ENDEMIC BIRDS OF SEYCHELLES

A brief description of the islands is followed by an account of the 13 surviving endemic land‐birds, based largely on the results of the Bristol Seychelles Expedition 1964–65. The whole of the Seychelles avifauna could possibly be derived from Madagascar, but anomalous distributions suggest that some species colonized the Seychelles from the northeast, either en route for Madagascar, or independently of the Madagascan colonists. The Seychelles birds show insular evolutionary characteristics in colour and size, and some are extremes of their taxa. Endemic and introduced birds are listed in the appendix, with a Summary of their present and former distributions. A list of vagrant land‐birds is included. Copyright © 1969, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved