as Sospita statira and Taxila pulchra, the gorgeous blue Amblypodia hercules,
and many others. On the skirts of the plantations I found the handsome blue
Deudorix despoena, and in the shady woods the lovely Lycaena wallacei. Here,
too, I obtained the beautiful Thyca aruna, of the richest orange on the upper side;
while below it is intense crimson and glossy black; and a superb specimen of a
green Ornithoptera, absolutely fresh and perfect, and which still remains one of
the glories of my cabinet.
My collection of birds, though not very rich in number of species, was yet
very interesting. I got another specimen of the rare New Guinea kite
(Henicopernis longicauda), a large new goatsucker (Podargus superciliaris), and
a most curious ground-pigeon of an entirely new genus, and remarkable for its
long and powerful bill. It has been named Henicophaps albifrons. I was also
much pleased to obtain a fine series of a large fruit-pigeon with a protuberance
on the bill (Carpophaga tumida), and to ascertain that this was not, as had been
hitherto supposed, a sexual character, but was found equally in male and female
birds. I collected only seventy-three species of birds in Waigiou, but twelve of
them were entirely new, and many others very rare; and as I brought away with
me twenty-four fine specimens of the Paradisea rubra, I did not regret my visit to
the island, although it had by no means answered my expectations.