FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM PUBLICATION 10. ORNITHOLOGICAL SERIES Vol. i, No. i. CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO GEORGE K. CHERRIE, Assistant Curator of Ornithology. CHARLES B. CORY, Curator of Department. CHICAGO, U. S. A. March, 1896. PUBLICATIONS OF THE MUSEUM. For the convenience of scientific workers it has been deemed expedient to issue the publications of the Museum in separate series for each of the sciences represented. The following series thus far have been established : Historical, Geological, Botanical, Zoological, Ornithological and Anthropological. A consecutive number has been given the entire set of pub- lications to indicate the order of issue. Each departmental series, however, has its own volume number and individual consecutive pagination, making the literature of the science, or general subject, independent and complete for separate binding; or they may be bound in order of publication Without relation to subject. Proceed- ings, memoirs, monographs, bulletins, and hand-books and catalogues of collections, are included within the scope of the publications. Full lists of the publications of the Museum may be found in the Annual Report of the Director. Publications are sent to societies and institutions of a public character that reciprocate with their own literature, and to a limited number of scientists who are able to exchange. FREDERICK J. V. SKIFF, Director. CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO.* BY GEORGE K. CHERRIE Under instructions to make a collecting trip to San Domingo during the winter of 1894-95, I embarked from New York, Decem- ber 22, on a Clyde boat for the tedious voyage to Santo Domingo City, off which port I arrived January 8, 1895. . Steaming slowly into the mouth of the Ozama River we pass close under the historic frowning walls of the old fort built to guard and protect the "new city" and where in 1500 Columbus and his brother Bartholomew ^ere imprisoned. Following the river front and joined to the fort is the old wall of the city almost intact. Then loom up, desolate and forsaken, the gray walls of the one time palace of luxury, the seat of elegance, of oriental ease and refinement, the home of Diego Columbus today overgrown with moss and lichens. Small trees and shrubs have found a foot-hold in the crevices of roof and wall; pigeons find a nesting place and hoards of bats a safe retreat from the light of day. Custom inspection of my outfit was rather tedious and annoying but I was finally safely on the island with my belongings. Prepara- tions for the interior journey began. Coffee, sugar, rice and beans constituted the bulk of the provisions. Once outside of the city, there are no roads and everything must be transported by pack animals or on men's backs. I purchased two horses. I secured the services of an old negro as guide and servant. On the morning of the igth of Janu- ary I was off for the hills. My guide walked behind driving the ani- mal loaded with the provisions, cooking utensils, blankets and ham- mock. I rode ahead seated between two small trunks containing light wooden trays for the bird skins with cotton, skinning tools and gun supplies, which were strapped to my own animal. I followed a northwesterly direction, on leaving San Domingo, over the hills and through the little old historic town of San Carlos, just beyond the walls of the capital, and then over a smooth road without hills but * I would wish here to express my sincere thanks for many favors received at the hands of Archibald H. Grimke, American Consul in San Domingo, a gentleman who holds America and Americans' interests paramount, who seems to feel he represents a great nation and a great people and sustains the dignity of that people by a manly self-respect and dignity commanding the highest esteem from his own countrymen and from those among whom he is thrown. 3 4 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. that gradually yet steadily carried me to a higher altitude. For seven hours under a burning sun along the divide between the rivers Jaina and Izabel and in that distance and time not one drop of water is seen. All along the road all through this part of the country there is a considerable population, yet just where to find a. house one can never tell. The road we followed is merely a well-worn path there are no carts or wagon roads in San Domingo; all freighting is done by pack mules, and here and there you see paths, only a little less well worn, leading to this side or that. If one of these paths be fol- lowed it will usually be found to terminate at some sort of human habitation. A good many people were passed along the road but the only thing characteristic about those I met was the huge pipe the women all carry. It is here the women seem to be the inveterate smokers and a pipe is preferred. After the first seven hours' ride I crossed a small stream, a tribu- tary of the Izabel. After that the country becomes more broken and one climbs faster. Up to this point there had been no forest and trees were only seen in scattering clusters, far to the right or left in direction of either the Jaina or the Izabel. Now the clumps of trees marking the water course became more common and