290 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



winter months. It does not, however, seem to breed there. During the 

 breeding season, from April till September, it appears to retire to the hills. 

 I have several nests and eggs sent to me as identified with the species, but I 

 cannot rely on the authority. Some were evidently eggs of Blacicus and 

 Contopus. The nests were the same. I last year obtained from St. John's a 

 nest and three eggs, which one of my sons, on whose information I can gene- 

 rally rely, assured me belonged to this species. The nest is constructed ot 

 similar materials to that of the Tom Kelly, but rather smaller and not pen- 

 dant ; the eggs dull white, splashed all over with burnt umber dots, confluent 

 about the large end, and measure 6-8ths by f of an inch. 



I have not yet met with Elcenia fallax. May it not be the immature state 

 of the preceding ? In the yearling birds of both the Petchary and Logger- 

 head the concealed crest is, for the first six months, entirely absent, then 

 audimentary white and gradually assumes the yellow or red color pertinent 

 to the species. 



46. Blacicus tristis. (Myiobius tristis, Gosse.) Both the flat bills are 

 generally found sitting in solitary sadness on low branches of trees and 

 shrubs in the mountain waysides ; but this species rarely in the lowlands. 

 The nest is, like that of the Myiarchi, a matting of grass, bark and hair 

 placed in hollow stumps or bamboos. The eggs are oval, usually three, 

 measuring 13-16ths by ll-16ths of an inch ; creamy or clayish white, splashed 

 all over with burnt umber and pale bistre spots and scratches. 



45. Contopus pallidus. (Myiobius pallidus, Gosse.) This, like the pre- 

 ceding species, is found most abundant in the hills. It is, however, of more 

 frequent occurrence in the lowlands. The eggs and nidification are the same. 

 The coloring of the eggs lighter and the spots rather larger. 



COTINGID^E. 



51. Hadrostomus niger, (Tityra lenconotus, Gosse.) The large mass sent in 

 the first collection of nests is constructed by the Black Shrike; the nest is built 

 generally in the centre, but sometimes at the bottom or on one side ; the nest 

 itself is small ; other small birds often occupy portions of the structure. The 

 mass, when taken, measured three feet long, by two feet across, and about 

 twelve inches thick, and was suspended from a lateral branch of a lofty Santa 

 Maria tree. There were three small nests on it ; the first at one side of the middle , 

 apparently the nest of the preceding year ; the two others were near the 

 bottom ; the concealed nests had three rotten eggs of the Shrike, the other had 

 two fresh eggs like those of Glossiptila. The eggs of the Shrike are usually 

 three, oval, dull white, thickly splashed all over with pale bistre or slaty spots, 

 principally about the large end, and measure one and one eighth to one and 

 three-eighths by thirteen-sixteenths. The structure is sometimes an irregular 

 roundish mass with a profusion of materials hanging loosely about it like 

 that sent in the second cluster of nests. The Grass Finches, Cotton Tree 

 Sparrow, Soursop bird, and other small birds often build their nests in the 

 mass formed by the Shrike. 



TURDIDjE. 

 30. Mimus orpheus, Linn. (M.polyglottus, Gosse.) The tropic Nightingale or 

 Mocking bird is very social in its habits, and is found in every part of the 

 Island. The nest is usually built in low trees or shrubs, often close to a 

 dwelling or frequented path ; it is a loose structure of twigs, generally 

 thorny, with a shallow cup about two inches deep and four inches across, 

 made. of grass fibre, hair, wool, cotton, shreds of cloth, and many other kinds 

 of material, the lining being generally hair or fibre. The eggs are oval or 

 long oval, some more pointed than others, olive green splashed all over, but 

 more thickly at the larger end, with umber dashes and splashes intermixed 



[Nov. 



