Jan., 1906 
PAPERS ON PHILIPPINE BIRDS I. 
13 
was taken by Hugh Cuming. None of the recent collectors seem to have taken 
the bird. 
At San Fernando de Union an individual of the common swamp kingfisher. 
Halcyon ch/oris , came aboard the ship and remained for a short time. From San 
Fernando we proceeded up the coast, making several small ports but nothing of 
importance in the bird line was observed until we reached Aparri. 
Aparri, August 8. — In the bay were numerous small terns, dark-colored and 
white herons, and a few snake birds ( Anhinga melanogaster). At night a small 
owl ( Ninox ) came aboard and was added to our collection. As the captain de- 
clined to land us on any of the Babuyanes I took myself, two native assistants, and 
outfit ashore, trusting to luck to find other means of transportation to the islands. 
Aparri is a fair-sized town at the mouth of the Cagayan River and is the 
shipping port for the finest tobacco of the Philippines. Tobacco in small quanti- 
ties can be purchased very cheaply at Aparri; I found an excellent cigar put up in 
bundles of ten each at 5 cents American money per bundle. “Aparri is a desolate 
place; the country about is flat, sandy and barren. The wide sand beach, an un- 
usual sight in the Philippines, extends for miles to Cabo Engano and nothing is 
found here but a few broken clam shells, crabs, flies and tiger beetles. The sun 
beats down heavily.” (From my note book.) 
Birds were scarce and of common species. In the scanty growth of dry 
grass back of the beach were a few grass warblers ( Megalurns palustris) and the 
common bulbul (. Pycnonotus goiavier). In the dry rice fields, the little warbler 
(■ Cisticola exilis) was uttering his grasshopper notes and the rufous lark 
( Anthus rufulus) was feeding in the stubble. The Jagor rice bird ( Munia 
jagori) and the Philippine crow ( Cor one philippina) were noted in small num- 
bers. The bee bird {M crops sp.) was especially abundant feeding over the 
river and I was told that it nested in banks a few miles up stream. A rufous fly- 
catcher (. Zeocephus rufus ) flying about a bush in the yard adjoining our house 
seemed strangely out of place as my experience indicates that it prefers woods or 
brushy localities at some distance from houses. The rufous flycatcher is a very 
lovely species of about six inches length; the entire plumage is rich reddish brown 
and the legs, bill, and eyelids are deep blue; the middle pair of tail feathers are 
greatly elongated in the adult male making his total length five or six inches 
greater than that of the female. 
August 25, after many delays and fruitless search for boats to Fuga or other 
island we got away in a “virav,” a flat-bottomed sail boat some twenty feet in 
length. It was not decked over but had nipa palm thatch fore and aft for the pro- 
tection of cargo. Our boat was such a one as the more venturesome natives of 
any country might use to reach distant islands and by such means no doubt, many 
small animals have been introduced into isolated localities where their presence is 
otherwise difficult to account for. Our viray actually carried the following 
animals from Aparri to Calayan Island: hermit crabs, beach crabs, a small wood- 
boring beetle, a mouse, three species of spiders, three species of ants, a lizard, and 
a frog. The natives of south sea islands still visit the Hawaiian Islands in sail 
boats and may have carried in former times many of the lizards, plants and in- 
sects that are now well established there. 
Our crew was a hard-looking set. It consisted of a “pilot,” a young native 
with a long tongue and no brains, three native sailors, and a helmsman, an old 
Cagayan man who said nothing, looked and drank like a pirate and proved to be 
the best sailor and most reliable man of the lot. 
The morning of the 26th found us within a few miles of Camiguin, a high 
