M. F. Pollen on the Genus Oxynotus. 279 



Hitherto nothing is known of the manner of breeding of the 

 Reunion Oxynotus; but my friend Mr. Edward Newton has 

 been more fortunate with respect to that of the Mauritian spe- 

 cies, and he has favoured me by adding the following communi- 

 cation respecting it : — 



"The Oxynotus of Mauritius, or "Cuisinier" as it is, for 

 what reason I do not know, called, begins to build towards the 

 end of October or beginning of November. Two of the three 

 nests that I have found were placed in small trees not more than 

 twenty feet high, and of a sort of mop-like growth, the nest being 

 nearly in the centre of the " mop,^-* and almost out of sight from 

 below, on account of the small, thickly- growing leaves. One 

 tree was a " Bois-balai " {Erythroxylum hypericifolium) , the other 

 a "Bois de pomrae" [Lyzygium ylomeratum) . The bark of 

 both these trees is as white as that of a European birch. The 

 third nest was in a tree of somewhat thinner growth, but, I 

 believe, also a "Bois-balai," and was easily to be seen from 

 the ground. One of the nests, which is now before me and 

 contained two eggs when I took it, is flat, shallow, and very 

 small for the size of the bird (whose head and tail projected 

 considerably on either side), being 4'5 inches in external, and 

 3 inches in internal diameter. The height of its walls is nowhere 

 more than 2'5 inches. It is composed of long fern-roots and 

 tendrils of some plant, studded on the outside with a common 

 white and black lichen, and well secured by spiders' webs woven 

 over its outer surface. M. Pollen, in his 'Note' on the Oxy- 

 notus of Reunion, stated his belief that its nest would be " dans 

 la forme des piegrieches {Lanii)." The nest of the Mauritian 

 species is very like that of Lanius rufus, both in size and general 

 appearance. The eggs measure about l'07inch in length, by 

 about '74 inch in breadth. They are of a very pale sea-green, 

 thickly marked with ash-coloured spots of a middle size, and 

 blotched, especially between the larger circumference and the 

 obtuse end of the egg, with patches of olive-brown, these latter 

 markings, though of irregular shape and size, having a general 

 longitudinal tendency. 



" The " Cuisinier " is found, I believe, in every part of the 

 island where the original forest is left ; but I fear that before 



