Birds of Madagascar. 559 



bird's note, says M. Pollen, besides its cooing sound, resembles 

 the syllables hut-hout-hout-hut. The other Pigeons can be 

 easily kept in confinement, but this one soon dies if deprived 

 of its liberty. 



Mr. W. Wilson tells me : '' The Pony is now and then 

 found in Mkndridrkno in flocks of from six to eight birds. 

 The boys easily catch them at roosting-time by means of a 

 running noose on the end of a bamboo or Bararata [a very 

 tall bamboo-like grass]. They are very easily reared in cap- 

 tivity, and will eat cooked rice the day they are caught, as if 

 they had been used to it.^^ 



The generic name of the Funingus, or Madagascar Pigeon, 

 is taken from its native names of Fony and Foningo, also ap- 

 plied to the Southern Pigeon, and probably words imitative of 

 their cooing notes. The same imitation seems to be also 

 found in the name of Domohina, with many variations, given 

 to the Painted Dove. Other names refer to their colouring, 

 as Foningomaitso, " Green Pigeon,^' and Voromdnga, " Hand- 

 some (or Blue) Bird ;'^ Vbronaddbo, a provincial name of the 

 Southern Pigeon, refers to its eating the fruit of the Addbo 

 tree, a species of Ficus ; while the Cape Dove has the strange 

 name of Tsidzotononina (i. e., '^ Unspeakable^') among the 

 'Tankla or forest tribes, probably because its more common 

 name had become tabooed or sacred through having formed 

 part of the name of one of their chiefs. This seems confirmed 

 by the fact that the other provincial name of this Dove, 

 Katbto, is said to belong to " a bird of bad omen " (see ' Ma- 

 lagasy-English Dictionary ' under Katbto) . 



(Some time after writing the above, I found the following 

 in Mr. Cowan's ' Bkra Land ' : — '' While waiting not far from 

 the river (the Mauanantanana), I got some eggs of a Bee- 

 eater {Kirioka), and saw many Pigeons {Katbto) flying about. 

 Neither of these two birds is common in Eastern Betsileo. 

 The Katbto is tabooed or sacred here, even to its name, so it 

 is spoken of as the Tsitonbnina ('not to be mentioned'). 

 It is a remarkable fact that most, if not all, of the birds 

 common to Eastern Africa and Madagascar are sacred, or 

 regarded with a kind of superstitious fear. Of these the 



