_Remarks._--Apparently _Pteropus howensis_ is confined to Ontong Java (Lord Howe Islands) located northeastward of the main body of islands that constitute the Solomon Archipelago (see Fig. 5). According to A. J. Nicholson, who collected the specimens listed above, _P. howensis_ is not abundant in Ontong Java. He related this circumstance to the fact that these small islands are nothing more than parts of a coral atoll used almost entirely for the production of coconuts (see Sanborn and Nicholson, 1950:329).
Specimens of _Pteropus howensis_ deposited in the U. S. National Museum agree well in most ways with the original description of the species by Troughton (1931:204-205). Slight variation in color is evident; in two specimens, the mantle, just posterior to the ears, is Ochraceous-Buff.
The relationship of this species to other kinds of _Pteropus_ known from Melanesia is not clear. Troughton (1931:204, 206) compared _P. howensis_ with _P. hypomelanus_ and _P. admiralitatum_ and found that it resembled each of them. Tate (1934:2) noted that the skull of _P. admiralitatum goweri_ was similar to that of _P. howensis_ in structure. The latter species is, however, larger (length of forearm 122 according to Troughton, 1931:205) than any subspecies of _P. admiralitatum_ (length of forearm 108-112). Also, the cheek-teeth of _P. howensis_ that I have studied are relatively larger than those of either _P. hypomelanus_ or _P. admiralitatum_. Furthermore, in _P. howensis_ there is a small but distinct cusp located medio-posteriorly on P4 (most noticeable in young individuals) that is more reduced or undeveloped in specimens of the other two species. Cheek-teeth of _P. howensis_ resemble those in a dull-colored specimen of _P. tonganus_ from Fiji Island with which I compared the specimens listed above.
Weights and crown-rump lengths of the two embryos (in an advanced stage of development) examined were 20 and 29 grams and 43 and 51 mm. (apparently these are the specimens listed by Sanborn and Nicholson, 1950:329).
_Pteropus tonganus_ has at least three subspecies, one of which has been recorded from the Solomons. The species ranges from a small island off the eastern coast of New Guinea, where there is an endemic subspecies, eastward to Tonga and the New Hebrides (Laurie and Hill, 1954:33-34). Felten (1964_a_) recently has reported on the species in the New Hebrides.