(42) tops of high trees;cockatoos,minas,parrots and paroquets were also heard.G.R.brought in a little mountain kingfisher exhibiting a new plum- age- black bill,lighter blue mottled head,and light yellow and sienna colored breast,iris brown,feet flesh-pink.It proved to be a female and since the natives positively report the presence of the red-billed "shinga",I think it is the same in a young plumage.Hicks shot two of the bright blue headed kind similar to those taken on Ysabel.We put up 68 birds by 9:30. November 20 (Sunday) Awoke with a sour cold.Worked a bit with water-colors and notes.Read during the late afternoon.Mr.Beck shifted the anchorage more to the leeward of Moli I., to avoid the heavy roll which we have experienced of late. November 21 Heavy rain throughout last night and continuing in the A.M. I ventured up the river about 9:30 the rain having abated some and had the experience of missing three kingfishers on the wing- two white-ear- ed and one little blue.One gets little time to prepare to shoot;one heralds his approach with a sharp call.They live along the banks and up the small tributaries that flow into the main stream.The entire bot- tom is thickly vegetated with small timber,vines,and weeds of every de- scription.Whenever one is found perching it is invariably on a bare limb,usually a dead one;frequently on mangrove roots.When one alights it will usually sit for a minute or two unless frightened.The red-billed impresses me as the most rapid in flight.The white-eared and little blue are very speedy and usually keep to the bank under the overhanging limbs making it doubly hard for a mediocre marksman.The big white-headed fel- low and the common land type are fine targets because of their size and loud calls.None of the kingfishers seem to pay any attention to calling; probably because their calls are so difficult to imitate well.I saw a pair of brown herons too far away to shoot.After lunch all the field party except Mr.Beck went ashore along divers trails.The Doctor and G.R. have been fortunate in securing good natives for guides and retrievers. I followed the same nygali nut path that takes one in a SE direction for about 3 miles to an altitude of approximately 800 feet.There are three little camping places along the trail with good leaf houses where one could spend a comfortable night.I shot only six birds- thickheads,male and female,black fantail,cockatoo,brown flycatcher,and graybird.The thick heads here are most plentiful,black fantails a close second;they come readily to calling.Brown fantails,doves,the little mountain king- fisher,and in particular the crested pigeon(microgura meeki)are the desiderata.Mr.Beck has found that the natives savvy the latter,but they give the impression that it is rare.Meeks collected them somewhere on Choiseul in the eighties. November 22 G.R.,laid up with a knee infection.Hicks down with grippe and indigestion.Mr.Beck,the Doctor,and I went ashore.I again took the usual tail,climbing as far up as it went to the ultimate nygali nut out- post;here were planted coconuts in poor bearing and a small shed and a sort of lean-to had been built.On Vella Lavella,I recall,we found coco- nuts in full bearing at 1500 feet.I flushed three ground doves,getting one;I recoinnoitered many ravines and intersecting ridges where under- brush was sparse- good places for ground birds,but no crested head showed itself.The common ground dove is often encountered near places where the natives have cracked nuts.I took a brown and a black fantail, pigmy parrot,white-eye,gray-bird,and brown flycatcher.A black snake