Mascarene purple chicken
| Mascarene purple chicken | ||||||||||
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Hypothetical illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans from 1907 |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Porphyrio caerulescens | ||||||||||
| ( Selys-Longchamps , 1848) |
The Mascarene purple grouse or Réunion purple grouse ( Porphyrio caerulescens ) is an extinct species of rall from the Mascarene island of Réunion . It is a hypothetical species, that is, there is no physical evidence. However, there are at least four independent reports on this bird, which sailors called Oiseau Bleu ("blue bird"), including by Sieur Dubois (1674), Jean Feuilley (1704), Jean-Baptiste de Villers (1708) and Baptiste Le Gentil de la Barbinais (1717, supplemented by the Jesuit Father Brown in 1773).
Characteristics and way of life
Both Storrs L. Olson (1977) and Cécile Mourer-Chauviré (1999) had no doubt that this bird is a relative of the purple chickens . It has characteristics that are normally associated with reduced ability to fly. This type of railing seems to have been restricted to the mountains, in particular to a montane, swampy plateau, the Plaine des Cafres . The reports indicate that the Mascarene purple hen was considered good game and, although it could fly, was easy to catch and kill with sticks. Sieur Dubois gave the first description of this species in 1674, which he named Oyseau bleu ("blue bird"):
“Blue birds as big as solitaires. Their plumage is all blue, the beak and feet, which resemble chicken feet, are red. They don't fly, but they run extremely fast, making it difficult for a dog to catch them on a chase. They are very good [to eat]. "
Jean Feuilley wrote in 1704 (published 1705):
“The blue birds live in the plains on the mountains, and especially on the Plaine des Cafres. They are the size of a large capon and are blue in color. Those who are old are worthless as food because they are so tough, but when they are young they are excellent. It is not difficult to hunt them because they are hunted with sticks or stones. "
De Villers, who lived on Réunion from 1701 to 1710, mentioned the only details about the nest:
"You see a large number of blue birds there [on the Plaine des Cafres] nesting between grasses and water ferns."
Le Gentil described them as similar to wood pigeons in 1717 (published 1727, supplemented by Pére Brown in 1773):
“In the east of the island there is a small plateau on a high mountain, the Plaine des Cafres, where you can find a big blue bird whose color is very striking. It resembles a wood pigeon. It rarely flies, and always just above the ground, but it runs at an amazing speed. The inhabitants never called it anything else than blue bird. His meat is quite good and keeps well. "
There is disagreement in the ancient reports about the size of the Mascarene Crimson Grouse. Dubois stated that "they are as big as a solitaires" and Feuilley that "they are as big as a capon ". The Réunion solitaire (actually an ibis ) would not have been larger than 65 cm, which corresponds to the body length of the closely related saint ibis . The bankiva chicken ( Gallus gallus ), the ancestral form of the domesticated chickens, also reaches a body length of at least 65 cm, so that there is no real size discrepancy in the reports. Philippe Milon wrote in 1951 that the Mascarene Crimson Chicken was about the size of the South Island kahe.
die out
The bird probably disappeared around 1710, mostly due to overhunting. But also the introduction of rats in 1676 and the stalking by cats posed a considerable threat to the chicks and the eggs.
literature
- Julian P. Hume Extinct Birds . London: T & AD Poyser, 2017, pp. 130-131
- Julian P. Hume: Systematics, morphology and ecology of rails (Aves: Rallidae) of the Mascarene Islands, with one new species. Zootaxa, 4626 (1), 1-107. DOI: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4626.1.1 , 2019
Individual evidence
- ↑ Storrs Olson: A synopsis on the fossil Rallidae In: Sidney Dillon Ripley: Rails of the World - A Monograph of the Family Rallidae. Codline. Boston, 1977. ISBN 0-8747-4804-6 , p. 365
- ↑ Mourer-Chauviré, C., Bour, R., Ribes, S. & Moutou, F. 1999. The avifauna of Réunion Island (Mascarene Islands) at the time of the arrival of the first Europeans. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 89: 1-38.
- ↑ Du Bois: Les voyages faits par le sieur DB aux Isles Dauphine ou Madagascar, et Bourbon, ou Mascarenne, és années 1669, 70, 71 et 72.Dans laquelle il est curieusement trait du Cap Vert, de la ville de Surate, des isles de Sainte Helene, ou de l'Ascention. Ensemble les moeurs, religions, forces, gouvernemens et coutumes des habitans des dites isles, avec l'histoire naturelle du pais . Claude Barbin, Paris 1674, Oyseaux de terre, et leur noms, p. 170–171 (French, digitized in Gallica ).
- ↑ Feuilley, [S.] (1705 [1939]) Mission à l'ile Bourbon du Sieur Feuilley en 1704 [Lougnon, A (Ed.)]. Receuil trimestriel de documents et travaux inédits pour servir à l'histoire des Mascareignes françaises , 4, 3–56, 101–167.
- ↑ Villers, JB de. 1701-1710. Journal de l'ile de Bourbon. MS in the New York Public Library [published (in part) in Bulletin of the New York Public Library 13 (1): 12–63, 1909]
- ^ Brown, RP (1773) Lettre du révérend Père Brown, missionaire de la Compagnie de Jesus, à Madame la Marquise de Beaumont. Lettres Edificantes et Curieuses, écrites des Missions étrangères; Mémoires des Indes, 30, 321-51
- ↑ Le Gentil de la Barbinais, G. (1727) Nouveau voyage autour du monde. Volume 2. Flahaut, Paris, 192 pp.
- ↑ Milon, Philippe: Notes sur l'avifaune actuelle de l'ile de la Réunion. Terre Vie 98, 1951, pp. 129-178.