Birds of Madagascar. 425 



thera [Ellisia sp.) is calledi>at;fl5ff/a^«, or "Long-loin-cloth ;'' 

 the reason for this odd name is probably from its long tail, 

 the native salaka often being allowed to hang down behind, 

 especially if ornamented with beads or embroidery. Another 

 of these birds (Newton's Warbler) is known as Vdronjozdro, 

 " Papyrus-bird/' and Vbrombendrana, a word of the same 

 meaning, and also Vbrombararata* , ^"^ Bamboo-bird,'^ names 

 all no doubt describing its nsual haunts. The word Fitatra 

 — possibly from a root meaning " expanded, drawn out," and 

 so referring to the duration of the notes of the birds — forms 

 wholly or in part the names of three or four of the Warblers. 

 The very wide-spread name of J)jy applied to one of them 

 [Eroessa sp.) is doubtless the same as a word meaning " well 

 delivered,^' or " recited," and so is also descriptive of its 

 song. And another name, Firioka, that of Crossley's Warbler, 

 probably refers to its rapid darting flight, as it is also the 

 name of the Madagascar Swallow, as we shall see presently, 



Mr. Cory remarks : " The nest of the Fitatra Warbler 

 (Pratincola sybilla) is built of small sticks and moss, and 

 is placed, as a rule, on some low bush. Eggs, five to six, 

 blue in colour. The eggs of the Fitatrcda {Cops^chus specu- 

 laris) are similar to those of the Fitatra, but larger, and of 

 a lighter blue." 



The family Timeliidse, which includes the Bulbuls, Babblers, 

 and Grass-Warblers, appears to be less remarkable for its 

 powersof song than the one just described. M. Pollen describes 

 the notes of the Madagascar Bulbul {Hypsipetes madagas- 

 cariensis) as " short, monotonous, and intermingled at every 

 moment with the sounds tuuc-tuuc and truit-truit." Of the 

 White-eye or Bush-creeper, he remarks that " its song is short 

 and sweet, with a slight croak," and a cry resembling the 

 syllables pilupilu-pilu. Dr. B. B. Sharpe thinks that there is a 

 curious case of mimicry between one of the Bulbuls {Tylas 

 eduardi) and a Shrike ( Vanga polleni), and remarks that " if 

 these are really two distinct species [as seems undoubted], we 



* The Burarufa {Phragmites cominunis, Triii.) is a very tall bamboo- 

 like grass growing in marshes and by water-coui'ses, with sharp needle- 

 like points to its sheathing leaves. 