soon we entered the forest, fringing the foothills of the mountains. I made Catare my head-quarters from January 21 to February 6 and later from March 2 to March 7. It is at an altitude of about 1,500 feet, just in the foothill of the central mountain range, north- west of San Domingo City. During the years spent in Central America I constantly wondered why any one could ever speak of the birds of the tropics as being voiceless or songless ; but my experience at Catare and in San Domingo in general gave me abundant solution of the problem, and if the popular notion of the songlessness of birds of the tropics comes from observations made in the West Indies, I can easily understand how well it was founded. At Catare, where I did my first collecting, the most striking peculiarity to me about the region was the utter silence of the forest. I would walk for hours and scarce hear a bird note. Birds were common enough, but in the semi-twilight of the forest they flitted noiselessly from branch to branch, restless and active, searching for their insect prey; but all the time not a note or piping sound broke their silence. In the open savannas and along the edges of the forest the mocking birds are almost always singing, but the forest itself is silent save on those rare occasions when that MAR. 1896. ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO CHERRIE. 5 wood-spirit, the Myiadestes, sets every nerve a-tingling with pleasure, but the Myiadestes are rare as their songs. It may not be without interest to present a few notes from my journal regarding one of my excursions from Catare, which pretty well illustrates the difficulties one encounters in traveling through the country. Leaving Catare early in the morning I took my way in the direc- tion of Yuna. The road shortly after passing the Jaina River became something awful it never could have been very good, but the storm of the previous September (1894) blew a great many trees across the path, and these had not been cleared away. Frequently I would have to assist my guide and the two of us would cut a path with our " machetes " for the pack animals. What shiftlessness one sees every- where. Wherever the road leads through the forest one wades in mud to the knees and in places the poor horses with the packs plunged and pitched terribly as they struggled up some bank out of the many small streams that we crossed. Yet only a very little work would be required to make good roads. The road follows up the course of one of the tributaries of the Jaina (the Guananito), crossing and recrossing. In the way several savannas are crossed bits of grass-grown prairies that would afford pasturage for a great many cattle. The timber lands would all prove good for farming when cleared. There are many splendid woods, and as we climbed higher in the mountains, after leaving the direct course of the river, we found that pines multiplied rapidly and formed the greater part of the trees of the forest. On this excursion I secured the type specimen of Elainea cherriei and my first examples of Corvus leucognaphalus, Amazona scilicet, Blaci- cus hispaniolensis, Tyrannus dominicensis, Spindalis multicolor and Eue- thea lepida. February 6, my supplies of all kinds being about exhausted and my packing cases for skins full, I began my first return trip to San Domingo City. After a short rest and a little collecting about San Domingo City, I again took the road for the interior, back through Catare, up and across the central mountain range and down to the head waters of the Vuerto River, a tributary of the Maimon, which latter empties into the Yuna. Here at a point called Aguacate I stopped from February 20 to February 28. It is just at the foot of the mountain divide on the northern slope of the range separating the high plains and prairie table lands of the interior from the Caribbean slope. My guide and servant became now only a burden to me, being so 6 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. sick with fever that he could not walk. I started back toward Santo Domingo City, but on the morning of March 2, arriving at Catare, I found it would be impossible to continue without giving him a rest. On March 7 my packing cases were overflowing with bird skins and the guide being a little better I made another start cityward. A few days' collecting about San Domingo City, a laying in of a fresh supply of provisions and materials, the securing of my third guide and servant, and I was once more ready for the road. A day's travel westward from the capital through a rather barren region, but one pretty well populated, carried me to the busiest, or least somnolent, of the inland towns on the Caribbean slope. San Cristobal is located on the Nigua River at the foot of Mount Barbacoa rather pleasantly situated, comparatively a clean place and a light- colored population. Excursions were made in various directions about San Cristobal, to the summit of Mount Barbacoa about 7,000 feet altitude where is to be found the crumbling remains of the walls of an old fort, and to the caves in the sides of the mountain called El Calabosa. I would scarcely know how to describe these caves. There is no grandeur about them and little of beauty. They are only " immense. " In going through