24



on the crowned pigeon.



on the Island of Silouette, but we did not see it in Praslin, although

I believe it is there. We however saw the extremely rare parrot

(Coracopsis harkleyi). This pigeon is a bird of high forest and has a

loud coo, it rises and falls in its flight in the manner of our own

woodpigeon. Those we had alive throve well, so long as their native

berries lasted, but the cut up banana did not really suit them as it

is sticky and collects and dries on the angle of the gape. The best

food we found to be sultanas squeezed out once in hot water. So

long as the indigenous forest remains these beautiful pigeons are in

no danger of extermination, as there is a strong feeling in these

Islands for preserving all the native fauna ; the only danger is that

the planting of rubber will greatly restrict the area that is suited to

them. It is devoutly to be hoped that the wonderful fauna of these

Islands will in part he preserved for all future generations.


Of the other two species, we saw first Alectroencis sganzini,

on the Island of Mayatte, one of the Comoro group ; it appeared to

be rare, as there was not a great deal of the old forest left; it was

quite tame and hard to see as it sat still in the trees.


The other species we saw was Alectrcenas minor, which is

found only on the Island of Aldabra, an island ever famous as the

home of the gigantic land tortoise. This pigeon is a small edition of

the Comoro bird, but is also a little lighter in colour on the back.


The day when we procured A. minor was one of the most

interesting I ever spent in my life. We made a long trip on the

launch to visit the home of Ibis abbotti, that very rare ibis that is

peculiar to this spot. We had a most interesting time with these

birds, which were so fearless that they had no objection to being

picked up, and when held in the hand sdid not struggle, but probed

with their bills round our belts. When on the ground they searched

inside our shoes. To photograph them was difficult, for they in¬

sisted on perching on the camera; however, we got some beautiful

pictures of them later on.* When standing under their nesting trees

(some kind of ficus ) watching the cocoa-nut crabs (Birgns latro)

some small pigeons came into the trees to feed on the figs. We

procured five of these ; they were Alectrcenas minor.



* See “ Avic. Slag.” March, 1907 , p, 144 .



