152 Mr. E. L. Layard on the Ornithology of Fiji. 
breed about December or November, making a rude platform 
of small twigs for a nest, not usually above 8 or 10 feet from 
the ground, and laying two eggs, pure white, axis 1 ;/ 4>", 
diam. l w . 
People have told me they have taken the young birds 
orange-coloured from the nest, and seen orange females. I 
regret to say I donT believe them ! 
C. victor feeds on many sorts of small and large berries and 
fruits, swallowing them whole. 
Gallijs domesticus. 
Among other presents left by Capt. Cook when he visited 
these islands, were enumerated Fowls; and some of the earlier 
navigators who followed him mentioned the fact of their having 
taken to the bush and gone wild. They are now found roam¬ 
ing free on many of the islands; and it was no uncommon 
thing to be greeted by a loud “ cock-a-doodle-doo ” as we 
wound our early way along the narrow tracks of the forest. 
Some of these descendants of the old stock have gone back 
to the “ Game-fowl” colours; others still show traces of the 
“ Dunghill.” The natives catch them in snares and springes; 
but we shot some and captured a chick, which, with its mother 
and a rooster, I hope may form a group in the British Mu¬ 
seum as a product of our new colony of Fiji. 
Strepsilas interpres (L.). 
Our short visit to Koro Island procured us a specimen of 
this bird, a female, in fine spring plumage. It is very scarce 
in the colony, and does not, I think, breed with us. 
XV .—Notes on the Ornithology of Fiji, with Descriptions of 
new or little-known Species. By E. L. Layard, C.M.G., 
F.Z.S., &c., H.B.M. Consul. 
As there are several collectors of birds now in Fiji, who 
are transmitting specimens to Europe and Australia, I deem 
it advisable to forward descriptions of such novelties as fall 
under my own observation, as they occur, for publication in 
the pages of f The Ibis/ 