them, one moment the passage narrows until you can barely squeeze through; again one must get down on hands and knees and crawl, then farther on the passage may widen into an immense vaulted chamber. In only one of the many caves or series of chambers entered were bats at all common. This chamber called Cuervo de los Murcielagos (cave of the bats) was inhabited by thousands upon thousands of these symbols of the diabolical. When they were disturbed by our entrance, and by my firing several shots, the noise made by the count- less wings gave one as a first sensation the peculiar feeling attendant on a slight earthquake shock. The floor of this chamber was covered with a thick layer of manure. Two species of bats were found inhab- iting these caves, and a Roof Rat was shot far from the entrance in another.* I spent a night on Mount Barbacoa at the rancho of a "peon" and here met with hospitality for the first time in the island. When I offered tp pay for my night's lodging I was surprised at being told I owed only su buena voluntad de U! (only your good wishes!) At this point my guide was taken sick and I was delayed for a few days, but securing another man I was again on the road March *A list of the mammals collected on the expedition will be published by Prof. D, G, Elliot, of the Field Col. Mus, MAR. 1896. ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO CHERRIE. 7 28, moving farther westward in the road to Maniel and Loma Tina, the latter the highest mountain peak in the West Indies. After leaving San Cristobal, the road as far as the crossing of the Nisao River and a little beyond, winds through a very pleasant coun- try, pretty well populated, splendid land and all fairly well cultivated. Then commences a barren stretch of country, with no vegetation except scrub timber, and a very scanty population until one reaches the little town of Bani. Beyond this point the country becomes even more barren and cheerless. The road is hemmed in with giant cacti, while other and smaller species are scattered on all sides in greatest profusion. The road itself is very stony and rough, but not very steep. There is absolutely no water along this road and one travels for .near an entire day over a dry, sandy, cacti-covered desert. We passed one little village called Calabasa a collection of half a dozen houses the occupants of which bring their water for miles. At Honduras, where I arrived late one evening, there is water. The little creek Arroyo Bahia here shows itself for a short distance and is then again lost in the sand of the desert. I collected at Honduras from March 29 to April 2. Here I secured the two first specimens of Hyetornis fieldi Cory, and later at Maniel the type specimen. Also the first examples of Euphonia musica I met with were secured here. Five days at Honduras and my record for the time was 210 bird skins. On the morning of April 3 I started northwestward through the hills toward Maniel, far up in the mountains near the head of the river Ocoa. It is a very rough road one must come pver, not so much for the hills as for the stones and boulders that one must get over somehow. For the greater part of the distance the road follows the bed of the river, walled in almost as a canon. I crossed the river thirty-two times in reaching Maniel. While here I made an effort to reach Loma Tina but was unable to find a competent guide, and this coupled with the fact that I found all paths up the mountain completely blocked caused me to abandon the idea. I remained at this point for six days and then having my packing cases full started for San Domingo City. My trip to Maniel was the last excursion made to any considerable distance from San Domingo City. From the localities above referred to, short excursions were made into the surrounding country on all sides. But always and every- where I went I found travel and moving from one point to another exceedingly difficult, attended with much labor and inconvenience. Although I was in San Domingo during the "dry season" it was not 8 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. (' dry," and I think it rained on an average of at least every third day during my stay. The roads, if cattle paths through the forests over the mountains and across the prairies are worthy of the name, were uniformly bad. Throughout the interior of the island hospitality is an almost un- known virtue among the people, and no opportunity to impose upon or take advantage of the traveler or foreigner is permitted to pass. ANNOTATED LIST OF BIRDS COLLECTED, 1. Turdus aliciae, Baird. Single specimens were noted on three occasions; twice high up in the mountains above Aguacate on the 22d and 25th of February and one at San Domingo City, , on the coast, May i. All were males and extremely fat. 2. Mimocichla ardesiaca (Vieill.*). RUISENOR DE CIERRA ; CANELO Found everywhere on the coast and high up in the interior. Not at all uncommon, but always and every-where found it was very shy and difficult to approach. In freshly killed specimens the eye is red-brown, eyelids, bill, feet and legs light Indian Red, tip of bill and claws dusky. Thirty-five specimens were secured. The song is quite similar to that of Merula migratorius and in almost every action recalls to one's mind the American Robin. 