food to replace the swamp bulbs and roots, etc. on which it feeds. When it is nomadic it may be found in all types of habitat and doubtless stays for a day or two in any area where food may be found sufficiently plentiful. I have no doubt from local reports that the bird was once exceedingly plentiful on the island, even as recently as 20 years ago, but for reasons unknown to observer the bird has since rapidly decreased in numbers. A similar decrease has taken place in many other mollusc eating birds in the Loyalties and it may be that some toxic properites have developed in certain molluscs in the area which are showing an effect in the bird life decrease, especially those species which are mollusc eaters and feed much on the ground, seemingly point- ing to the toxic mollusc being some ground form. One might suspect dogs or domestic cats gone wild for these decreases, but the former on Uvea have long been plentiful even in the days when Porphyrio was very numerous and the latter have not gone wild on Uvea and if they did would probably soon fall to the pot demands of these meat hungry natives as doubtless many of their domestic relatives do. In fact, I doubt the domestic variety would ever be allowed to become plentiful enough to want to go bush and on first showing an inclination to wander would be quickly killed while yet easily available as meat. Natural enemies such as rats and snakes have always been present on the island even in the times when Porphyrio was plentiful so cannot be held responsible for the decrease. This species has an eclipse moult and at such times cannot fly and numbers doubtless at that season fall a prey to dogs, but the number so caught is probably