Trinidad 331 



Ships do not sail without their captains. The wind 

 came up and our departure was delayed until the squall 

 had died dow r n. We reached our floating home about 

 three o'clock. As we came out over the bay it was 

 interesting to see perched on the tops of the buoys in the 

 harbor a number of brow r n pelicans. Man-o-war birds 

 were also numerous, hawking about the stern of the 

 ship. 



The glimpse we had of this southernmost of the West 

 Indian islands provoked in our minds a desire to visit 

 it again and make a longer stay. It is well worthy of a 

 protracted sojourn. The roads through the island are 

 said to be good, and there are many places which are 

 full of interest to the student of nature as well as to the 

 lover of the beautiful and curious. We would have 

 liked to have visited the famous Asphalt Lake , we would 

 have enjoyed exploring the Cave, which is haunted by 

 the Guacharo, the Steatornis steatornis of ornithologists. 

 This very remarkable bird was first described by 

 Humboldt. It was first found by him near Cumana 

 and referred by him to the Goatsucker Family, sub- 

 sequently the bird was found to frequent caverns in 

 other parts of the country, especially Trinidad, where 

 the people called it the ' ' Diablo tin. ' ' Students since then 

 have very carefully studied its anatomy, and it has 

 been separated from the Goatsucker Family, or Capri - 

 mulgidce, and placed in a separate family, the Steator- 

 nithidce. The bird, while it possesses many of the 

 characteristics of the Nightjar and Whippoorwill, 

 shows also certain strong affinities to the Owls, and is 

 regarded as perhaps giving evidence pointing to the 

 fact that the Goatsuckers and the Owls may have 

 sprung from a common ancestry, the characteristics of 

 which in part survive in this curious bird. It is about 



