-100- (9) GENERAL NOTES ON CAROLINE ATOLL, ETC. Caroline Atoll. There seems to be no systematic or technical account of the birds of this atoll, which consists of about 25 islets, "well covered with trees and shrubbery" in 1883, "much of which has been planted by the hand of man, especially large numbers of cocoa palms, which are being raised for the production of cocoanut-oil." At this time there was a sign posted on the island saying it had been leased to Houlder, Bros., and Co., London, by Great Britain. Four men, one woman and two children were living here in 1883. Apparently the only birds recorded from the island are those noted by F. D. Bennett, in April, 1835, and an amateur list furnished by Dr. W. S. Dixon, U. S. N., of the 'Eclipse' expedition, May, 1883 (Mem. Nat. Acad. Sci., II, 1884?, pp. 90, 91). In all probability the observations of both Bennett and Dixon relate to simply one of the larger islets (though perhaps not the identical one), and exploration of some of the others may still disclose the presence of a ground pigeon, and possibly other land birds, or of the rare short-billed sandpiper (AEchmorhynchus). MacFarlane stopped here in October, 1884, but "no birds were obtained." He does not say whether he actually landed and looked for birds, or not. Malden Island. Seems to be little known, ornithologically, and the only account of its birds seems to be one by W. A. Dixon, who spent two and a half years here (1866-69). He was a chemist, sent there to ana- lyze guano, and knew nothing about birds. His notes cover 14 species