110 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



which we obtained specimens, proved to belong to 

 a hitherto undescribed species,* nearly allied to 

 those inhabiting Aldabra and Glorioso ; they 

 were remarkably tame, and could almost be caught 

 by hand. A few were nesting in the branches of 

 the hibiscus bushes, and one nest that we found 

 contained a single newly-hatched bird. Its flight 

 is somewhat heavy and laboured, and the bird is 

 remarkably unwilling to take to wing at all, 

 spending most of its time running on the ground 

 under the bushes, often in company with the 

 rails, with which it appears to be on excellent 

 terms. 



We had not proceeded far before we heard the 

 long bubbling note of a lark-heeled cuckoo,"j" 

 and soon found the bird sitting in a thick bush near 

 its nest — a large domed structure built of dried 

 grasses, and containing two perfectly white eggs. 

 This " cuckoo," which is, by the way, not a true 

 cuckoo, builds its own nest and rears its own young. 

 The Assumption species is closely allied to the 

 one I have mentioned as seen in the Foret 

 d'Ambre, but is somewhat larger. Although they 

 were extraordinarily tame, we were unable to catch 

 any of them alive, as they rarely left the thickest 

 parts of the bushes. 



The tameness of several of the birds on Assump- 



* Turtvr assumptionis, Nicoll, "Bulletin Brit. Orn. Club," Vol. XVI., 

 p. 105. 



t Centropus assumptionis, Nicoll, " Bulletin Brit. Orn. Club," Vol. 

 XVI., p. 105. 



