(PLATE 2, FIG. 2.)
_Necropsar rodericanus_ Günther & Newton, Phil. Trans. vol. 168, p.
427, pl. XLII, figs. A-G (1879).
The original description given by the anonymous author of the "Relation de
l'Ile Rodrigue" is as follows:--"These birds are a little larger than a
blackbird, and have white plumage, part of the wings and the tail black,
the beak and the legs yellow, and make a wonderful warbling." Our author
also says they inhabited the Islet au Mât, and fed on seabirds' eggs and
dead turtle.
The bird evidently became extinct on Rodriguez before 1730, and lingered a
little longer on the outlying islets. Only known from bones, mostly
collected by the Rev. H. H. Slater, and the above description.
Habitat: Rodriguez and neighbouring islets.
There is one tibia in the Tring Museum.
The figure is coloured according to the description, while the shape of the
bird is evident from its bones and relation. {6}