338 



APPENDIX. 



the bones of the Solitaire {vide infra). The large size of this 

 bird {Psittactis rodericanusl),^ equally with the small size of the 

 Agapornis, precludes either from being the ^ perroquet' charac- 

 terised by Leguat as of ' mediocre grossenr\ and again mentioned 

 by Pingre. 



In 1871 Mr. Newton received from Mr. Jenner, the magistrate 



of Rodriguez, an example of a ' parrot' preserved in spirit 



and Professor Newton, in full confidence that it had never been 

 named or described, characterised it as Pala^nrnis, thus : 



"'Palzeornis exsul, sj!). 7j. Diagn. {fcemince). P. mediocris 

 grisetglatic2is, vitta menti ohscura nigra, rtmigihus externe ca'ruleo 

 lavatis, interve nigris. Hah. in insula Rodericana ' 



" In the belief that in this glaucous bird we see one of the 

 ' Perroqtiets verds ci- b/eus' of Leguat, I have chosen a name for 

 it which mny help to commemorate the first writer who seems to 

 have observed it, and in bestowing npon it the appellation of 

 Paiceornis exsnl, have had in my mind the exile through whose 

 means we are in some degree acquainted with the marvellous 

 original fauna of the island which was to him productive of so 

 much happiness, as a prelude to so much misery." 



To continue, however, the remarks of M. JMilne-Edwards : — 



" The Relation MS. distinctly indicates that the ornithological 

 fauna of Ptodriguez had not undergone any notable modification 

 during the first part of the eighteenth century, since the species 

 noticed by Leguat still existed in 1730. We know, on the other 

 hand, that when the astronomer Pingre stayed in this island in 

 1761, the Solitaires there had become so rare that that savant 

 only spoke of them from hearsay, not having observed any him- 

 self." M. Milne-Edwards adds, that "he (Pingre) gives no in- 



1 " The perruche of Pingre may be set down as the species indicated 

 by M. Milne-Edwards. The naturalists attached to the Transit Expe- 

 dition having returned from Rodriguez without procuring a specimen 

 of the cock bird of this species, although one was seen by Mr. Slater, 

 which will be found to have a red bill and a red star patch, according 

 to the manuscript Relation de I' lie Rodrigae, already cited." A plate 

 showing the characteristics of the hen bird was published by Professor 

 Newton in the Ihis for July 1875, which is reproduced at page 85. 



