Part 19

NECROPSAR LEGUATI FORBES.

(PLATE 2, FIG. 3.)

Necropsar leguati Forbes, Bull. Liverp. Mus. I, p. 34, pl. Sturnidae I (1897-1898).

Dr. Forbes' description is as follows:--"General colour white everywhere, except on the outer webs of distal half of the primaries and secondaries and the outer webs of the newly moulted and both webs of the unmoulted rectrices, which are marked with lighter or darker ferruginous."

Dr. Forbes then gives an exhaustive description of the structure, to which I refer my readers, and the following measurements:--

Culmen 32 mm. Wing 109 " Tail 98 " Tarsus 31.5 "

I should have been inclined to consider this bird an albinistic specimen of the bird described in "Relation de l'Ile Rodrigue," but for the fact that the tibia of Necropsar rodericanus is 52-59 mm. in length, while this is only 46 mm. in length, while the metatarsus measures 31.5 mm. as opposed to 36-41 mm. in N. rodericanus. I cannot accept the theory that this is the Islet au Mât bird, and therefore different from N. rodericanus, as the islet is too close to Rodriguez to have had a different starling. I therefore believe this bird to have been an albinistic specimen of the Mauritius species of Necropsar, for there can be little doubt that it is albinistic, as the ferruginous colour is much stronger on one wing than on the other; and I conclude that the colour in the wings and tail in normal specimens was black like the Rodriguez bird, and that N. leguati was a close ally of N. rodericanus, from which it differed principally in its much smaller size.

Habitat doubtful.--The type specimen bears Lord Derby's Museum number, 1792, and a label of Verreaux giving Madagascar as the habitat, which is certainly erroneous.

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FOUDIA BRUANTE (P.L.S. MÜLL.)

(PLATE 2, FIG. 1.)

Bruant de l'isle de Bourbon Daubenton, Pl. Enl. 321.

Le Mordoré, Montbeillard, Hist. Nat. Ois., Quarto Edition IV., p. 366 (1778--Bourbon).

Fringilla bruante P.L.S. Müll., Natursyst., Suppl. p. 164, No. 51 (1776--ex Daubenton Pl. enl).

Emberiza fuscofulva Boddaert, Table Pl. Enl. p. 20 (1783--based on Pl. Enl. 321 and Montbeillard's "Morderé").

Emberiza borbonica Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I p. 886 (1788--ex Daubenton and Montbeillard).

Foudia bruante Newton, Trans. Norf. and Norw. Nat. Soc. IV., pp. 543 and 548 (1889).

Nesacanthis fusco-fulvus Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XIII p. 484 (1890).

We know absolutely nothing about this bird, except Daubenton's figure and the description by Montbeillard. In the plate the whole body, including the back, is uniform red, about the same red as in other species of Foudia, while the wings and tail are dark brown with yellowish-brown borders. In the description the body plumage is described as rufous ("morderé") and the wings, wing-coverts and tail as more or less bright rufous ("d'un mordoré plus ou moins clair"). The size is said to be about that of a Bunting, but the tail shorter and the wings longer.

According to Dr. Sharpe (Cat. B. XIII, p. 484) "it has generally been considered identical with Foudia madagascariensis," but the latter has the back marked with longitudinal black spots, while both the figure and description of F. bruante represent a uniform red upperside; moreover the locality of the latter is expressly stated, and as we know other forms of Foudia from the Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoros, Aldabra and Madagascar, we have no reason to doubt the statement. We are not aware of any specimen existing of this doubtless extinct bird, though it would be worth while to search the Paris Museum for this treasure.

Habitat: Réunion or Bourbon.

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CHAUNOPROCTUS BP.

Chaunoproctus Bonaparte, Consp. Av. I p. 526 (1850).

The genus Chaunoproctus contains only one species, which is characterized by its enormous bill, the depth of the mandible being greater than the distance between the nasal apertures. The cutting-edge of the maxilla is nearly straight, and there is no tooth in the posterior half of the maxilla. The total length is about seven to eight inches. The adult male has red in the plumage, the female is brown, above and below.

Dr. Hartert (Vögel pal. Fauna I, p. 115) is of opinion that this bird is connected with Carpodacus and allies, and not with the Greenfinches and Hawfinches, among which it is placed in the Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum.

CHAUNOPROCTUS FERREOROSTRIS (VIG.)

(PLATE 3, FIG. 4.)