Birds of the Fiji Islands. 
14 7 
My son said he saw a Pachycephala on the Bewa which was 
much lighter than P. torquata ; probably it was P. icteroides, 
as he did not see any collar. He was so close to it that he 
refrained from firing, lest he should blow it to pieces. A 
native brought him a wonderful egg and nest; and on ques¬ 
tioning him as to the parentage, he took him into the garden, 
and, pointing to a bright yellow flower, said the body was like 
that. We have no other bird of this colour; so I shall de¬ 
scribe these eggs provisionally as those of this species. 
The nest is a loose structure of rootless fine twigs, stems of 
a fern, dried ferns, and leaves; about 6 inches across by 4 
deep; diameter of cup about 3 inches. 
The egg is of a coffee-colour, lightest at the smallend, 
darkest at the obtuse end, near which is abroad band of black. 
Axis 14 w/ , diam. 9 nt . Surface polished. 
Aplonis tabuensis, Gmel. 
We did not find this species at Ngila, but in the forest at 
the back of “Na Mala,” a second plantation belonging to 
Mr. Mason, some ten or eleven miles further south. It was 
feeding in flocks in a forest-tree bearing large black berries 
in clusters. It is not uncommon near Levuka; and I intro¬ 
duce its name here chiefly to notice another instance of 
variation. 
I have two birds from the island of Fortuna, similar in 
every measurement to the Fiji species, except that the bill is 
stouter every way, but not longer; and the whole bird is im¬ 
bued with a black shade. The sheen of the Fijian A. tabu¬ 
ensis is coppery, especially about the head; that of the other 
is of iron. I propose to call it Aplonis fortune, sp. nov. 
Ptilotis procerior, F. & H., 
is unknown in Taviuni; and its place is supplied by a species 
that I at first took for P. carunculata, Gmel. But the more I 
look at it, the more I doubt its identity with that bird; with¬ 
out actual comparison, however, with specimens from Tonga, 
which is, I believe, the real habitat of P. carunculata , I can¬ 
not quite decide the point. Measurements go for little in 
this species, hardly two individuals agreeing together; but not 
