23. which inhabit this type of area in the early stages and very few of them. Later their numbers increase as 2 and 3 foot shrub appear and they are then joined by Aplonis and at later stages by most other kinds of birds present on the island, though a number of species are rare and others not much more than visitors or strays. If the bush is allowed to reach the small forest stage, a period of 25 years at least, all types except the rail appear. When clearing natives nearly always leave teak standing or growing because of its size and hardness and the difficulty of burning and the consequent encumbering of the ground with extremely durable logs and consequently a nucleus of large trees are left. If necessary to destroy the trees or if the teak are too numerous to leave they scorch the bases of them and either kill them or very nearly so and leave them standing. They stand for years and are a good indication as to what areas have been cultivated and are left under fallow, and liable to cultivation again. These dead trees or partially so, form hollows in forks at broken off limbs and so on and play a large part in the nesting life of Aplonis and Halcyon especially the former which on Uvea seldom use the usual Loyalty Aplonis nest site in a beheaded but standing rotting coconut palm stump. The bulk of the area falls under this category as it really belongs to the shorter forest areas. Coconut cultivation is the usual type of native culture of this sort though more regular in planting and of much greater extent than on most islands of the same size and population. Small scattered areas of this type of cultivation occur in all the other types except the stunted low ti tree areas. Taru cultivation is somewhat different to most islands where streams of running water are available and used. On Uvea