698 LT,-COL. N, MANDERS ON THE 



Bourbon. 



Bovubon is a small circular island less than forty miles in 

 diameter, Ijmg some three hundred miles from the east coast of 

 Madagascar. It has only twenty-two species of butterflies and 

 certainly one case of mimicry, which is very striking and quite 

 peculiar. It is that of a female Fapilio {phoi'banta) resembling 

 a Eioplcea. The gi-oup to which this Papilio belongs is green in 

 both sexes, but in this insect the female is dark brown and 

 resembles more or less closely the brown Euplcea {goudoti) 

 occurring in the island. There is no occasion to go into details, 

 as I have already brought them to the notice of the Entomolo- 

 gical Society in its Proceedings and Transactions, 1908, and have 

 figured both butterflies ; but I may add that they are essentially 

 insects of the littoral, common on one small portion of the coast, 

 particularly in gardens on the outskirts of St. Denis, but very 

 rarely found above 1,500 feet or 2,000 feet. The}^ are generally 

 associated. 



Bourbon has no lizards with the exception of one introduced 

 species which is very rare. I was fortunate enough to find a 

 specimen ; and I should say, judging by somewhat similar Ceylon 

 lizards, that in all probability butterflies would form part of its 

 diet, but it is far too rare to have any marked efiect on the 

 butterfly population. 



The following is a list of the insectivorous birds given to me by 

 a resident naturalist, which, so far as my knowledge extends, is 

 complete : — 



1. The Sparrow. Passer domesticus. 



2. The Mynah. Acridotheres trisiis. 



3. Zoster ops (^Malacirops) horhonica. 



4. Zoster ops hcesitata. 



5. Bec-Bec. Prathicola (Motacilla) syhilla. 



6. Coq des bois. Trochocercus borhonicus. 



7. The Wheat Swallow. Phedina horbonica. 



8. The Little Grey-rvimped Swiftlet. Collocalia francica. 



9. Le Merle cuisinier. Lalage {Oxynotus) newtoni. 



With regard to these, two, the Sparrow and Mynah, have been 

 introduced ; on the former I need make no remark, it has the 

 same habits as its English relations. Two eflforts have been made 

 in the last hundred years to instaJ the Mynah, but without success, 

 and this because it is considered a desirable moi"sel by the natives 

 and is mercilessly trapped and consequently very scarce ; I saw 

 only one pair during my stay in the country. 



Both species of Zosterops are very small birds, no bigger than 

 the English wren, and are found either singly or in small 

 family parties of five or six, flitting and creeping about the shrubs 

 after the manner of our long-tailed tits ; they feed on nectar and 

 small insects. The Motacilla or Chat is of the same size and 

 much the same colouring as the Whinchat, and quite possibly feeds 



