240 
Acclimatlsat'wti in the Isle of Mauritius . 
The laying takes place in October, with a second laying 
in March. The hatching lasts from 12 to 14 days, and the 
young" birds leave the nest after 16 days. These birds are 
entirely granivorous. 
They live in numerous flocks, either in the woods or the 
helds. From April to September Hocks are formed containing" 
several hundreds of Canaries, Foudis, Astrilds, which traverse 
the cultivated fields. At one's approach they rise in veritable 
clouds. The comnnmity disbands at the nesting season. 
26. Munia oryzivora, Linne. 
" The Calfat," says Milbert, " is one of the prettiest birds 
which adorn the forests. According to M. Sonnini, it is a kind 
of Yellowhammer, described first by Commerson. The size of 
this bird is between the .Sparrow and the Linnet; all the upper 
part is of an ashy blue ; the top of the head and the throat, black ; 
breast and belly wine-coloured, with the beak and feet rose- 
colour. The noise which it makes with its beak in striking the 
bark of the trees to bring out the insects resembles the noise 
made with their tools by the workmen called calfats when they 
pack with tow the interstices betw^een the planks of ships. This 
is what has given the bird its somewhat curious name." {Voyage 
a Vile dc France, vol. 2, p. 250). 
I have reproduced this paragraph, which contains almost 
as many mistakes as words, only on account of the explanation 
which Milbert gives of the bird's name. I cannot say "why, but 
if there is a species hardly insectivorous at all, it is certainly this. 
It must have been introduced, like so many others, about the 
middle of the i8th century, and its ravages among the grain- 
crops soon became so serious that at a time when a slave-owner 
was, by the order of May 7th, 1770, obliged to deliver annually 
ten heads of birds for each slave, five heads only of the calfat 
were considered an equivalent. This species has vanished from 
Mauritius. I have not seen a young one taken from the nest 
since 1892. 
27. Munia punctulata. L., var. risoria, Temm. 
This bird, known by the name of Pingo, must have been 
introduced a great while ago. Its nest, which, like that of the 
Estrilda astrilda, is horn-shaped, is made of coarser materials. 
While the Bengali chooses only the ears, the Munia uses stalks 
and leaves alike. The nest is usually placed at the top of some 
