536 BIRDS FROM SEYCHELLES AND VICINITY— RIDGWAY. vol.xviii. 



be referred. Geographical considerations would favor its being P. mada- 

 ga.Heariensis ; but the descriptions, so far as they indicate any difference 

 between the two supposed species, rather point to its being P. borhonica. 



40. CLIVICOLA RIPARIA (Linnaeus). 



One specimen, December 2. "One sj^ecimen shot on Tie Picard; sev- 

 eral seen on Gloriosa Island." (Abbott, MS.) 



Family N KCTAIMNIID^.. 

 41. CINNYRIS ALDABRENSIS, Ridgway. 



Cinnyris aldahrens'is, Eidgwav. I'roc. T'. S.Nat. Mus., XVII, 1894, p. 372 (Aldabra 

 Island; U.S.N.M.). 



Sjpecijic characters. — Similar to C. souimanga (Gmelin), but pectoral 

 band much broader and bright niaroon-bay instead of chestnut; sooty 

 breast-patch much more extensive, reaching, medially, to middle of 

 belly; sides and flanks light yellowish gray, and lower belly very i^ale 

 sulphur yellow (whole belly canary yellow in (7. souimanga). Female 

 much grayer above and darker below, anteriorly, than that of C. 

 souimanga. 



Eabitat.—Aldabva. Island. (Type, No. 128G73, U.S.N.M., male adult, 

 Aldabra Island, October 1, 1892^ Dr. W. L. Abbott.) 



Measurements of type. — Length (before skinning), 4.36 inches; wing, 

 2.10; tail, 1.50 j exposed culmen, 0.70; tarsus, 0.65; middle toe, 0.10. 

 "Bill and feet black." (Abbott, MS.) 



"This, the commonest bird in Aldabra, is found in all localities. Like 

 all other birds of the islands, it is extremely tame and unsuspicious, 

 even alighting on one's arm. It breeds from Septembei" to January, 

 possibly longer and at other seasons. More than one brood is raised, 

 but I do not know how many. The female alone performs the labor of 

 nest building and incubation; the male, however, assists in feeding the 

 young. The nest is suspended from a branch of mangrove or of a 

 'baluchi' bush near the shore; a favorite situation being to fasten it to 

 a stalk of grass or euphorbia hanging in one of the great pits or chasms 

 so numerous in the coral rock of Aldabra. The nest is neatly con- 

 structed of libers of bark, generally mangrove. The female selects a 

 suitable hanging leaf or branch and attaches some fibers of bark firmly 

 to it; other fibers are then attached to this nntil an oval mass is formed ; 

 this is then opened out by the bird entering her head and then her body 

 into the mass. More material is now added to the outside, the bird 

 occasionally entering the cavity and enlarging it by kicking and flut- 

 tering; finally the inside is lined with feathers. The construction of 

 the nest occupies about eight days. Two eggs are laid and the period 

 of incubation is thirteen days. The young are born blind, but oi)en 

 their eyes on the seventh day. 



"The male has a very sweet song, reminding one of the American 

 house wren, Troglodytes ai'don.^'' (Abbott, MS.) 



