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Show 770 DR. O. FlNSCH ON A COLLECTION OF [Nov. 20, 2. On a Collection of Birds from Eua, Friendly Islands. By Dr. OTTO FINSCH, C.M.Z.S., Director of the Museum of Natural History of Bremen. [Received Sept. 26, 1877.] The Island Eua (Eooa, Eoa, Eaowe or Eaoowe), belonging to the Tonga or Friendly group, situated to the soutb~east of the main island Tongatabu, is much smaller than the latter, but, instead of being fiat, shows a more mountainous appearance, and rises to a height of about 600 feet above the level of the sea. When writing our' Ornithology of Central P~lynesia,' ten years ago, Dr. Hartlaub and I were, as regards the bIrds of the Tonga group, obliged nearly to confine ourselves to what Forster had written on the subject, Tonga birds being at that time of the greatest rarity in collections. The total number of species then known of Tonga birds was 33, of which only four were known from Eua (viz. Platycercus tabuensis, Ptilotis carunculata, Carpophaga pacifica, and Gygis alba). Since that time we have had the pleasure of publishing a welcome contribution to our knowledge of the Tonga birds, based upon the collections of Dr. Graffe" which reached us through the Museum Godeffroy, of Hamburg, in 1869. A very interesting account of the habits of Tonga birds was shortly after published by Dr. GriHfe 2 himself, which paper may be considered a valuable continuation of our memoirs. Dr. Graffe noticed, as observed by himself, 26 species (of which 18 were collected by him and examined by us), thus adding 5 species to the avifauna, among which one proved to be new (Oolluricincla heinei, nob.), and raising the total to 38. Since then Mr. E. L. Layard has visited the Tonga group and has published a usefnl contribution 3, which adds, as observed by him, 7 species more (Limosa u1'opygialis, Strepsilas intel']Jl'es, Sterna melanauchen, St. panaya, Anousleucocapillus, Phaeton candidus, and Tachypetes aquila), and raises the total of alleged species to 45. But as some of these occurrences rest on ftntiquated statements, not yet confirmed, the total number known with certainty from the whole gro'up remains still 37. I have now to make a further addition to our knowledge of this avifauna. Mr. F. Hiibner, at the charge of the Museum Godeffroy in Hamburg, has lately again visited the Tongas, and has sent over a collection made on the island of Eua. His exertions have raised the number of birds known to occur on this island from 4 to 24. I Dr. O. Finsch and Dr. G. Hartlaub" On a small .Collection of Birds from the Tonga Islands," in P . Z. S. 1869, pp. 544-548, and Dr. O. Finsch u. Dr. G. Hartlaub "Zur Ornithologie del' Tonga-Inseln," in Cabanis's Journal fur Ornithologie, 1870, pp. 119- 140, Taf. iv. 2 :Pl'. Eduard Graffe, " Ornithologische Mittheilungen aus Central-Polynesien. I. DIe Vogelwelt del' Tonga-Inseln," in Cabanis's Journal fi.i.r Ornithologie, 1870, pp. 401-420 . . 3 E. L. Layard, " Notes on the Bil,ds of the Navigators' and Friendly Islanda, Wlth Borne Additions to the Ornithology of Fiji," in P. Z. S. 1876, pp. 490- 506. |