ox BIRDS CX)LLECTED BY DOCTOR W. L. ABBOTT IN THE 

 SEYCHELLES, AMIRAXTES, GLORIOSA, ASSUMPTION, 

 ALDABRA, AND ADJACENT ISLANDS, WITH NOTES ON 

 HABITS, ETC., BY THE COLLECTOR. 



By Robert Ridciway, 



Curator of the Department of Birds. 



The preseut paper is based uixm two collections made by Dr. W. L. 

 Abbott, of Philadelphia; one, of 59 specimens, on the Seychelles, dur- 

 ing March, April, and ."^lay, 1890; the other, of 205 specimens, on Alda- 

 bra, Assumption, the Ainirante group, He Glorieuse, and other islands 

 northwest of Madagascar, during the ])eriod extending from July, 1892, 

 to January, 1893, inclusive. 



The representation of species, including several accidental visitants, 

 is believed by Dr. Abbott to be very nearly complete, as the following- 

 extract from a letter received from him, written at Mahe, Seychelles, 

 Marc.'h 10, 1893, will more fully explain: 



"I have now visited nearly all the small islands in this neighborhood, 

 and think the collection of birds which has been seut is nearly complete. 

 ... I think almost all the sea birds frequenting these seas are con- 

 tained in this collection and the one seut three years ago. The only 

 laud birds of the Seychelles which 1 failed to obtain were Gymnoscops 

 in.si(l((ri.s, Tristram, and Pahvontis irardi, E. Newton, but of the latter 

 I obtained a speeiuuMi a few days since. It is on the verge of estinc- 

 tiou here, but is said to be still fairly common in the neighboring island 

 of Silhouette. 



''No land bird exists (unless introduced) on any of the Amirantes or 

 other islands between the Seychellesand Cosmoledo and Aldabra. This 

 is probably due to the fact that these islands are extremely small, and 

 consequently any small bird would be sooner or later blown to sea 

 during the occasional (tiiough rare) hurricanes. 



'•Aldabra proved quite interesting. I renmined there tiiree and a 

 half months, and obtained specimens of all resident species. There 

 are fourteen land birds resident, and I picked up six otheis that were 

 evidently '])assers-by.' Also obtaine<l nests and eggs of most of them. 



Proceedings of the United States N;itioiiul Museum, Vol. XVIII— Xo. 1079. 



509 



