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Show 422 DR. COMRIE ON THE ZOOLOGY OF NEW GUINEA. [May 16, " Washington and Fanning are the only islands of the group (containing besides the islands Christmas and Palmyra) in which the bird is found. Washington and Fanning are situated closely together, distant from one another 7 7 nautical miles in a north-westerly and south-easterly direction, and they are remote from the other islands of the group. " To quote again from ' Fanning'* Voyages :' ' As at Fanning's, so here [Washington] we could perceive no token of its being at all inhabited.' "They are still uninhabited ; but the natives of the groups south of the equator visit them occasionally to gather the cocoa-nuts and to express the oil that is in them. W e found such a party at Washington Island at the time of our visit. W e engaged some of the Kanakas to catch the Lories alive for us. They used two pieces of bamboo, each about a yard in length. On one was perched a tame bird ; and from the end of the other was suspended a running noose made of the bark of the cocoa-nut tree. The tame bird as it was carried along uttered a harsh, rasping sound ; and others came out of the trees and perched alongside it on the bamboo stick, and the man noosed them by means of the other bamboo." Mr. Sclater remarked that it was of great interest to ascertain positively the correct habitat of this Lory. Dr. Finsch, relying upon Bourjot's assertions, had indicated Fanning Island as its most probable patria, but was not without much doubt on the subject. Dr. Gunther read an extract from a letter received from Commander W . E. Cookson, R.N., of H.M.S. ' Peterel,' dated Coquimbo, March 9, 1876. Commander Cookson stated that two of the large Land-Tortoises procured from the Galapagos Islands in June 1875 were then on board, and that he was in hopes that he should be able to land them alive in England, where he expected to arrive in the beginning of next June. The two tortoises were male and female, and, although not of a very large size, were the largest he was able to procure, and were undoubtedly adults : the male weighed 270 lbs., and the female 117 lbs. Besides these, he had the shell, head, and feet of five others from Albemarle and Abingdon Islands. Commander Cookson had also collected and preserved specimens of Amblyrhynchus cristatus from the different islands of the group which he had visited, and had preserved some of the several kinds of fishes which were caught during their stay. Commander Cookson anticipated being ninety days at sea on his homeward voyage, and was afraid there would be some difficulty in keeping the Tortoises alive, as they were great eaters; he had, however, laid in a large supply of cactus, of which they were very fond. They would also eat soaked biscuit. Dr. Peter Comrie, Staff-Surgeon R.N., exhibited the zoological specimens which he had collected during the survey of the S.E. |
