136 Appendices 
Judging from the general dissimilarity of the avifauna of that 
island and of Mauritius, 1 we should be inclined to suppose that 
each had its peculiar Palceornis; and in the event of this being 
the case we would venture to suggest the term echo 2 being applied 
to the Mauritian bird, which no doubt answers in nearly all 
particulars to the true eques. 
It has just been stated that the Palceornis is extinct in Reunion. 
That island, indeed, is at present destitute of any indigenous 
Parrot; for though M. Maillard ( Notes sur Vile de la Reunion, 
p. 162) includes Coracopsis vasa as being found there, it has 
obviously been introduced thither from Madagascar. Rut 
Parrots there were once, and of several species, in Bourbon; 
and the proper habitat of one of these appears to us to have been 
so seriously mistaken by many recent authors, that some little 
space may well be devoted to the investigation of the matter. 
Whatever may have been the Psittacus obscurus of Linnaeus 
(S. N. ed. 12, p. 140), founded on a ‘Parrot from Africa,’ which 
came under Hasselquist’s notice during his travels in the East 
(It. Palcest. p. 236, fide Linn.) and at first (1766) identified by 
Linnaeus with ‘Le Perroquet Mascarin’ of Brisson ( Orn . iv. 
p. 315), there can be no question as to the latter, on which, 
in 1771, was established the P. mascarin —an abbreviation most 
likely for P. mascarinus —of Linnaeus (Mantiss. p. 524), that 
author citing also Daubenton’s figure (Planches Enluminees, 35) 
[ Vide ante , p. xvii.], and adding ‘ Habitat in Mascarina ’—the last 
piece of information being doubtless obtained (for Brisson had 
said ‘ J’ignore dans quel pays on le trouve. Je l’ai vu vivant a 
Paris.’) from De Buffon, who stated (Hist. Hat. Ois. vi. p. 121): 
‘ M. le Vicomte de Querhoent nous assure qu’on le trouve a 
File de Bourbon oil probablement, il a ete transports de Mada¬ 
gascar.’ This probability appears very questionable, as much so 
as Buffon’s assertion that the bird received its name ‘parce qu’il 
a autour du bee une sorte de masque noir qui engage le front, la 
1 The only indigenous species of Land-birds common to the two islands are, 
we believe, Collocalia francica , Phedina borbonica , and Tchitrea borbonica. 
The Hypsipetes , the Oxynotus , and all the species of Zosterops are distinct. 
The original Foudia of Reunion ( Emberiza borbonica , Gmel. Syst. Nat. i. 
p. 886, founded on the Mordore of De Buffon, Hist. Nat. Ois. iv. p. 366, 
PL Enl. 321, fig. 2 [ Vide ante , p. xxx], we have never seen, the species now 
found in the island being F. madagascariensis , believed to be an importation. 
2 ’H%cb, nympha qusedam, imitatrix equitis — sc. Narcissi. Ovid Metam. iii. 
380. 
