(68) the cultivated lowland.Mr.Beck had a specimen of a crested pigeon taken on Florida I., on board;it was smaller than the Bougainville type.The infrequency that occasioned its weird call is evidence of its scarcity;I heard three times in two weeks before G.R.,shot the first one.The one from Florida was taken at 1500 feet,I think.I have not heard them below 3500 here.Like the other larger pigeons it favors the big trees for its fruit,perching usually on a bare limb in plain sight(provided you can trace the call).The primal specimen,shot by G.R.,became entangled in a mass of vines during its precipitous descent losing its elegant posterior appendage and thereby hangs the tail of this mystery bird.The only white- throated pigeon obtained was shot within a hundred yards of the camp at Kupei.From all appearances it is very much like the Solomon Is.,species. (I only saw one other- at the grebe pond up in back of Tiop,2400 feet) We can include the doves with the fruit-eaters and cite the yellow-bib, long-tailed,red-breasted,and red-cap as the prevailing aboreal types. It really seems that the yellow-bib is the most plentiful.Hitherto it has been a prize rarity.We have put up a series of fifty.Their call is heard about as consistently as that of the mountain thickhead- in a slightly descending scale,more of a melodious hooting than the tradition- al coo-coo,with an apparent loss of breath toward the end.Above 3000 feet they feed in the early morning in fruit-bearing trees of thick foliage that makes the birds difficult to see with their excellent camouflage. Our native attaches have been most helpful in pointing out shots that we should never have noticed.These feeding areas seem to flourish at about 3000-3500 feet where the doves are plentiful in the early morning and toward evening,but they can be found at any higher elevation.I do not think they can be present in such numbers at all heights above 3000feet on the island.This particular terrain above Kupei is endowed with an abundance of their favorite fruit tree,laden with dark bluish berries. Indeed such birds must be somewhat limited in range by the location and extent of feeding areas.Many have been shot in succession while eating inthe same tree,often with the aux.Their resonant,well-carrying call, the whirr of their short flights(like a flushed quail),and the dropping of stems,twigs, and shucks,which occurs when any of the fruit-eaters are at work,all serve to betray their presence.The only difficulty is to see them against the green background.The red-breasted and red-cap are found up to the 3000 mark from the salt water.Both male and female of the for- mer species have the same plumage and appearance.The female of the latter shows a gray cap;both male and female have the black-bib.The calls of both species is the same- a low"coo-coo"at long intervals.Due to their segregation over the lower terrain their distribution is greater than that of the yellow-bib.We have found them common enough on all the large islands to collect good series.The brilliance of their plumage,as is the case with so many other birds,obscures them by its very obviousness. All the doves are called"kukurol"by the natives of this district(Kieta). Only the long-tail species is accorded the dignity of a separate name, "bokute"- doubtless because of its different build and distinguishing two-note call,the first an octave above the second- short and long.We have found this species also to be quite common in this vicinity.It ranges from the low ground in from the beach to the topmost ridge of the mountains.The flight is like the black-winged pigeon- very direct with much volplaning and an upward glide on to the perch.The female is smaller than the male and has a black eyelids where the male has red.The irides are orange.One specimen that I shot(sp.#637)showed some puzzling varia- tion: the iris- light brown,eyelid black,feet-a lighter shade of brown instead of the usual red,and the upper breast feathers tipped with black.