From January to July 1973, and again from January until September 1974, the author worked in Western Samoa and bird observations were occasionally made. Ashmole (1963) listed 31 species of breeding land birds. Another species must be added since the mynah (Acridotheres tristis) is now well established in the Apia area. A total of 29 species were observed and, of 13 of these, observations give information on breeding (nests found, nest building behaviour, adult with food or dependent juvenile). Of the Samoan triller (Lalage sharpei) a nest was found for the first time and some information on its ecology is given. Of a few common species, numerous observations show that they probably breed all year round: the banded rail (Rallus philippensis), the white-rumped swiftlet (Collocalia spodiopygia) and the Polynesian triller (Lalage maculosa). Two introduced species have a seasonal breeding season: the red-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) and the mynah (Acridotheres tristis). For the other species for which observations on the breeding period were made the information available does not indicate whether breeding is seasonal or not: the Samoan fantail (Rhipidura nebulosa), the scarlet robin (Petroica multicolor), the wattled honeyeater (Foulehaio carunculata), and both starlings (Aplonis tabuensis and A. atrifuscus).
Foods of the adult mynas from near Bhopal in central India are described from 43 birds collected during the breeding season. A comparison is made with adult and nestling myna foods in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. The results show that mynas fed on both animal and vegetable foods.
Recent research has shown that there are 19 extant types of New Zealand birds collected on Captain James Cook’s three voyages of circumnavigation. Of these 9 are type paintings, the species concerned being Tadorna variegata, Anas superciliosa superciliosa, Aythya novaeseelandiae, Sterna striata, Chalcites lucidus lucidus, Xenicus longipes longipes, Anthus novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae, Finschia novaseelandiae and Mohoua ocrocephala. The remaining 10 are type specimens, the species concerned being Stictocarbo punctatus punctatus, Falco novaeseelandiae, Nestor meridionalis meridionalis, Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae novaezelandiae, Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae novaeseelandiae, Callaeas cinerea cinerea and Turnagra capensis capensis. The type paintings are preserved in the Zoology Library of the British Museum (Natural History) and the type specimens in the Merseyside County Museum at Liverpool, the Naturhistoriska riksmuseet at Stockholm, and the Naturhistorisches Museum at Vienna.
A brief account is given of some aspects of the history of bird specimens collected on the voyages and the history of the New Zealand type specimens is more specifically traced. Appropriate references are made to J. R. Forster’s as yet unpublished journal kept by him on the Resolution on Cook’s second voyage, and other relevant literature is referred to.
White-breasted woodswallows in Fiji nest in trees and on cliffs. Small sexually-mixed groups select the site, build a series of preliminary nests and the nest proper, copulate indiscriminately, and cooperate in incubation and raising the young. Detailed descriptions are given of observations of behaviour (including preening, scratching, hunting for food, song, roosting and defence) and of nesting (including site selection and building, copulation, incubation and care of young).
A count was made of birds in the Washdyke Lagoon, South Canterbury, monthly from January 1966 to December 1972. Thirty-five species were seen regularly and a further eleven species were rare visitors. Numbers are correlated with seasonal movements and breeding cycles. Previously published observations, recorded here, show a reduction in the number of breeding species since the late 1940s. As increased urbanisation may affect bird populations, a continued monitoring programme is warranted.