.29) tough thorns;these bend over about head high and send out fern- like leaves also equipped with spikes nicely camouflaged;finally from the tip of the leaf there is a long trailing vine of thorns that attaches itself to any nearby plant or tree and the barrier is complete.To the cursory eye one looks quite harmless so that the amateur continually blunders into them;once hooked it is a situation that patience alone can alleviate.At last I found the trail nearly half way down the mountain.I followed it with all despatch but darkness caught me about 500 yards from shore and I was once again hung up until the welcome shout of David reached my ears.Thus I lost four hours of good hunting and caused the boys some inconvenience;but experience lighteth the way for only one person.I shall use my bean more in the future I hope.Mr.Beck now advises taking some sticks of solid alcohol into the bush so that one can make a fire and some kind of a camp.The worst feature in spending a night in these forests is the fact that we are invariably wet through when we come out often lacking dry shells to fire as a distress signal,and matches.Other birds ta- taken to-day,few in number were thickheads,brown fan-tails,and white- eyes;Mr.Beck took another yellow-bib,making three from Ganonga. The Doctor and Hicks spent the day at the skinning table finish- ing up yesterday's birds and the phalangers.The black cockatoo is still a myth as far as we are concerned.Another large snake and some choice centipedes were added to the collection by the natives.Mr.Beck found the nest of a gray pigeon with both eggs and fledglings;after photographing he caged the two young birds. The green and the red parrots and paroquet as usual are here in considerable number.At Kulambangra the rare kingfisher was reason- ablely hard to find;here they seem to be about the streams in the woods for anyone to shoot.In three days we have collected 6 with- out hunting them in particular.His call is much shriller than that of the ordinary kingfisher and is especially noted after rain.One usually finds him sitting on an open perch where he can fully realize the excellence of his voice.Rain squalls during the night disturbed my rest in the hammock under the boom;twice I have been rudely dumped out of a sound sleep upon the steering gear.I expect to rig up something permanent when we get to Gizo. October 26 Raised anchor at six and stood out on a SW course for Narovo I.,spending the morning writing notes and drying clothes. The France covered the 20 miles by 11 o'clock under power and Mr. Beck lost no time in going ashore to see Mr.Pohlson,the only white man on the place.He operates a copra export station and trading store on shares,the owner being Ike Green of Gizo.The anchorage is very fine on the NE side of the island well protected by a long barrier reef where hosts of terns nest- sooty,noddy,and sumatra. Narovo I.is 4 miles long and not over a mile wide in any part.A much smaller island,Simbo,which gives the little group its pop- ular name in these parts,is separated from its NW coast by a very narrow and shallow passage.Quite phenomenal thermal action arises along the shore of the larger island making the water between the two warm and in some spots boiling hot;it is fed by fresh-water springs and provides fine sanctuary for megapodes which lay in a large colony along the sandy shore.Some dig down to a depth of 3 feet to deposit their eggs which incubate naturally and quickly with the warmth generated by the earth.A similar colony was de- scribed in connection with Savo and on the E coast of Guadalcan- al near Berande I remember a megapode colony where the natives gambled on the amount of eggs laid in the various holes.The pop- ulation of the two islands numbers nearly 1000 according to Mr. Pohlson.The people are very dark and short of stature typifying the western Solomon Islander.