On Extinct and Vanishing Birds. 205 



Count Berlepsch. Then we find that the Petrel, Puffinus 

 newelli, from Kauai, has been almost exterminated by the rats, 

 cats, and the Mongoose. The Sandwich Island Goose, 

 Nesochen sandviciensis, only found on the slopes of Mount Mauna 

 Loa, Hawaii, has been almost exterminated by the combined 

 attacks of man and the mongoose. Coming to Polynesia 

 we find that the black Rail, Pareudiastes pacificus (PI. viii.), 

 is almost, if not quite gone. On the Galapagos Islands the 

 Mocker, Nesomimus trifasciatus, of Gardiner Island, and 

 Phalacrocorax harrisi, of Narborough, are almost extinct. 

 In North America we find the wild Turkey, Meleagris 

 americana, on the verge of extinction, and the Carolina 

 Parakeet, Conurus carolinensis, and Californian Condor, 

 Pseudogryphus calif ornianus, are well on their way to disappear 

 for ever from this world. The fine Ivory-billed Woodpecker, 

 Campephilus principalis, has also been destroyed to such an 

 extent that it is almost impossible, if not quite, to find a living- 

 specimen. 



In the West Indies we find that the two Jamaica Amazon 

 Parrots, Chrysotis collaris, and Chrysotis agilis, are very nearly 

 extinct, while on Martinique the introduction of a carnivo- 

 rous Opossum has almost exterminated the Capped Petrel, 

 Aestrelata haesitata. On the mainland of America the 

 Passenger Pigeon, Ectopistes migratorius, down to quite lately 

 existed in countless millions all over the United States ; 

 Audubon records the fact that he watched flights of these 

 pigeons which took 6 or 7 hours to pass, and they were flying 

 many deep, and in width as much as several hundred feet. 

 Now, as in the case of the American Bison, reckless slaughter 

 has reduced the numbers of this fine bird to almost vanishing- 

 point. 



On Jamaica the Tube-nosed Goatsucker, Siphonorhis ameri- 

 canus, has not been found for many years, and may have 

 ceased to exist. 



In Europe the little St. Kilda Wren, Troglodytes hirtensis, 

 is rapidly vanishing, and on the Azores the Bullfinch, 

 Pyrrhula pyrrhula murina, is almost gone. 



The third category of birds which fall within the scope of 

 this essay are the birds which, though still fairly numerous, 

 are threatened with extinction in the extremely near future. 



