179 



affirm it to be true. The combats between them on this occasion last some- 

 times pretty long, because the stranger only turns about, and does not fly 

 directly from the nest. However, the others do not forsake it till they have 

 quite driven it out of their limits. After these birds have raised their young 

 one, and left it to itself, they are always together, which the other birds are 

 not, and though they happen to mingle with other birds of the same species, 

 these two companions never disunite. 



We have often remarked, that some days after the young one leaves 

 the nest, a company of 30 or 40 bring another young one to it, and the new 

 fledged bird, joining the band with its father and mother, they march to some 

 bye place. We frequently followed them, and found that afterwards the old 

 ones went each their way alone, or in couples, and left the two young ones 

 together, which we called a marriage." 



Leguat's, d'Heguerty's, and the Abbe Pingre's descriptions were all we 

 had of this great ground pigeon down to 1866, except a few bones. When Mr. 

 Strickland proved its distinctness from the Dodo of Mauritius in 1844, and up 

 to 1852, these bones numbered 18. In 1864 Mr. E. Newton and Captain 

 Barclay got 3 more bones, in 1865 Mr. Jenner, the resident magistrate, 

 collected 8 bones, and in 1866 nearly 2,000 bones were collected, but during 

 the Transit of Venus expedition in 1874, a thorough search was made, and a 

 number of complete skeletons was collected. 



Habitat : Island of Rodriguez. 



Represented in Museums by a number of complete skeletons and a 

 large number of bones. 



Explanation of Plates. 



Plate 23. 



Coloured drawing made from Leguat's description and figure. 

 Plate 25 (a). 



Fig. 1. Outline of figure in Leguat's Voyage, 1708. 



Fig. 2. Outline of Schlegel's reconstructed figure of the Solitaire, 1854. 

 Fig. 3. Outline of Solitaire in Frontispiece to Leguat's Voyage, 1708. 