3. Myadestes montanus ? Cory. JILGUERO This species is evidently nowhere common, and is only found high up in the mountains. It is very shy and retiring in its habits. The natives are almost all acquainted with the song; but if my memory serves me rightly I did not meet with one who was sure he had ever seen the bird. It is held in superstitious fear by many, who believe that to see this ''spirit of the wood" were surely the forerunner of some great calamity, or death itself. Everyone was much surprised that I could shoot the bird, they believing it could not be killed. Where or how such strange beliefs could have originated I have no idea, because as a singer the Jilguero, to me, stands without an equal. Sweeter music I never listened to. It has an indescribable charm notes so liquid clear as a bell, and drawn out with such a cadence of melody. For a moment the sound seems to come from this way and then from that, and ever the singer holds you spell-bound: Do you seek the source of that wondrous voice, it ^s all in vain. There is only the monotony of green leaves everywhere. There is no other sound only the thrilling of every chord of the imagination by notes so sweet they hold you enthralled. It is indeed a " spirit " of all that is lovable, of all that is good. But I despair of writing any description of a song so beautiful, or of the sensations or thoughts it inspires. 9 io FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. I have heard the song at early morning, at midday and in the evening. At Aguacate where I secured seven of the ten specimens collected, the mating season was evidently just beginning. On two occasions I had opportunity of watching the birds while busy with their love affairs. In every movement and action they brought to mind our Bluebird, when in the same happy mood. There was a like peculiar raising and flitting of the wings, evidently a joyousness of spirit that would not be controlled. In a freshly killed bird the eye is dark brown, legs and feet yel- lowish, claws dusky, bill black. I found this species only in the deep dark forest, never in the open. The food consists of both fruit and insects. The latter are often taken on the wing. Ten specimens were secured by me, three from Catare and seven from Aguacate. In the series there is slight yet quite noticeable individual variation in the shade of tawny chestnut on the under tail coverts and crissum; and also in the extent of this color over the lower parts. In one of the specimens from Catare the color is con- fined almost entirely to the under tail coverts, while in another from Aguacate the entire crissum is tawny with bits of color extending over the breast almost to the chestnut of the throat. In all of the speciments there is a faint olive shading in the back in some a few olive-tipped feathers. These olive-tipped feathers I am much inclined to think are remnants of the first plumage. All of my San Domingo specimens differ considerably from the type of M. montanus from Hayti, more in fact than they do from the Lesser Antillian form M. sanctce-lucia. However the type and only example of M. montanus is so badly mutilated that satisfactory com- parison with other specimens is impossible, and while the differences are apparently of such character as to warrant a separation, making an eastern and a western form for the island, the absence of material for adequate comparison from Hayti compels me to merely call attention to the apparent and most obvious differences. M. montanus has no white spot on the chin, and the rictal streak is pale reddish-brown. In my specimens from San Domingo the chin and the rictal streak are berth white. 4. Minus dominicus (Lmn.). RUISENOR One hundred and five specimens of this mocking bird were collected. It was found at almost all points visited, but was most abundant near the coast, and apparently has a preference for inhabited neighborhoods. Several broods are reared each season, as a"bout San Domingo City I secured young birds just from the nest as early as March 18 and as late as May 2, while on the latter date a female was collected MAR. 1896. ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO CHERRIE. n while in the act of carrying nesting material, and the condition of the abdomen indicated that she had been brooding. In different locali- ties the nesting season varies, and I imagine must be in great part governed by the food supply which again is controlled by the rains. At Honduras, during the last days of March and the first of April, nesting had not yet begun. Honduras lying as it does in the sandy cacti-covered arid belt probably depends, more than other localities, on the rains for the awakening of its insect life. Adult birds in life have the eye clay yellow, bill, claws, feet and legs black. 5. Mniotilta varia. (Linn.*) Only nine specimens were secured .between the dates of January 22 and April 21. Not at any time observed to be common. 6. Compsothlypis americana (Linn.} Eighteen specimens were secured. Noted at all points visited except Maniel, but not seen after April 2. 7. Dendroica tigrina (Gmel.*) Twenty-one specimens. Found at all points visited, but none seen after April 6. 8. Dendroica caerulescens (Gmcl.