360 On the Birds of the Canary Islands. [Ibis, 



Partrid°:e, whose beak is nearly straight, with the nostrils 

 at the base of the upper mandible united to the feathers of 

 tlie forehead. Its wings are long. From the tail start two 

 feathers half as long again as the others, getting gradually 

 thinner till they terminate in a point. The head, neck, and 

 shoulders show several points and spots, which are black, 

 greenish, and red, while the lower portion of the body is 

 black. The feet are ashy, covered with a feathery down, 

 claws black. On the throat are three black lines, like a 

 necklace. It breeds in the island of Fuerteventura." Reid 

 thus correctly translates the Spanish version which I have 

 myself studied. Savile Reid comments that this description 

 would seem to apply to P. alchata except that the abdomen 

 is given as black as in P. arenarius, and suggests that 

 both species may have occurred and the descriptions got 

 mixed up. P. arenarius orientalis is, of course, the common 

 resident species in Fuerteventura. 



I think we may safely dismiss from our minds all likeli- 

 hood of P. alchata having occurred iu the Canary Islands. 



Phasianns colcMcus. Pheasant. 



As already recorded under Pterocles alchata^ the first 

 mention of the Pheasant in the Canary Islands comes from 

 Sonuini who, in Lediu^s List of the Birds of Tenerife, vol. i. 

 1810, p. 186, adds a note to the effect that " Le Faisau " 

 (^Phasianus colchicvs) is common on " Lancerote et a Fort- 

 a Ventura.^' 



We next find " Gallus phasianns'''' appearing in Busto's 

 extremely unreliable list (Topografia medica, 1864, p. 104] . 



Humida sp. Guineafowl. 



Eusto (Topogriifia medica, 1864, p. 104) includes a 

 Meleagris in his list. If Guineafowls ever inhabited the 

 Canai'y Islands — which is extremely unlikely — they must 

 have been imported from the Cape Verde Islands, or from 

 the mainland, where they are numerous. The record is 

 worthless. 



