394 
Though many such birds, as for instance Carpophaga hicolor, appear 
always to feed on trees and therefore would probably very rarely come in 
contact with Pisonia fruits, many others, as for instance CcLlosncts nico- 
harica, appear to feed as much or more on the ground, on fallen ripe 
fruits, as on the trees that bear the fruits they eat.* And in such a case 
there is no doubt that they might very easily come in contact with Pisonia 
fruits. Though essentially a beach-forest tree, the writer has col¬ 
lected specimens of Pisonia excelsa (and the tree was plentiful where 
he did so) three or four miles inland and 250—300 feet above sea-level; 
some mode of dispersal other than, or at any rate supplementing, ocean- 
dispersal, must therefore, as has already been pointed out, be postulated 
as regards this species. Of the grasses placed in this list Andropogon 
contortus already mentioned as possibly wind-introduced, much more pro¬ 
bably owes its presence to this mode of introduction Oplismenus com- 
positus is also sufficiently well endowed to render this mode of introduc¬ 
tion likely. The only Cryptogam likely to have been thus introduced is 
Acrostichum appendiculatum, the spores of which might easily get brushed 
off by the feathers of a bird walking through a patch of it. This would 
also apply to the seeds of Calanthe. 
The following table gives the names and distribution of the species 
likely to be thus introduced or likely to have their local dispersion assist- 
ed by this means. 
Table XXI. Distribution of species probably introduced attached to 
the feet or feathers of land-birds. 
Species. 
Africa. 
S. E. Asia. 
Australia. 
Polynesia. 
America. | 
India. 
Indo-China 
Malaya. 
Urena lobata i.. 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
[Buettneria andamanensis3 ••• 
— 
[x] 
"" 
— 
— 
Desmodinm triquetrum 
X 
X 
X 
X 
Desmodium laxiflorum ••• 
X 
X 
5. Desmodium polycarpum 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
— 
[Loranthus longiflorus] 
X 
X 
X 
[Boerhaavia repens] ... ••• 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
[ Pisonia acnleata] 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
Pisonia excelsa ... 
* 
[X] 
X 
10. Calanthe veratrifolia... 
— 
X 
[X] 
X 
X 
Oplismenus compositus 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
“■ 
Andropogon contortus 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
Acrostichum appendiculatum 
X 
X 
X 
* Tliis at least was the writer’s experience in Batti Malv, the small uninhabited 
almost inaccessible island of the Nicobar Group already referred to, where Galcenas 
nicoharica breeds, and on which thousands of individuals of this species congregate. 
204 
