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Show 1900.] THE BIRDS OF HAINAN. 461 by the Kina Balu Dusans. Changed into my new house. Very fine for the last few days, no rain. Men (Philipinos) hopelessly ill, and have done nothing for a fortnight. Sent the Chinese soldier out to shoot for m e ; want to see if he is worth anything. 9th. Three of m y Manila men left m e to-day of their own accord. I trust they will reach Hoihow safely. It makes m e very sad all this illness. I gave them the option of going, as I should be very sorry to be the cause of the death of any one of them. 10th. To-day is very wet; the Manila men will have a sad time of it, I expect. M y boy Juan is still with me, not because he cares about staying with me, but because he was too ill to start with the others. The Chinese soldier is doing m y shooting and gets on very well. 11 th-16th. A m trying to work on with one boy, who is not much use at bird-skinning. The L u are beginning to bring things, which is a good job, so perhaps I shall get on after all. 20th. Attacked again by fever-very seedy-useless. John Afar also. 21st-23rd. Nearly dead with fever-no food-no depression of temperature. 24th May. (Diary ends.) The faithful Chinese servants carried Mr. Whitehead's body and all his belongings to Hoihow, and his remains were interred in the cemetery by the sea. The journey from the interior was accomplished in 19 days. Through the kindness of the Consul, Mr. Butler O'Brien, Whitehead's zoological collections were carefully packed and shipped to England, arriving safely in due course. The collection of birds, numbering about 250 skins, all in the most perfect condition, includes many striking novelties, the most remarkable being a very peculiar Jay (Urocissa whiteheadi), a splendid Silver Pheasant (Gennceus whiteheadi), and an equally fine Night-Heron (Ngcticorax magnifica). The two last-named species have been well figured by Mr. H . Gronvold in the accompanying drawings. That Mr. Whitehead should have succeeded, under the most adverse circumstances, in obtaining such splendid results in a comparatively short time, indicates that much still remains to be done in the highlands of the interior of Hainan, but, as his diarv too clearly shows, the deadly climate of the forests will probably deter even the most hardy explorer from following in his footsteps. [The species of which specimens were obtained in the Five- Finger Mountains are marked with an asterisk.] 1. CORv us LEVAILLANTI. Corvus sinensis, Moore ; Swinhoe, Ibis, 1870, p. 348, fig. 1. Corone levaillanti (Lesson); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. iii. p. 39 (1877). PBOC. ZOOL. Soc-1900, No. XXXI. 31 |
