394 



D. Praia — The Vegetation of the Coco Group. 



[Ko. 



Though many such birds, as for instance Garpophaga hicolor, appear 

 always to feed on trees and therefore would probably very rarely come in 

 contact with Pisonia fruits, many others, as for instance Galcenas nico- 

 barica, appear to feed as much or more on the ground, on fallen ripe 

 fruits, as on the trees that bear the fruits they eat.* And in such a case 

 there is no doubt that they might very easily come in contact with Pisonia 

 fruits. Though essentially a beach-forest tree, the writer has col- 

 lected specimens of Pisonia excelsa (and the tree was plentiful where 

 he did so) three or four miles inland and 250 — 300 feet al5ove sea-level ; 

 some mode of dispersal other than, or at any rate supplementing, ocean- 

 dispersal, must therefore, as has already been pointed out, be postulated 

 as regards this species. Of the grasses placed in this list Andropogon 

 contortus already mentioned as possibly wind-introduced, much more pro- 

 bably owes its presence to this mode of inti-oduction Oplismemis com- 

 positus is also sufficiently well endowed to render this mode of introduc- 

 tion likely. The only Cryptogam likely to have been thus introduced is 

 Acrostichum appendiculatum, the spores of which might easily get brushed 

 off by the feathers of a bird walking through a patch of it. This would 

 also apply to the seeds of Calanthe. 



The following table gives the names and distribution of the species 

 likely to be thus introduced or likely to have their local dispersion assist- 

 ed by this means. 



Table XXI. Distribution of species probably introduced attached to 

 the feet or feathers of land-birds. 







S. E. Asia. 



ci 



•d 





Species, 

















13 





■" 



'S 



cS 





o 



.s 



o 



6 



1 



1 











d 

 i-i 



'7S 



a 





DO 



4 



'o 



Pi 



s 

 < 



Urena lobata ... ... 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



[Buettneria andamanensis] 



- 



- 



[x] 



- 



- 



- 



- 



Desraodmm triqiietrmn 



X 



X 



X 



X 



— 



— 



— 



Desmodium laxiflorunx 



— 



— 



X 



X 



— 



— 



— 



5. Desmodium polycarpnm 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



— 



'Loranthus longiflorus] 



— 



X 



X 



X 



— 



— 



— 



'Boerhaavia repens] ... ••• 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



— 



'Pisonia acaleata] 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



— 



X 



Pisonia excelsa 



— 



— 



[X] 



X 



— 



— 



— 



10. Calanthe veratrifolia... 



— 



X 



[X] 



X 



X 



— 



— 



Oplismenus compositus 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



— 



Andropogon contortus 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



X 



Acrostioham appendiculatum 



~ 



X 



X 



X 



- 



— 



— 



* This at least was the writer's experience in Batti Malv, the small uninhabited 

 almost inaccessible island of the Nicobar Group already referred to, where Galcenas 

 nicoharica breeds, and on which thousands of individuals of this species congregate. 