*) Forty-nine examples collected. Found at all points visited and decidedly the most com- mon of the North American birds. 9. Dendroica coronata (Linn.) Not common, and none seen after March 27. 10. Dendroica discolor. (Viei/l.) Noted between the dates of February 13 and April 2, but not common at any time. 11. Dendroica palmarum (Gmel.) Tolerably common between the i2th of February and the ist of April. 12. Seiurus aurocapillus (Linn.) Not uncommon. Found at all points visited. 13. Seiurus noveboracensis (Gmel.) Rare. Seen on two occasions only, February 24 and March 16. This is, I believe, the first record from San Domingo. 14. Seiurus motacilla (Vieill.') Rare. Only a single speci- men taken January 22. 12 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. 15. Geothlypis trichas (Linn.] None were noted during January, and the first specimen secured was on February 2. There was a steady increase in numbers until the middle of March when the species might have been said to be common. There was no appreciable diminution in numbers up to the time of my sailing, May 8. 16. Microligia palustris Cory. Rare and apparently not found in the interior or on the higher altitudes of the coast district. Frequents the dense thickets, preferably about the swamps, and feeds, I believe, exclusively on insects, in its search for which the actions much resemble those of a Vireo. If the bird has a song I did not hear it, and the only voice is a short contented "cheep," as the little hunter goes in and out among the leaves. It is not at all shy, very readily approached. A breeding female was taken at San Domingo City, April 30. Altogether eight specimens were secured, five from San Domingo City and three from Honduras. 17. Setophaga ruticilla (Linn.} Tolerably common, and seen at all points visited. 18. Coereba bananivora (Gmel.} Common, but rather shy and not readily approached. Found on the coast and high up in the mountains, deep in the forest and on the edges of clearings. Has a short little song consisting of some half dozen notes, repeated over and over in the same order. I found this species nesting at San Domingo City, February 15. Both male and female worked at carrying nesting material. In the series of forty-four specimens before me all the variations in color due to age are well shown. From young birds that are above nearly uniform dusky gray-brown, with yellowish superciliary stripe, and soiled olive yellowish below with a bit of bright yellow in center of breast, we have every intergradation to the fully adult plumage, of dull black above, white superciliary, dark slate-gray throat, bright yellow center of breast and abdomen and grayish olive sides. 19. Petrochelidon fulva (Vieill). Quite abundant along the coast but not noted in the interior. At San Domingo City breeding birds were taken as early as April 24, and during the same week nesting seemed to be at its height. The nests were all being lined with the soft cottony-like material (called in Spanish America "Balsamo"), that grows in catkins and surrounds the minute seeds of one of the native trees of the country. The birds were going and MAR. 1896. ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO CHERRIE. 13 coming after this material in a continuous stream. Ordinarily a mouthful was snatched while on the wing, but sometimes the birds would alight and deliberately take all they could conveniently hold in the bill and then fly away. The males accompanied the females, but beyond this encouragement seemed to give no other aid in the work. 20. Vireo calidris (Linn.~). JULIAN CHIVI One of the most abundant species met with. The song is somewhat like that of the Red-eyed Vireo. One hundred and forty-five specimens were secured and I believe all are typical calidris. 21. Dulus dominicus (Linn.]. SIGUA DE PALMA Gregarious and abundant at almost all points visited. The nests are tremen- dous affairs, invariably (?) placed in the tops of the Royal Palms, built of relatively large sticks and twigs. A number of females use the same nests, and there are many entrances to the interior. I did not have opportunity to examine a nest closely, so do not know the internal structure. 22. Euphonia musica (Gmel.} Rare. Eight specimens were taken at Honduras and one at Maniel. Not seen at any other points. Although quite conspicuous for its colors I did not meet with any of the natives who had ever seen the bird. I did not hear the song. 23. Spindalis multicolor (Vieill.} Rare, and apparently un- known to the natives. Taken and observed only at Catare and Aguacate. Four adult males, two adult females and four young males, in transition plumage from that of the female to that of the male, constitute the list of specimens collected. All the specimens secured by me were taken in old overgrown clearings where the birds were feeding on some sort of a berry that was ripe at the time (Janu- ary and February). Young males resemble the females, but are slightly grayer above and lighter below, with a white chin and throat. In assuming the plumage of the adult male the feathers of the crown first begin to blacken, the white throat is gradually replaced by orange yellow, while brownish-chestnut feathers appear on the gugulum, and the dusky or olive grayish feathers, with black shaft streaks, of the breast are crowded out by orange yellow ones. White feathers begin to appear and form a superciliary streak, and the lores and auriculars together with the patch on the side of the throat grows black. In none of the four young males before me are the two outer pair of rectrices marked with white as in the adult. 