THE SOLITAIRE 



{PRZO.PHAPS SOL/TAR I a) 



nriHE vernacular name now borne by this extinct 

 bird of Rodriguez was originally given to 

 another and doubtless allied species by the French 

 colonists of Bourbon or Reunion. As nothing 

 definite appeai-s to be known of this latter species, 

 the name may ha retained by the Rodriguez Island 

 bird, and which was bestowed upon it by Leguat, 

 its earliest historian. The Dodo had been found 

 and exterminated before the present species became 

 known, if we attribute the absolute discovery 

 of the Solitaire to the Huguenot, Leguat; but 

 Professor Newton has shown that earlier ex- 

 plorers may have been familiar with it, or heard 

 of it, if the}'^ confused it with the Dodo. What- 

 ever the real facts may be, to Leguat we are 

 indebted for our only knowledge of the character- 

 istics and habits of the Solitaire of Rodriguez. 



