▁nine ▁months , ▁and ▁his ▁report ▁of ▁his ▁time ▁there ▁was ▁later ▁published ▁as ▁Rel ation ▁d ' île ▁Rod rig ue . ▁In ▁the ▁report , ▁he ▁described ▁enc oun ters ▁with ▁various ▁ind igen ous ▁species , ▁including ▁a ▁white ▁and ▁black ▁bird ▁which ▁fed ▁on ▁eggs ▁and ▁dead ▁tort o ises . ▁He ▁stated ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁conf ined ▁to ▁the ▁off sh ore ▁is let ▁of ▁Î le ▁G omb ran i , ▁which ▁was ▁then ▁called ▁au ▁M ât . ▁François ▁Leg u at , ▁a ▁French man ▁who ▁was ▁also ▁mar oon ed ▁on ▁Rod rig ues ▁from ▁ 1 6 9 1 ▁to ▁ 1 6 9 3 ▁and ▁had ▁written ▁about ▁several ▁species ▁there ▁( his ▁account ▁was ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 7 0 8 ), ▁did ▁not ▁have ▁a ▁boat , ▁and ▁therefore ▁could ▁not ▁explore ▁the ▁various ▁is lets ▁as ▁T aff oret ▁did . ▁No ▁people ▁who ▁later ▁tra ve led ▁to ▁the ▁island ▁mentioned ▁the ▁bird . ▁In ▁an ▁article ▁written ▁in ▁ 1 8 7 5 , ▁the ▁British ▁orn ith ologist ▁Alfred ▁Newton ▁attempted ▁to ▁identify ▁the ▁bird ▁from ▁T aff oret ' s ▁description , ▁and ▁hypoth es ised ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁related ▁to ▁the ▁ext inct ▁ho op oe ▁star ling ▁( F reg il up us ▁vari us ), ▁which ▁formerly ▁inhab ited ▁nearby ▁Ré union . ▁ ▁Sub f oss il ▁b ones ▁of ▁a ▁star ling - like ▁bird ▁were ▁first ▁discovered ▁on ▁Rod