14 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. The adult female is dusky olive green above shading into rather bright yellowish green on the rump and upper tail coverts this yel- lowish green color is not perceptible on the nape as it is in females of S. portoricensis. Below ashy, palest on lower breast and abdomen, the under tail coverts whitish and all bathed with a yellowish olive shading and indistinctly streaked with dusky brown. The outer pair of rectrices are edged with white for the terminal third on the inner webs, and the second pair are tipped with the same color on the inner webs. There is no sign of dull yellow on the breast of my speci- mens. Birds freshly killed have the eye dark brown; feet and legs dusky plumbeous; claws, maxilla and tip of the mandible, black; base of mandible, plumbeous black. 24. Phoenicophilus palmarum (Linn.}. SIGUA MAIMONERA; SIGUA AMARILLA Probably the most abundant species to be met with in San Domingo. Two hundred and twenty-one specimens were secured with representatives from all the localities visited. However, after one ascends pretty well up into the mountains this bird becomes comparatively rare. I found this species chiefly in the forests where it may be looked for with equal success in the low bushes or high up among the tree tops. It feeds both on fruit and insects. It has, I believe, no song, but a somewhat Cat-bird-like note of alarm. Females resemble the males, and young birds are similar to the adults, except that the black of the head is replaced by dusky grayish or slate color, and the entire head, neck and breast washed with olive yellowish. A good many breeding birds were taken, but I was not fortunate in finding either the nest or eggs, and nothing was learned of the breeding habits. 25. Calyptophilus frugivorus, Cory. Rare, seen only at Agua- cate where three specimens were secured, two males and a female. It may have been less rare than I suspected, because for some time I confounded this with the preceding species. Early every morning before it was fairly light I had the habit of going down to the river, nearly a quarter of a mile from where I had my camp, and I had remarked with some surprise that at this place (Aguacate) Phoenicophilus palmarum seemed to have a pleasant early morning song. In the gray of the morning I had noted the bird in the bushes at the side of the path, but always mistook it for palmarum, until on the morning of February 26 something prompted me to commence MAR. 1896. ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO CHERRIE. 15 my collecting earlier than usual. The result was that when I picked up my specimen I recognized I had Calyptophilus. I had seen and heard the bird every morning prior to that time, and three were taken on that date, but none were seen afterward. The song from Calypto- philus was the first sound to herald the approach of day (the mock- ing bird did not begin his song for half or three-quarters of an hour later), but once the sun was fairly up that song was hushed until another day. In none of the three specimens is there any sign of a yellow spot in the center or on the sides of the breast. 26. Pyrrhulagra violacea (Linn.} CHICHIGUA; SIGUA NEGRA; SIGUA PRIETA. Tolerably common at San Domingo City, Catare and Aguacate, but not noted at the other localities visited. Seventy- five specimens were taken, forty-seven of these were males, twenty- seven were females and one in which the sex was not determined. Referring to the females of this species, Professor Cory remarks (Auk, Vol. VIII, 1891, p. 296), that they assume "a black plumage similar to the males." And later, Mr. W. E. D. Scott in his " Observations on the Birds of Jamaica " (Auk, Vol. X, 1893, p. 180), says, "In a large series before me there are many females quite as brightly colored as the more intense males, and indistinguishable from that sex in its highest plumage by any external features of color or appearance." With both of these statements I concur in the main, but in my series there are thirty-two males and nine females in the black dress. I do not think the brighest colored female compares on the back with the least richly glossy back among the males. Neither does the chestnut of the throat seem so extended in the females. However, these are only very minor differences, and the birds in the field are indistinguishable. I have ten males and twelve females in mixed plumage, varying from birds in an almost completely black dress to others having only a few scattering black feathers about the head. There are five males and six females not showing any black in plumage. Some of these have a russet throat patch pretty well developed. In one of the males in mixed plumage, the chestnut feathers of the throat are all black tipped. The throat and under tail coverts in both males and females in the black dress are a bright chestnut. Birds in mixed dress usually have the throat a trifle paler, approaching nearer to a russet, but becomes more chestnut and brighter in proportion as the black extends through the plumage. The color of both the throat (if the patch is yet at all developed) and the under tail coverts in specimens without any black in the plumage is pale russet. 