the Birds of Matiriiim. 95 



29. Alectrcenas nitidissima. 



Alectrcenas nitidissima Salvadori, Cat. Birds, xxi. p. 163. 



Pigeon Hollaiidais. 



Became extinct about 1830. 



Three stuffed specimens are in the Museums of Port Louis, 

 Paris, and Eflinhurgh respectively. 



"Pigeon Hollandais " was tlie French name of this 

 beautiful Pigeon, on account of its plumage being the same 

 colour as the Dutch flag (red, white, and blue). 



30. * COLUMBA LIVIA. 



Columhn livia Salvadori, Cat. Birds, xxi. p. 252. 



Rock-Dove. 



There are in Port Louis many hundreds of pigeons of various 

 domesticated varieties. Every evening they congregate on 

 the roofs of the houses and fly about three miles to an 

 enormous face of precipitous rock in the hills behind Port 

 Louis. This evening flight aff'ords great sport, as the birds 

 are extremely wild when once they have left the town. Every 

 morning, soon after daylight, they descend in flocks of 

 from ten to forty and spend the whole day picking up a 

 livelihood in the filthy sti'cets of Port Louis, where they are 

 so tame as to be a nuisance. 



These birds all breed in the precipitous face of the hills, 

 on small ledges of rock. 



I shot several that had reverted to the plumage of the 

 pure Rock-Pigeon, and in the streets of Port Louis many 

 such birds can be seen. These are also much more wild 

 than those still shewing signs of domestic strains. 



There is little doubt that we have here the foundation of a 

 large colony of Blue Rock-Pigeons, which may eventually, if 

 not persecuted too much, spread over the whole island and 

 contiil)ute largely to the sport of the island. 



31. Nescenas mayeri. 



Nesmnas mayeri Salvadori, Cat. Birds, xxi. p. 327. 



La Colombo de Mayer. 



Pigeon des Marres. 



From the earliest times this Pigeon has never been 



