Ornithology, Evolution, and Philosophy 123

82 2 The Budding Scientist
Mayr and Hamlin collected 193 specimens of 24 species of birds on 6 days (5–10
August) and a list of 180 words of the Nissan language (Mayr 1931n). Seventy
years later he still remembered many of them, for example tetjau (bird), vorvoron
(breast), viliatun (war), kukuhalik (girl), kodan (liver). Salomonsen (1972)
described a new subspecies of pigeon from their Nissan bird collection.
(3) Northern Bougainville. The motor of the “France” being out of order they sailed
all the way back to the northwestern coast of Bougainville and arrived at Soraken
(Surikan) on 14 August. During the period 15–20 August Mayr collected two species
of paroquets in good numbers (a smaller green species and a larger red one) and
observed a Peregrine Falcon which is a rare visitor to the Solomons and breeds
in the New Hebrides and on New Caledonia. Arriving back in Kieta on 29 August
they met W. Coultas and W. Eyerdam who had arrived there about 10 days earlier.
(4) Shortland Island. On several days, shorebirds were collected while the ship
called at Faisi to purchase supplies in preparation for the inland trips on Choiseul
Island (6–13 September).
(5) Choiseul Island. New York had instructed them to look for a good series of
the endemic Choiseul Pigeon (Microgoura meeki Rothschild) that had not been
found again since 1904, when A.S. Meek had collected several specimens for Lord
Rothschild. The expedition arrived on 15 September anchoring at Choiseul Bay
and found the usual lowland bird fauna but no Microgoura. Several natives well
acquainted with this bird reported that previously it was easily caught provided
theyhadfoundalow-branchedtreewherethepigeonsroostedingroupsoftwoto
four birds by noting the droppings on the ground underneath. The natives were
good naturalists as all inland people. They knew the bird represented on a colored
plate of Microgoura and had a name for it but were unanimous in saying that it had
become extinct, attributing its disappearance to introduced cats. An expedition
member shot a large cat on the island which seemed to support the theory of cats
being the cause of the extinction of Meek’s Pigeon. However, Hamlin insisted that
they continue the search.
Between 11 and 29 October the expedition split up in two groups. Hamlin and
Eyerdam went to the Sasamunga region on the southwest coast to investigate the
Kulambanara River Valley inland and later the southern tip of the island, whereas
Mayr and Coultas were sent with the “France” to the mouth of the Wurulata
River at the southeastern end of the island and close to a hilly region. Meek had
discovered the species near this locality right at the coast. But again, the natives
assured that it was extinct by cats. Mayr and Coultas collected for a couple of days
and then went inland with the help of three porters establishing a camp at the
base of the mountains, and the porters returned to the coast. On the way they had
passed several abandoned villages. The inhabitants had either died from one of the
introduced European diseases or after moving to this unhealthy coast. Mayr and
Coultas climbed the mountain, with 550 m elevation the highest point in this part
of the island, surely the first ascent by white people. All the birds were the same
as in the coastal lowlands, no sign of Microgoura. Ontheirreturn,andwithout