496 FOUDIA SEYCHELLARUM 



Poudia seychellarum. 



Foudia seychellarum, E. Newton, P. Z. S. 1867, p. 346 Marianne Isl. 



Neshyphantes seycbellensis, Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 501 (1896). 



Nesacanthis seychellarum, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xiii. p. 486 (1890) Sey- 

 clielles Isls. ; Eidgway, Proc. U. S. Mus. 1895, p. 514 lie Cousin, 

 Marianne Isl. 



Adult male. Upper parts dark brown, with olive edges to the feathers ; 

 forehead and most of the crown yellow ; mantle mottled, with dark brown 

 centres ; middle and lower back uniform olive brown ; wings and tail dark 

 brown, the feathers narrowly edged with olive, inclining to yellow on the 

 primaries ; under wing-coverts and inner edges of the quills ashy buff; sides 

 of head olive brown, with a large blackish patch from the bill round the 

 eyes and extending over part of the ear-coverts ; cheeks and upper throat 

 pale yellow, passing into buff on the chin ; remainder of the underparts pale 

 yellowish ash, with the flanks browner. Total length 5'3 inches, culmen 

 0-7, wing 3-0, tail 2-0, tarsus 0-85. 3 , Marianne Island (E. Newton). 



Adult female. Similar to the male, but differs in having no yellow on 

 the head or throat ; entire forehead and crown olive brown ; chin and upper 

 throat buff. Wing 2-9. 



3Iale in winter. Similar in plumage to the female. 



The Seychelles Fody inhabits the Seychelles Islands. 



On February 12, 1866, Mr. E. Newton landed on Marianne 

 in quest of a bird known on that island as " Le Mangeur de 

 riz," which proved to be the present species ; shot the three 

 typical examples and observed some fifty to a hundred similar 

 dull coloured specimens, and wrote : " In habits these birds are 

 gregarious, and I should imagine, live chiefly on grass-seed, 

 they ai^e said also, as their name implies, to eat rice. The 

 proprietor of Marianne told me the species was also found at 

 Ladigue, but was not plentiful there." 



Mr. E. Perceval Wright has since found the species on 

 Frigate Island, and Dr. Abbott on He Cousin. 



