8.  The birds are more plentiful.  My collection comprises more than one hundred species of land birds, many of them remarkable for beauty of plumage, and peculiarity of form, structure, and habit.  Among them the most remarkable are the great black macaw, (’Microglossus Atterrimus’) the magnificent rifle bird, (’Ptiloris Magnifica’) and the rare and beautiful wood kingfisher, (’Tan Ts-ptera Sylvia’).  The latter first made its appearance here on the 30th of November last.  On the afternoon and night of the 28th and the 29th of that month there was a heavy storm of rain, with wind from the north-east, and the next morning the bush along the shore was ringing with the cries of the new arrivals.  To my constant enquiries of the blacks for this bird, I was always told by them that when the wind and rain came from the north-west the birds would come, and their prediction was verified to the letter.  They also say the birds come from “Dowdui” (New Guinea).  I think this probable, as several of the birds described by the French naturalist, M. Lesson, as found by him in New Guinea have also appeared here for the breeding season.  The ‘Megapodius Tumulus’ is also worthy of mention, on account of the surprising structure of its nest.  The mound resembles, and is composed of the same materials as that of the brush turkey (’Talegulla’), but is very much larger in size.  Some that I have measured are upwards of thirty (30) feet in diameter at the base, and rise at the natural angle to a height of fifteen (15) feet or more.  It is wonderful how birds so comparitively diminutive can accumulate so large a pile.  These birds live in pairs, and several pairs use the same mound.  The eggs are deposited at a depth of from one to three feet; the heat at that depth is very great, more than the hand can bear for any length of time.  I cannot say whether the young, when released from the mounds, are tended by the parents; they, however, return and roost in the mounds at night.  The flesh of the ‘Megapodius’ is dark and flavorless, being a mass of hard muscle and sinew. birds, which may be called game, are not numerous.  The brush turkey (’Talegalla’), the ‘Megapodius’, several species of pigeon, with a few ducks and quail, comprise the whole.

9.—­Fish are in abundance, and in great varieties; some of them of strange form and singular brilliancy of coloring.  The grey mullet, the bream—­a fish much resembling in general appearance the English pike—­and several others, are excellent eating.

10.—­Three species of turtle are plentiful during the season, that is, the period when they approach the shores to deposit their eggs, the green, the hawksbill, and another species, which grow to a much larger size than either of the above.  The natives take large numbers of the former; indeed, from the month of November till February turtle forms their principal food.  The green turtle are taken in the water by the blacks, who display great address in “turning”