(73) to hear the shrill squeals of the little green parrakeets that inhabit the high treetops in large flocks.I have seen over a hundred fly in unison from one tree to another.They get the kind of seeds they like up there and rarely descend to any plebian level.All this makes them very hard to persuade with a shot-gun- lively as crickets,always on the move- they do not sit still even while eating.To shoot one the hunter's head must remain at right angles to his body for at least ten minutes;this when practiced for an hour or two guarantees a stiff neck and spots before the eyes.However,we collect- ed a good series without paralysis.The pigmy parrot for quite some time re- mained an enigma since neither G.R., nor I could report sight of one,al- though we thought we had heard them;but perhaps we were confusing the squeaks with those of the parrakeets.Was this remarkable species(Nasiterna) on Bougainville or not? The natives affirmed its presence in the vicinity when questioned with descriptive gesticulation.At last Tutepe brought one in the day before we left Kaino.(This shows what a native hunter can do if he is interested.)The size and build of this first example looked similar to those taken on other large islands.It happened to be blind in the star- board eye,but that didn't matter much.We had the bird.The natives said,"this fella kai-kai skin belong big fella tree;now,one fella he got mark- this fella no got".And"he make place belong him along house belong anis(ants)". All very satisfying,but why had we not run across a few in our rambles? Be- cause we did not scan the treetops with enough persistence when we heard them calling;and because there were very few of the large trees that at- tract them both for feeding and for nesting in the neighborhood of Kaino. The hospitable species of ants that harbor the parrots(not more than one pair to an ant-house- see the specimen from Choiseul),build on the whitish grey trunks of huge trees(califila,I think)about 8-I2 feet above the ground. Later,fortunately,on the Balbi and Tiop trips we obtained additional speci- mens,which proved remarkable variation from types hitherto collected.All together we got five more.Two of these were mature males,irides brown, feet olive,and beautifully colored plumage- red,orange,blue,green,black- more striking than the species taken from the high land of Guadalcanal and Kulambangra,but marked on the same order.The other three were the usu- al green like the Kaino specimen,dark on the back and light on the breast. There is a bluish tinge on the top of the head and a bit of orange and blue under the bill which is black.In the flamboyant fellow the bill is whitish. How could the same species vary so? Looks to me like two different kinds. The singleton of Kaino was a female,iris orange like the other four.Possi- bly we have obtained no females of the bright-colored type.But it seems to me that with such divergence in the male birds there must be two species represented.Lack of good series of both gives me little evidence to work on. The kingfisher is well established on Bougainville but yielded no new forms,which was somewhat disappointing.Guadalcanal gave us that big, brown species;surely this great land mass ought to have contribute another new one.The most common are the"land"(ee-ee) and the blue-backed,found up to 3500 feet.We invariably heard their snappy calls in the early morning; the one sings straight out(ee-ee-ee)and the other does the same but with a sort of yodel.One rare mountain kingfisher,the"white-footed",similar to one taken by G.R.,on Choiseul,is in the collection.It lives near these wonder- ful streams,admirable bird,and is seldom at home.I saw two on the same ford which I visited twice;both had urgent appointments.The call is a pert sort of pipe- three sharp notes at a time.Stomach contents revealed insects. Along the shore we found three additional species- the big white-headed