Ornithological Notes in the New Hebrides. 607 
XXXVIII .—Ornithological Notes in the New Hebrides. 
By A. M. Farquhar, Captain R.N.* 
Having spent five months of 1899, viz. from May to October, 
in the New Hebrides, I think some notes of my cruises in 
those waters may be of interest to the readers of f The Ibis/ 
Roughly speaking, these islands lie between latitudes 15° 
and 20° South and longitude 166° and 170° East. They are 
volcanic in nature, the soil consisting of disintegrated lava 
and coral. There are at least four active volcanoes in the 
group. All the islands are mountainous, some of the peaks 
being nearly 6000 feet high. The largest of the islands are 
Espiritu Santo and Mallicollo ; here the natives are still 
cannibals, which adds some excitement to bird-collecting. I 
was much assisted in my ornithological pursuits by the 
officers of H.M.S. ( Wallaroo ’ and by my steward, James 
Heaver, who helped me with the skinning. 
Arriving at Fila, in the island of Efate, on the 10th of 
May, I landed that evening. Not many birds were to be 
seen, except Artamus melanoleucus , great numbers of which 
were hawking round the higher branches of a huge banyan. 
I came across these Wood-Swallows in various parts of the 
group ; they have a curious habit of sitting in a row along 
a bare branch, and I generally found them infested with a 
parasitical fly. 
From Efate I went to South-west Bay, Mallicollo, where 
we stayed some time. The forest here abounds in the fine 
Pigeon Globicera pacifica, the loud booming note of which 
may be heard at a great distance. When looking for small 
birds, I found great difficulty in preventing the natives taking 
me after these Pigeons, as they could not understand why 
I should trouble about such insignificant little things as 
Honey-eaters, Flycatchers, Zosteropes , &c., when there was 
bigger game about. Globicera pacifica has an extraordinary 
large lump at the base of the bill. La'er on, at Eromanga, 
I shot a good many Pigeons of this genus, and I then noticed 
* [These notes were apparently intended as an introduction to 
Dr. Sharpe’s account of Oapt. Farquhar’s collection of birds (above, 
p. 337), but did not reach us until after Dr. Sharpe’s paper had been 
published,— Edp.] 
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