Mr. E. Newton's Ornithological Notes from Mauritius, 275 



Prancolinus ponticerianus. (Hartl. /. c. p. 69.) Perdrix 

 rouge. 



Not nearly so common at St. Martin as the preceding. They 

 seem to prefer the neighbourhood of cane-fields rather than grass 

 and brush-wood. I only saw a pair, and had but one shot, 

 killing the bird. On the wing they are a much stronger bird 

 than the Pintade. The call of the male sounds like " Terra- 

 cotta, terra-cotta." They are said to keep in coveys of five or 

 six, to run very much before dogs, and to perch. 



Syncecus sinensis. (Hartl. I.e. p. 71.) 



Not very numerous ; they stick as close as possible under a 

 dog's nose, and will allow you to pull away the grass and dis- 

 cover perhaps four or five sitting all together before they rise. 

 They seldom fly more than eighty or a hundred yards, and 

 though marked down, it is very difficult to find them again. 



Gallinula pyrrhorrhoa, A.Newton*. (G. chloropus,HQ,vi\. 

 I. c. p. 81.) Poule d'eau. 



I heard several birds in the rushes at Jacote, which I was told 

 were Poules d'eau ; but the note was different from that of the 

 European Water-hen ; in fact, I am quite sure that the example 

 I sent home in the last lot was of a species distinct from G. 

 chloropus. 



BuTORiDES atricapilla. (Hartl. /. c. p. 75.) Gasse. 



All along this coast this small Heron is very common. At 

 St. Martin, by the side of the lake, there is a scrubby wood, 

 consisting chiefly of high bushes, growing very like tall haw- 

 thorns, with here and there a tree, but not exceeding thirty feet 

 in altitude. Here is a great resort for this species, and five or six 

 pairs perhaps seem to look upon it as their home. I found two 

 nests — one with two young ones nearly ready to fly, the other 

 with two eggs nearly ready to hatch. In habits, general ap- 

 pearance, and note, particularly the latter, these birds greatly 

 resemble the West Indian Butorides brunnescens (Gundlach), 



* This is the species mentioned in our January Number (' Ibis,' iii. 

 p. 116), and since described by Mr. Alfred Newton at the Meeting of the 

 Zoological Society, January 8, 1861 (P. Z. S. 1861, p.. 18), under the above 

 name. — Ed. 



