A FLIGHTLESS RAIL 109 



one of them fly, or even try to do so : they trusted 

 entirely to their legs when pursued. In several 

 patches of bush we came across family parties of 

 them, and although the young were mostly full- 

 grown and feathered, we saw several which were 

 still covered with black down. They were found 

 on aU parts of the island, except on the summit of 

 the sandy hiU on the windward side. While 

 uttering its remarkable note, this rail stands quite 

 still and pufEs out aU its feathers ; from what I 

 observed I should say that the skin of the throat 

 is also expanded. The notes are loud — a strange 

 mixture of squealing, grunting and booming — 

 and during its song the bird appears to be gradually 

 collapsing, until at the end it is once more of 

 normal size. I have heard our English water-rail 

 utter a somewhat similar noise when near its nest, 

 but its cries are never so loud as those of the 

 Assumption rail. We caught two of them alive 

 and brought them safely to England, and they are 

 at the time I write living in the London Zoological 

 Gardens. 



White-necked crows were present on the island 

 in small numbers, and were nesting in the tallest 

 trees, but I have no doubt that this species has 

 recently wandered hither from Madagascar or East 

 Africa. 



Leaving the shore we found more open country, 

 and came across some large turtle-doves with brown 

 backs and claret-coloured breasts. These doves, of 



