132 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



parrots, I descended the hill again and took up 

 my station under the magnolia tree. After an 

 hour's interval I heard a musical whistle, 

 reminding me of the call of the Madagascar 

 black parrot, and, to my delight, the coveted bird 

 came flying straight to the tree. A minute later 

 it was in my hand ; it proved to be immature, 

 and though full-grown, was not so dark as an 

 adult. The general colour of its plumage was a 

 sooty-brown with a yellowish wash on the chin 

 and throat, and a distinct greenish sheen on the 

 wing. As no more parrots appeared, we started 

 back for the ship. I was told by one native that 

 he had never seen more than ten of these parrots 

 together at a time, but Mons. Boulle assured me 

 that he had quite recently seen " a hundred " 

 sitting together in this particular magnolia tree, 

 which is the only one of its kind on the island. 



Next day we steamed across to Felicite, a 

 small island given over to the cultivation of 

 coconut trees, with which it is for the most part 

 covered. We were conducted over it by the 

 owner, Mr. Birgne. The most interesting bird 

 here was the fruit-pigeon of the same species as 

 that found on Mahe. It was extremely abundant, 

 owing entirely to the care Mr. Birgne had taken 

 to preserve it. He told me that he never allowed 

 it to be caught or molested in any way. 



On returning to Praslin we landed in Marie 

 Louise Bay, at the foot of the " Coco de Mer " 



