MASCARINUS MASCARINUS(L.)
MASCARINE PARROT.
(Plate 9.)
- "Perroquets un peu plus gros que pigeons, ayant le plumage de couleur de petit gris, un chaperon noir sur la teste, le becq fort gros, & couleur de feu" Le Sieur D.B, (Dubois), Voyages aux Iles Dauphine ou Madagascar, et Bourbon ou Mascarenne. p. 172 (1674—"Bourbon ou Mascarenne").
- Psittacus Mascarinus Brisson, Orn. IV., p. 315 (1760); Hahn, Orn. Atlas, Papageien p. 54, pl. 39 (1835).
- Psittacus mascarin. Linnaeus, Mantissa Plantarum, regni animalis appendix p. 524 (1771—"Habitat in Mascarina." Ex Brisson).
- Perroquet Mascarin Levaillant, Perroquets II, p. 171, pl. 189 (1805—"Madagascar," errore).
- Mascarinus madagascariensis Lesson, Traité d'Orn, p. 189 (1831—"Madagascar," ex Levaillant).
- Coracopsis mascarina Wagler, Mon. Psittac. p. 679 (1832); Pelzeln, Verh. Zool. Bot. Ges. Wien 1863, p. 934.
- Mascarinus obscurus (non Psittacus obscurus L.) Bonaparte, Rev. & Mag. de Zool. 1854 p. 154 (Linnaeus, Psittacus obscurus—Syst. Nat. Ed. X, p. 97, 1758, ex Hasselquist M.S.—though identified by himself with the Mascarine Parrot in 1766—Syst. Nat. Ed. XII, I, p. 140—cannot be the same as P. mascarinus; the description disagrees entirely, and the bird was described from a specimen probably seen alive by Hasselquist, with uncertain locality. What Linnaeus' P. obscurus was, is difficult to say; if it was not for the long tail, one might consider it a variety of the Grey Parrot).
- Psittacus madagascarensis Finsch, Papageien II pp. 306, 955 (1868—Finsch was not acquainted with the history of this Parrot, as he still considered Madagascar to be its home, and wondered why it had not been found there by recent collectors).
- Psittacus madagascariensis Pelzeln, Ibis 1873, p. 32.
- Mascarinus duboisi W. A. Forbes, Ibis 1879, pp. 304, 305 (figures), 306; Milne-Edwards & Oustalet, Centenaire Mus. d'Hist. Nat. pp. 191-205, pl. I (1893—excellent lengthy account).
- Mascarinus mascarinus Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XX, p. 421 (1891—Réunion).
It has been mentioned above that "Le Sieur D.B." (Dubois) described this Parrot clearly in 1674, and that it lived on Réunion, and not on Madagascar. Linnaeus in 1771 (see above) was the first to bestow a scientific name on it, though Brisson had already again described it in 1760. Linnaeus' diagnosis is, as usual, rather poor, and not quite correct[1], but his reference to Brisson leaves no doubt as to what he meant.
This parrot is one of the rarest of extinct birds, only two stuffed specimens being known. One normally coloured specimen is preserved in the Museum of Natural History in Paris, and it is evidently this which has been figured by Daubenton and Levaillant, and in the "Centenaire du Muséum d'Historie Naturelle." From the latter plate my figure has been taken.
The example in Vienna is unfortunately semi-albinistic, there being some white feathers on the back, wings and tail. Another normal individual, however, lived formerly in the Menagerie of the King of Bavaria, where it was depicted by Hahn in 1835. Unfortunately this specimen has not been preserved.
- ↑ "Psittacus brachyurus fuscus, facie nigra, cauda albente. Habitat in Mascarina. Rostrum incarnatum. Caput caerulescens."
