Mr. E. Newton's Second Visit to Madagascar. 461 



86. Halieus ? sp. indet. 



I saw a pair of Cormorants on the small river at Vodotra, 

 about five or six miles to the northward of Tamatave, both on 

 going to and returning from Fenerive. I did not get a shot at 

 them. 



87. Plotus ? sp. indet. 



On a lake (an artificial one, I believe) near Fenerive I saw what 

 I am certain was a Darter ; he was generally perched on the top 

 of a dead tree in the water, long out of shot. Unfortunately there 

 was no canoe on the lake ; and as I had not time to get one car- 

 ried there, I had to leave him, sitting with his wings extended to 

 catch the last rays of the setting sun, and his long, fine, snake-like 

 neck and head stretched out ; but I trust some day to become on 

 closer terms of intimacy with him. 



I cannot conclude these notes without expressing my thanks 

 to Mr. Ferdinand Fiche, of Soamandrikazay, not only for the 

 hospitable reception he accorded us and the means he put at our 

 disposal for furthering our wishes, but also for the valuable as- 

 sistance he gave me in ascertaining the native names of various 

 birds. No one who has not tried knows how difficult it is for 

 one totally ignorant of such a language as Malagasy to render 

 accurately in writing the sounds conveyed by a native, who is 

 unable to read or write, and whose pronunciation is probably 

 not pure, but only that of a patois. Mr. Fiche very kindly wrote 

 in my note-book the native names of most of the birds obtained. 

 [Note. — Mr. Hewitson has been so obliging as to execute, 

 at considerable inconvenience to himself, the annexed plate 

 (Plate XIII.), representing some of the eggs obtained by Mr. E. 

 Newton on his second visit to Madagascar. The species thus 

 figured, all it is believed for the first time, are — 



Fig. 1. Nectarinia souimanga. 



Fig. 2. Pratincola sihylla. 



Fig. 3. Calamoherpe newtoni (sp. nov.). 



Fig. 4. Gervaisia albospecularis. 



Fig. 5. Hypsipetes ourovang. 



Fig. 6. Ellisia typica. 



Fig. 7. Dicrurus forjicatus. 



Fig. 8. Caprimulgus madagascariensis. — Ed.] 



