THE SOUFRIERE-BIRD. 199 



joy. Hence, he not only refused to accompany me 

 on my excursions, but exercised his little wit to throw 

 obstacles in my way. 



The local name of the " Soufriere-bird," from the 

 French word soufrtere, a sulphur mountain, an in- 

 habitant of the volcano, has been obtained from the 

 Caribs and the negroes, as the bird is rarely heard 

 outside a gunshot limit from the crater. Its habitat 

 is strictly mountainous, and I do not think it is ever 

 found at a lesser height than one thousand feet above 

 the sea, and in the dark ravines and gorges seaming 

 the sides of the cone it finds a congenial retreat. It re- 

 sembles a closely-allied bird of Dominica, the " Moun- 

 tain whistler," in many particulars, especially in its 

 habits of seclusion, shyness, and melody of song. It 

 is, however, much shyer than even the Dominica 

 bird ; and while the latter seems to prefer the solitude 

 of dark gorges more from a love of retirement than 

 fear of man, the soufriere-bird is timid, even suspi- 

 ciously watchful of man's presence, and flies from 

 his approach. In its wild, sweet, melancholy music 

 it strikingly resembles the "mountain whistler,'' but 

 the notes are different. 



From the dense thicket of trees bordering the trail 

 around the crater this bird sends forth its mystic mu- 

 sic, and darts away at the slightest indication of human 

 proximity to its haunts. As the earth supporting the 

 trees it inhabits is cut into every conceivable shape 

 of hole, rut, and ravine, and as, moreover, the place 

 swarms with monster snakes, the terror of the negroes, 

 almost the only people crossing the mountain, it has 

 been connected with the superstitions of the negro, 

 and has ever remained the "invisible, mysterious bird 



