oco-nut leaves all in readiness. It was lit, and as the bright
flame burst out, and illuminated the enclosure, I felt a thrill of
delight--both birds were vigorously feeding upon a very ripe and
"squashy" custard apple, disregarding the bananas. The light quite
dazed them, and they at once ceased eating, and sat down in a terrified
manner, with their necks outstretched, and their bills on the ground. We
at once withdrew. In the morning, I was charmed to hear them "craking,"
and from that time forward they fed well, and afforded me many a happy
hour in watching their antics. I was in great hopes of their breeding,
for they had made a great pile of _debris_ between the banana trees,
into which in the day-time they would always scamper when any one
passed, and my natives told me that the end of the rainy season was
the incubating period. As it was within a few weeks of that time, I was
filled with pleasurable anticipations, and counted the days. Alas, for
my hopes! One night, a predatory village pig, smelling the fruit which
was always placed in the enclosure daily, rooted a huge hole underneath
the bambods, and in the morning my pets were gone, and nevermore did I
hear their hoarse crake! crake!--ever pleasing to me during the night.

*****

THE TOOTH-BILLED PIGEON OF SAMOA--(_Didunculus Strigirostris_)

The recent volcanic outburst on the island of Savai'i in the Samoan
Group, after a period of quiescence of about two hundred years, has, so
a Californian paper states, revealed the fact that one of the rarest and
most interesting birds in the world, and long supposed to be peculiar to
the Samoan Islands, and all but extinct, is by no means so in the latter
respect, for the convulsion in the centre of the island, where the
volcanic mountain stands nearly 4,000 feet high, has driven quite a
number of the birds to the littoral of the south coast. So at least it
was reported to the San Francisco journal by a white trader residing on
the south side of Savai'i during the outbreak.

For quite a week before the first tremors and groan-ings of the mountain
were felt and heard, the natives said that they had seen _Manu Mea_
(tooth-billed pigeons) making their way down to the coast. Several were
killed and eaten by children.

Before entering into my own experiences and knowledge of this
extraordinary bird, gained during a seven years' residence in Samoa,
principally on the island of Upolu, I cannot do better than quote
fr