The most trodden path from the beach led us into a shady hollow, where the trees were of immense height and the undergrowth scanty.

From the summits of these trees came at intervals a deep booming sound, which at first puzzled us, but which we soon found to proceed from some large pigeons.

My boys shot at them, and after one or two misses, brought one down.

It was a magnificent bird twenty inches long, of a bluish white colour, with the back wings and tail intense metallic green, with golden, blue, and violet reflexions, the feet coral red, and the eyes golden yellow.

It is a rare species, which I have named Carpophaga concinna, and is found only in a few small islands, where, however, it abounds.