1 6 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. . The under tail coverts do not begin to become chestnut until the general plumage is black. The russet supra loral streak and under tail coverts, apparently are characters from the nestling plumage. Two breeding females were taken April 21 and 29; one is in the black dress and one in mixed plumage. The Chichigua I found shy and retiring in habits, frequenting low thick underbrush. Often noted feeding on fruits and again on the ground scratching among the dead leaves after insects. 27. Loximitris dominicensis (Bryant^. Nine specimens of this rare bird were secured at Aguacate and Catare. It was not noted in other localities. Adult males and females, and immature of both sexes, are represented in the nine examples before me. The adult female has the head and back dull olive, lightly mot- tled with dusky brownish, the rump and upper tail coverts are a little brighter olive and without any mottling. The quills are all narrowly margined with bright olive yellow. The greater, middle and lesser coverts are margined with the dull olive of the back; but the greater and middle coverts are also broadly tipped with light olive yellow, forming two distinct wing bands. All the rectrices are blackish brown, narrowly margined with yellowish on the inner webs. Below the throat, upper breast and sides is dusky olive gray, belly and crissum whitish, and all mottled with blackish brown shaft streakings. Under tail coverts broadly marked with blackish shaft streaks. Immature males and females are similar to adult females, but brighter olive (yellow) above and decidedly yellowish, or yellowish olive, in place of grayish or whitish below. 28. Euetheia lepida (Jacq.}. JUANA MARUCA Tolerably com- mon, especially near the coast. Observed at all points visited except Honduras. 29. Euetheia bicolor (Linn.}. JUANA MARUCA Common. Seen and collected at all the localities that I passed through. 30. Icterus dominicensis (Linn.}. SIGUA CANARIA Quite common, but not found in the forest districts except where there has been considerable clearing, and is most abundant in the savannas. Males and females are alike in plumage and both sing. One individ- ual that I secured, while but slightly wounded, gave a splendid exhi- bition of its power of song as a result of, or under the influence of, MAR. 1896. ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO CHERRIE. 17 excitement and pain. A native boy I had with me begged to have the bird, and for several hours, while he was carrying it in his hand, the little creature sang almost continuously.* This species is frequently kept as a cage bird. In the series of forty-eight skins secured there are twenty-seven males and twenty-one females; twenty-eight are in the black plumage of the fully adult bird, the remainder are in mixed plumage. 31. Quiscalus niger (Bodd.}. CHINCHILING Comparatively few birds of this species were seen. Only thirteen specimens were collected, all coming from three localities, Catare, Aguacate and San Domingo City. None were seen at the other localities visited. The eye is light straw yellow. 32. Corvus leucognaphalus Daud. CUERVO The rela- tive scarcity or abundance of this species in any locality depends chiefly on the season and on the ripening of certain fruits on which they feed. Immense flocks are found together. They are very noisy, but the call note is very different from anything I have heard before. The flesh is good eating, having a' very pleasant flavor, much like that of certain species of wild pigeons. The eye in some examples I found to be light red brown, and in others a bright orange red. 33. Corvus solitarius Wurt. CAO Seen only at Maniel, where great noisy flocks were found together. The cry differs some- what from that of the preceding species, and resembles more the chattering of some species of parrots. 34. Elainia cherriei Cory\ Only three specimens of this new flycatcher were secured. The type, a male, was taken at Catare January 31, and two females, taken higher up in the mountains, at Aguacate, on the 22d and 2yth of February respectively. The female is exactly similar to the male. No individuals were seen except the three that were collected. 35. Pitangus gabbii Lawr. Only one specimen collected. Taken at Honduras, April 2. Not noted at other points. Bill, legs and feet black; eye dusky. 36. Blacicus hispaniolensis (Bryant.'] Pound distributed in all the localities visited by me, but far more common high up in *Mr. Chapman, in his " Notes on Birds and Mammals, Observed near Trinidad, Cuba," gives a similar instance of "song as a result of excitement" in the case of Icterus hypomelas. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Vol. IV, No. i, p. 306. tAuk, Vol. XII, 1895, p. 279. 18 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. the mountains than down near the coast. Frequents the low scrub timber; seldom seen more than fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. Sometimes found deep in the dark forest and again in the low trees far out on the savannas. 