402 REPORT— 1866. 



1866, by M. Ali^honse Milne-Edwards) and collections have reaped the benefit 

 of Mr. Clark's valuable discovery, the importance of which may be better 

 appreciated when it is remembered that previously the only remains of the 

 Dodo known to naturalists were the head and foot at Oxford, the skull at 

 Copenhagen, the portion of an upper mandible at Prague, and the foot in the 

 British Museum. Now it is believed that every bone of the bird's skeleton 

 has been recovered, with the exception (though that is an important excep- 

 tion) of the extremity of the wing. 



The attention of Mr. Edward Ifewton has been especially called to this 

 deficiency, which seems likely to be supplied by a thorough and systematic 

 exajuination of the Mare aux Songes, or at least the part of it which has been 

 most prolific in Dodos' bones. That gentleman has accordingly determined 

 to carry out this undertaking as far as may be expedient ; but according to 

 the latest accounts received from him, he had been obliged to defer com- 

 mencing operations in this quarter till the expiration of the rainy season, as 

 the marsh stUl continued to hold much water, and he expected to be able to 

 do no real good there until next month, when the Committee hope that com- 

 plete success may attend his excavations. 



The collection of bones formed in Rodriguez last year by Mr. George Jen- 

 ner, and sent home by Mr, Edward Newton (as stated in the communication 

 made by that gentleman to this Section at Birmingham) arrived safely in 

 England in the course of the autumn ; and the majority of them proved to 

 belong to the Solitaire or Dodo, peculiar to that island {Pezophaps solitaria). 

 They were exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society, 23rd November, 

 1866 ; and a select series of specimens from them is now produced, among 

 which are several that were previously unknown — such as the proximal end 

 of the tibia, portions of the pelvis and coracoid, the ulna, radius, and phalanx. 

 Mr. Edward Newton has been very desii-ous of completing the exploration 

 of the caves in Bodriguez, in the hope of finding the remaining portions of 

 the Solitaire's skeleton ; but communications between that island and Mauri- 

 tius being suspended for a large portion of the year, and when existing, being 

 uncertain, the difficulties in the way of carrying out his design were much 

 increased. At last, after long delay, he was informed that labourers were 

 so scarce in Bodriguez that the necessary assistance was not to be obtained 

 for making excavations there. To meet this new and imexpected difficulty 

 he was compelled to hire men in Mauritius and send them to Bodriguez, 

 under engagement for the express purpose of digging in the caves. The 

 Committee trust that the best results may follow this mission. 



Bourbon or Re'union, the third of the Mascarene Islands, which is known 

 to have formerly possessed a Didine bird, has not been neglected by the Com- 

 mittee ; but they regret to say that at jiresent they see no chance of success- 

 fully carrying on researches there. Mr. Edward Newton, however, is 

 thoroughly alive to the importance of discovering the remains of this species 

 (of which, unhke its allies, not a single relic is on record as now existing); 

 and he has commissioned a gentleman, who has lately proceeded thither, to 

 make a preliminary survey in the hope of finding places likely to reward a 

 search for its remains. 



I 



