On Extinct and Vanishing Birds. 203 



Cinclocerthia gutturalis, and Ramphocinclus brachyurus of 

 Martinique, as well as the magnificent Chrysotis guildingi, 

 of St. Vincent, have been practically wiped out. 1 The last 

 two birds I have to bring before you are the best known of 

 the extinct species ; I refer to the Great Auk, Alca 

 impennis, and the Labrador Duck, Comptolaimus labradorius. 

 Of the former some 71 stuffed birds and skins, 9 skeletons and 

 74 eggs exist in collections, while of the latter 33 specimens 

 are recorded, and I believe there is a 34th in Dublin. 



We now come to the birds on the verge of extinction, and 

 here again the number of vanishing forms is enormous. 

 We will begin with the Mascarene Islands as before. On 

 Rodriguez, Palaeornis exsul is almost extinct, and only two 

 specimens have up to now been preserved, and are in the 

 Cambridge Museum. On the Seychelles another Ringed 

 Parrakeet, Palaeornis wardi, is practically gone, for whereas 

 a few years ago it was fairly common on Mahé, it is now con- 

 fined to the small island of Silhouette, near Mahé, and is even 

 there almost extinct. On Mauritius we still find a few specimens 

 of the Parrakeet which is generally identified as Palaeornis 

 egues, formerly found on Réunion, but I believe it is distinct 

 from this species, and must therefore stand as Palaeornis 

 echo, Newton. The numbers of this bird, however, have 

 been so reduced that it is bound to be exterminated in a 

 very few years. The two Thrushes, Ixocincla olivacea of 

 Mauritius, and Ixocincla borbonica of Réunion, are rapidly 

 vanishing owing to relentless persecution by man for food, 

 and by rats, Minali birds, cats, etc., introduced into the 

 islands. 



The very curious swallow, Phedina borbonica, is an inhabi- 

 tant of the Mascarene Islands, but like so many birds of this 

 group will soon vanish from the face of the earth. The 

 crested Flycatcher of Réunion and Mauritius, Trochocercus 

 borbonica, has also arrived at the vanishing point. The 

 Shrikes, Lalage rufiventer and L. newtoni, are already very 

 rare and evidently becoming extinct. Fovxlia flavicans, the 

 Yellow Weaver of Réunion, is almost destroyed, and 



1 On the small island, called Martha's Vineyard, " The Heath Hen," 

 Tympanuchua cupido, has been exterminated, while those which are still' there 

 have been introduced from the mainland, and are T. americanus. 



