204 MALACIROPS BORBONICA. 



tail-coverts white and no white eye-ring. They are only known to occur 

 in the islands of Eeunion and Mauritius. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



a. Crown and mantle brown, the former some- 



what tinted with grey. Biunion Is. . . ■ borbonica. 



b. Crown and mantle grey. 



a 1 . Smaller; upper parts leaden grey; bill 



slightly larger mauritiana. 



b x . Larger; upper parts slaty grey; bill 



slighter e-newtoni. 



Malacirops borbonica. 



Malacirops borbonica (Gm.), Shelley, B. Afr. I. No. 109 (1896). 

 Zosterops borbonica, Sharpe, Cat. B. M. ix. p. 195 (1884) Bourbon Is. ; 

 Tristram, Ibis, 1887, p. 371 ; A. and E. Newton, Ibis, 1888, p. 475. 



Adult. Above, brown, with the upper tail-coverts white ; wings and 

 tail darker, the feathers of the former, partially washed with grey, inclining 

 to ashy white on edges of outermost quills ; chin, upper throat, thighs and 

 under tail-coverts pure white, remainder of tbroat and breast greyish white, 

 passing into chestnut shaded brown on the sides of the neck and body ; 

 axillaries, under wing-coverts and inner edges of quills white. Bill and legs 

 leaden grey. Total length 4-6 inches, culmen 0-4, wing 2-15, tail 1-75, 

 tarsus 0-75. Bourbon (Bewsher). 



The Brown-backed Bourbon Malacirops is confined to the 

 Island of Reunion, or Bourbon, in the Indian Ocean (21° S. 

 lat. by 56° E. long.). 



In habits these birds apparently closely resemble the 

 members of the genus Zosterops, for, according to Pollen, they 

 frequent the more elevated parts of the island, and are met 

 with in small flocks of six to twelve individuals. They 

 rarely descend to the shore level, but are occasionally met with 

 in the garden of St. Denis, searching the flowers for the insects 

 and nectar on which they feed. 



