VALIDITY OF SOME FORMS OF MIMICRY. 699 



on the smallei' butterflies, but would scarcely tackle an insect 

 considerably larger than our Swallowtail, but of this I have no 

 evidence. I saw it frequently in the gorge leading up to Salazie 

 and on the hills round St. Denis, but I saw nothing of it in the 

 neighbourhood of the town. 



The Flycatcher {Trochocercas horhonicus) is the same species as 

 occurs in Mauritius ; it is said, on the authority of M. de Charmoy, 

 to feed on diptera and by preference on mosquitoes. It is 

 quite a small bird. 



The Wheat Swallow {Phedina horhonica) has precisely the same 

 habits as regards its food as the English species ; it appeared to 

 me to be fairly plentiful. It also occurs in Mauritius. 



The Little Grey-rumped ^\\\it\et [Collocalia fi^ancica) is the well- 

 known species that forms a nest of inspissated saliva. It occurs 

 in Mauritivis. It is quite a small bird, decidedly smaller than our 

 Sand-Martin, and may occasionally snap up a small Lyca^nid. 



Le Merle cuisinier, or Tui-tuit — Lalage [Oxynotus) neiotoni. 

 I am unable to &Siy whether this bird is abundant or not, 

 or whether it destroys butterflies. I did not come across it 

 in Bourbon, so I am inclined to doubt its being particularly 

 common. It has the same habits as the Mauritius Lalage 

 ruflv enter. 



In the absence of any living bird it occurred to me that 

 possibly the extinct Bourbon Starling might have been the prime 

 factor in producing this case of mimicry, and I therefore wrote 

 to my venerable friend Dr. Jacob de Oortimoy for information 

 concerning it. He is now verging on his ninetieth year, and is 

 probably the only one now living who has seen this bird alive ; 

 his letter is so interesting that I need make no apology for 

 transcribing a portion of it. 



"I have known the bird you ask me about since childhood, 

 namely the Fregilupus var'ms (old writers called it F. capen- 



sis), which has in fact entirely disappeared When I was a 



boy this bird lived in the forests of the interior of the island and 

 never set foot nor wing in towns or inhabited places. It remained 

 faithful to the forests where it was bred, which it enlivened 

 with its clear notes. I used to hunt it then at an age when one 

 is pitiless. I can see it now, a little larger than the white black- 

 bird, with a white crest on the head in the case of the male, 

 the wings a blackish grey on the upper surface, the beak and 

 feet yellowish. By no means shy, it was not frightened even by 

 the sound of firearms, and after a regular slaughter one went 

 off with dozens of these poor victims in one's game-bag. 



" After ten years spent in Paris I did not find a single one in 

 the forests where formerly they flew about in flocks. All ruthlessly 

 destroyed. I shall never forgive myself for the part, slight 

 though it was, which I took in the matter. I lost my taste for 



sport and the best bag would not tempt me We will 



now consider the feeding habits of this bird. Having raised 

 several in the aviar'y, I can risk talking about it though I never saw 



