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president’s address. 
13,000 feet. Of the two latter, one is known to breed at similar 
elevations in the Himalayas, and the other is supposed to do so. It 
is difficult to avoid jumping to the conclusion that the catastrophe 
which caused the emigration of so many of these birds to the 
oceanic islands was a period of perennial snow, such as must have 
occurred during the glacial epoch when bird life at these high 
elevations became for the time being an impossibility. 
The seventeen species of Merula in the islands of the Oriental 
and Australian regions are distributed as follows : — 
:rula 
KINISSI 
. . . Ceylon 
33 
ALBICEPS 
Formosa 
33 
CELCENOPS ... 
Seven Islands 
33 
SEEBOHMI ... 
. . . Borneo 
33 
JAVANICA . . . 
Java and Timor 
33 
ERYTHROPLEURA 
Christmas Island 
33 
PAPUENSIS ... 
... New Guinea 
33 
XANTHOPUS . . . 
... New Caledonia 
33 
VINITINCTA ... 
... Lord Howe Island 
33 
POLIOCEPHALA 
... Norfolk Island 
33 
PRITZBUERI ... 
Lifu | Loyalty 
33 
MAREEN8IS ... 
Mare J Islands 
33 
RUFICEPS 
Kandavu 1 
33 
LAYARDI 
... Viti-Levu / Fiji 
33 
VANUAENSIS... 
... Vanua-Levu ( Islands 
33 
TEMPESTI 
Taviuni J 
33 
SAMOENSIS ... 
Samoa Islands 
Of these seventeen species no two are known to occur on the 
same island. 
One of the most curious instances of sexual variation is to bo 
found in three species of Fruit Pigeon which inhabit the Fiji 
Islands. 
Chryscena viridis is only known from tbe island of Kandavu in 
tbe south : Chryscena victor is found on the island of Taviuni, and 
on one or two of the adjacent smaller islands in the north : and 
Chryscena luteovirens inhabits Viti-Levu, Ovalau, and one or two 
of the smaller islands in the centre of the group. 
