna, and on the rocks above 13,000 ft. 

 were found the droppings of a carnivorous mammal/ 5 



Mr. Ogilvie-Grant exhibited a nearly complete set of 

 birds procured by Mr. Wollaston and Mr. Kloss during 

 their ascent of Carstensz Peak. The collection, numbering 

 nearly one thousand three hundred specimens, had been 

 received and unpacked two days previously, and it had 

 therefore only been possible to examine them in a somewhat 

 cursory manner; but in most instances the species had been 

 provisionally named. As would be seen from the splendid 

 series of birds displayed on the long table down the middle 

 of the room, the number of species obtained was very large, 

 and it would be difficult to find any country, other than 

 New Guinea, which could boast of an avifauna so varied 

 or so brilliant in colour. Many very rare and interesting 

 species not to be found in any museum in Britain had been 

 obtained. Some, such as the giant flightless Rail Megacrex 

 inepta D'Albertis and Salvadori, had already been described, 

 but the addition to the National Museum of such a striking 

 form was, in the opinion of the speaker, a far more important 

 event than the discovery of a new species. 



This great Rail bore a curious resemblance to the members 

 of the South American genus Aramides, but was of a much 

 heavier build and evidently entirely dependent on its 

 cursorial powers, being incapable of flight. Among the 

 Paradise-birds and Bower-birds the attention of the Members 