37. Myiarchus dominicensis Bryant. MANUELITA; CABE- SON Tolerably common. Observed in all the localities visited, but most common near the coast. Fifty-three specimens were secured. 38. Tyrannus dominicensis (Gmel.). PE-TIGRE Twenty- three specimens were collected. Apparently not common. 39. Antrostomus carolinensis (Gm.~). QUIERO-BEBER; QUE- RE-BE-BE. Only one specimen collected, Catare, February 3, but often heard on clear evenings. 40. Chaetura zonaris (Shaw). One specimen was taken at San Domingo City. Great flocks were often observed sailing about, especially toward dusk, but ordinarily they were out of range. This is, I believe, the first record of a specimen of this species having been actually taken in San Domingo. 41. Lampornis dominicus (Linn.}. ZUMBADOR, DOCTOR BIRD Tolerably common at all localities visited. 42. Mellisuga minima (Linn.}. ZUMBADORCITO Common enough but very difficult to collect. In the first place, one is shoot- ing at an exeedingly small mark, and next, if your bird does fall, the chances are greatly against your finding the little bunch of feathers amid the thicket of leaves in the dense undergrowth that everywhere covers the ground. Both the male and female "sing," their favorite resort for this performance seeming to be the topmost branch of some dead leafless tree-top, where, for long intervals, the birds may be seen and heard. The head seems to be thrown back and turned from side to side, with a rather short, quick jerky movement as the sharp, high-pitched "cheep-cheep-cheep" notes are uttered in quick suc- cession. 43. Sporadinus elegans (Vieill.}. ZUMBADOR This species of humming bird was not common, and was only observed in two localities, Catare and Aguacate. I collected sixteen specimens. All were taken in the darkest parts of the forest, low down, from six to ten feet from the ground. The two foregoing species seem to like ^!AR. 1896. ORNITHOLOGY OF SAN DOMINGO CHERRIE. 19 bright sunshine and high up at the edges of clearings or in the open. But the present species was not once seen beyond the confines of the endless shade of the thick forest. 44. Temnotrogon roseigaster (Vietll.). CALANDRE I only found the San Domingo Trogon in one locality, Aguacate. These eight specimens were collected high up in the mountains; all are adult. 45. Crotophaga ani Linn. JUDIO Common. 46. Saurothera dominicensis Lafr. BOBO. One of the most abundant and conspicuous of the birds of San Domingo, found everywhere from the coast to the tops of the mountains, and appar- ently as common in one locality as in another. Eighty specimens were collected, with examples from all the points visited. 47. Coccyzus americanus (Linn.) This is, I believe, the first record of the finding of the yellow-billed Cuckoo in San Domingo. It is probably not a permanent resident, as no individuals were seen or heard until the first of May, when it suddenly became common at Santo Domingo City. Here, in three days, the 2d, 3d and 4th of May, I collected ten specimens, five males and five females. While I can not consider the bird a resident, it is somewhat curious that in all of the females collected the ovaries were considerably enlarged and the oviduct more or less swollen, while in one example I took an egg from the oviduct that would have been deposited in one or two days! Evidently C. americanus breeds in San Domingo, but do birds that breed here ever come as far north as the United States? 48. Coccyzus minor (Gmel.). MONTERO This bird is only tolerably common in the coast district, while back in the interior I did not meet with it above an altitude of between six and eight hun- dred feet. 49. Hyetornis fieldi* Cory. Five specimens of this handsome new cuckoo were collected; two came from Honduras and three from Maniel. It was not observed in any other locality. I was unable to make any notes in regard to the habits of the new bird, owing to the fact that on the three occasions on which individuals were seen, and when the five examples were secured, I was kept out of breath tearing through the underbrush trying to keep my bird in sight. But in manner of flight and in the peculiar way of running along the limbs of the trees, where it alights, one is impressed with the similarity to * Hyetornis fieldi sp. nov. Cory, Auk., Vol. XII, 1895, p. 278. 20 FIELD COLUMBIAN MUSEUM ORNITHOLOGY, VOL. i. - Piaya cayana mehleri of Central America, where the latter bird is known as Pajaro Ardilla (squirrel bird). From my note book, under date of March 29, being the first morning I had met with H. fieldi, I take the following observation: The notes or call is very different from that of any of the cuckoos with which I am familiar, and I can only liken it to the croaking of some hoarse frog. In fresh specimens the maxilla and point of the mandible is black; eye dusky; feet, legs and basal part of mandible plumbeous. The females seem to average a little larger than the males as indicated by the measurements of the five specimens given here- with: Field Museum Exposed Catalogue No. Sex. Locality. Tail. Wing. Tarsus. Culmen. H36 ; Maniel, S. D. 11.50 7.25 1.63 1.70 H39 $ Honduras, S. D. 10.50 6.75 1.65 1.50 1437*