356 Mr. E. Newton on the Land-Birds 



The " Pigeon hollandais " of Marianne was of course Erij- 

 thrcena pulcherrima. The " Merle " and " Mangeur des Ponies" 

 appeared to be identical with the Mahe species. I was told that 

 the " Cateau noir " was formerly numerous^ but that it had been 

 exterminated on account of its depredations on the maize-crops. 



The next morning I took a short walk to try and get some more 

 Zosterops, but I could not find one ; the only bird I did get was 

 a young " Tourterelle rouge." Unfortunately I had no more 

 dust-shot with me ; and though I should have much liked to 

 have obtained some more birds, it was impossible ; and we left 

 Marianne. After a tedious voyage, for we had to beat all the 

 way against a chopping sea, we reached Praslin soon after noon. 



The information I had received as to there being no cats or 

 rats at Marianne was confirmed by the proprietor, M. Choppy, 

 and by the guardian, who had resided there for about three 

 years; and it is only to their absence that I can ascribe the great 

 abundance of bird-life on this little island, and to their presence 

 the entire destitution of bird-life at Felicite, which, to all ap- 

 pearance, would afford more food than its sister island Marianne, 

 situated not two miles distant. Long, then, may the latter be 

 catless and ratless ! M. Choppy, to his honour be it said, has 

 forbidden a single one of the former animals to be introduced 

 by any of his people ; and it is to be hoped that his orders may 

 be obeyed. If, however, the whole of the island is cleared for 

 the purpose of planting cocoa-nut trees, as is the intention of 

 M. Choppy, I fear their introduction will be almost as destruc- 

 tive to the birds as the introduction of cats and rats. We saw 

 a large species of lizard which was extremely common at Ma- 

 rianne ; and we obtained several, which I left behind with Mr. 

 Nevill. We also saw it at Praslin. I may mention that the 

 human population of Marianne consists of one family of five or 

 six persons. 



Having at last procured a female " Veuve " at Praslin, at the 

 same spot where I had procured the others, and seen that a nest 

 of the species I previously found was still without eggs, we left 

 on the afternoon of the 14th, and had a pleasant run in the 

 whaler over to Mahe, where we arrived late in the evening. 



Being anxious to visit Silhouette, we were lucky in finding 



