CH. IV] FAUNA OF FERNANDO NORONHA. 191 



Islands (see below). The fauna is poor. No indigenous 

 mammal is to be found, with the possible exception of a 

 mysterious rat belonging to a tribe which Vespucci 

 describes as " Mures quam maximi." This description 

 seems inapplicable to the black rat, which is now found in 

 company with the common mouse. The cat also is said 

 to have become feral, but there is not the slightest 

 ground for believing in a truly indigenous cat. There 

 appear to be only three land birds, of which two are 

 peculiar ; the peculiar species are Vireo gracilirostris and 

 Elainea ridleyana, both very nearly related to American 

 forms. The third bird is a dove, Zenaida maculata, 

 " merely a small race of the ordinary Z. maculata of the 

 South American continent." It is not, however, pecu- 

 liar even as a small race, to the islands ; for precisely 

 the same variation occurs in Brazil. 



Only three reptiles exist in Fernando Noronha. 

 These are an Amphisbcena (A. ridleyi) peculiar, a skink 

 (Mabuia punctata) from Demerara, and a common Gecko. 

 The peculiar species has its nearest ally in the West 

 Indies, not on the mainland of South America. 



The fresh-water Mollusca consist of a species of 

 Planorbis peculiar to the islands. The land Mollusca are 

 seven in number ; of these four are peculiar, but only as 

 species, not as genera. A peculiar Centipede is described 

 by Mr Pocock under the name of Geophilus ridleyi, whose 

 nearest ally occurs at San Francisco. There is also a 

 peculiar Millipede, Spirobolus noronhensis. Two species 

 already known were also met with. Among the Insects 

 are two peculiar genera, and a considerable number of 



