258 



Mons. A. Milne-Edwards on the 



ntius " des poules rouges, au bee de Becasse ; pour les prendre 

 il ne faut que leur presenter une piece de drap rouge, elles 

 suivent, et se laissent prendre h. la main : elles sont de la gros- 

 seur de nos poules, excellentes h manger/' 



Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 



Johann Christian Hoffmann*, who lived in Mauritius, as a 

 preacher, from the 13th of February 1673 to the 17th of March 

 1675, tells us that there existed then some red birds of a sin- 

 gular form, and the size of a common fowl, called Todaersen, 

 which, though deprived of the power of flight, ran very quickly, 

 so that to catch them " a rod is taken in the right hand, and 

 the left is wrapt in a piece of red stuff, which is thus shown to the 

 birds, commonly assembled in numerous flocks. Whether the 

 red colour terrifies these stupid birds, or whether it attracts 

 them, they approach the fowler almost without fear, and he, 

 when they are at a convenient distance, strikes and seizes one. 

 The cries which the captive utters attract its companions, who 

 seek to deliver it, and thus all become the prey of the fowler ^'f- 



It is evident that this passage refers to the Poules rouges of 

 Cauche. Hoffmann designates them wrongly under the name 

 of Todaersen, which has been often applied to the Dodo ; but 

 it is probable that, in 1673, this had already disappeared from 

 Mauritius, where it had become so rare that the author just 

 mentioned had never seen one. 



It is impossible not to recognize the similarity between the 



* Oost-Indianische Voyage, u. s. w. 8vo, Oassel : 1680, p. 52. 

 Ibis, 1868, pp. 479, 480.— Ed.] 

 t ' Leopoldina/ 1868, p. 52. 



[C/. 



