of the Seychelles Archipelago. 345 



passed through a grove of clove-trees, evidently planted by the 

 hand of man, as this tree is not indigenous in Seychelles ; and a 

 little further on we entered the forest. There were few large trees, 

 the forest having been destroyed, I am informed, by a fire which 

 raged over this part of the island about ten years ago. The old 

 "capucins^' were all dead, their white stems only remaining; 

 the tree-ferns, of only one species, were of no great height ; 

 neither were the two species of palms ; and there was nothing 

 very striking in the general appearance of the bush, which can 

 hardly be dignified by the name of forest. The only birds to be 

 seen or heard were a few " Merles " and " Paille-en-queues " 

 {Phaeton flavirostris) soaring overhead. In going up I had 

 observed one of the latter enter a hole in the stump of a dead 

 capucin, about a quarter of a mile ofi", and on returning I 

 made for it. After a scramble over dead wood and granite 

 boulders, I got to it. The hole was about fifteen feet from the 

 ground, and my man soon ascended, not, however, without fears 

 on my part that the rotten old stem would come down with his 

 weight. Unfortunately there was only a young bird inside it ; 

 this I took home and endeavoured to rear, but it only lived four 

 days. I afterwards saw several "Pigeons hollandais^' {Ery- 

 thrcena pulcherrima) , and shot one. 



The next morning I went up the side of the mountain directly 

 at the back of the town to the height of about 500 feet, and on 

 a sort of plateau I fell in again with a flock of the Zosterops. 

 They were tolerably plentiful in a grove of clove-trees, incessantly 

 in motion, following one another from tree to tree as restless as 

 Titmice. Their only note was a sharp one; and though, 

 from their appearance on dissection, they would soon have bred, 

 they did not sing. This species also proved to be new, and I 

 have described it under the name of Z. modesta* from its very 



1-25, mandibulse ab articulo 1'81 ; rostri altitude ad frontem 0-41 poll. 

 Angl. 



Descr. foemince adiittce. — Mari similis sed minor, secundariis onrnino fiiscis, 

 et rectricibus albo terminatis ; rostro vivide aurautiaco ; pedibus flavis. 

 Junioris (jnasc. ?) rostrum fuscum, pedes brumieo-flavi sunt. 



* ZoSTEROPS MODESTA. 



Z. obscure fusco-grisea, annulo periophtlialiuico niveo, loris nigris. 

 Descr. maris adulti. — Supra olivaceo-grisea, subtus fusco-mimna ; 1i}T)0- 



