Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

Expeditions to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands 81
Fig.2.14. The members of the Whitney South Sea Expedition in the Solomon Island region
(1929). From left: William Coultas, Ernst Mayr, Walter Eyerdam, and Hannibal Hamlin.
(AMNH Library photographic collection, neg. no. 273081)
a professional collector primarily of mollusks and plants, but also of birds and
mammals. He made five trips to the Soviet Union and the Siberian steppes between
1925 and 1931.
None of the members of the WSSE knew anything specifically about the birds
of the Solomon Islands. However, Mayr had the advantage of his New Guinea experience;
many Solomon birds have close Papuan relationships. Moreover while
collecting on the islands he soon applied his well-established methods of questioning
the natives about the birds and listing all their local names. Selected men
were then employed as collectors on the basis of a premium payment to obtain the
desired specimens.
The movements of the expedition between the islands of the Solomon Archipelago
are listed in the “Itinerary” above which I prepared on the basis of H. Hamlin’s
diary (see also Fig. 2.11). I summarize below the collecting activities during the
period when Mayr was a member of the expedition between July 1929 and February
1930 using the notes prepared by all members (on file at the Department of
Ornithology, American Museum of Natural History, New York).
(1) Southern Bougainville Island. After stops at Faisi (Shortland Island) and Kieta
(Bougainville) collecting was done in the southern part of this island (Buin region)
during the period 20–27 July. Here Hamlin and Mayr visited Father Poncelet,
a naturalist chiefly concerned with insects, at a place 8 miles inland. They went on
bicycles provided by the patrol officer.
(2) Nissan Island. The “France” sailed from Buin via Kieta, Tiop and the Buka Passage
to Nissan Island, northwest of Bougainville, during the first half of August.