-101- of breeding birds, and 5 "occasional visitors." He says the guano party "turned out some pigs and goats", and "some of the cats ran wild", soon becoming very numerous. "The rats got so numerous that we used to kill them in thousands; in the store we killed some twenty thousand in two months." The utility of the cat is well demonstrated by his remarks: the rats increased greatly, while the "wide-awake" terns were reduced to one-fifth of their former "acreage" in a couple of years! The 'Blonde' party (1825) obtained or observed a few birds on Malden, and one Campbell collected two species which fell into See-bohm's hands and later into the British Museum. There appear to be no bird records from Monahiki, nor from Rakaanga, though both islands ought to be looked over for traces of reed warblers (Conopoderas), ground pigeons, and small flightless rails. The latter have been recorded from various widely separated islands in the Pacific (Laysan and Id. of Hawaii; Henderson, in the Tuamotus; Kusaie, in the Carolines; Tahiti; Tongatabu, etc.), and must formerly have existed on many of the intermediate islands. Their present occurrence or absence can be proved only by searching the islands for them. If any are found, they will doubtless prove to be new species. The Conopoderas vary in size and in color according to islands and groups, those of the north (Laysan, Guam, Carolines, and Farming Ids.) being much smaller than the southern ones from the