


















390 | Mr. E. L. Layard on the 
and vent especially, is purer, the latter in M. azureocapilla 
being “ isabella ”’-coloured. 
It replaces the latter species on Vanua Levu in the same way 
that the little Lamprolia minor, Kleinsch., replaces L. victorie. 
The two, with the exception of a trifling difference in the bril- 
liancy of the centre portion of the back of the head, are exactly 
similar; but the former is a third less in size than the latter. 
The same may be said of Myiolestes buaensis, nob. ; while 
Pitilotis similis, nob., which extends to Taviuni, may be dis- 
tinguished from P. carunculata of Loma Loma by having 
pale yellowish grey ear-tufts instead of bright golden yellow. 
It is also generally less brightly plumaged—less yellow-tinted 
on the breast. | - 
The fine examples of Merula vitiensis, nob., which my son 
procured, enable me to add some additional particulars to my 
- previous description*. The abdomen and lower part of the 
chest in a fine adult male are a warm ruddy chestnut, and the 
vent is white. In the female the chestnut is toned down to 
a faint brown tint, and the white vent is very circumscribed. » 
I have already in another place (anted, p. 141) expressed 
my opinion that Platycercus tabuensis was introduced into 
Koa (Tonga Islands) from Fiji. My son made a special visit 
to the aged chief “Tui-Bua” (lit. “ King of Bua,” pronounced 
in the missionary jargon Tuimbua) for the purpose of getting 
information on this point. The old man, whose mother was 
a Tongan woman from Hoa, said that from time immemorial, 
ever since the Tongans gained a footing in Fiji (which was 
only in the districts where this variety of P. splendens is found, 
not in the southern portions where the bright-coloured race 
exists), it has been their custom to take tamed examples of Pla- 
tycercus and Lorius to Tonga for the purpose of periodically 
plucking their crimson feathers for ornamenting fans &c. 
I feel more than ever convinced that the Eoa Parrots have 
sprung from introduced birds t. 
* [We have not been able to find Mr. Layard’s description of this 
Thrush.—ED. |] 
T (See P. Z. 8. 1876, p. 808, for an extract from Labillardiére’s ‘ Voyage 
in search of La Perouse,’ where the introduction of Parrots into Tonga- 
taboo from Fiji is mentioned as early as 1793.—Eb. | 

