DEPARTMENT OF MARINE BIOLOGY. 185 



mangrove trees. There were also about 40 brown pelicans similarly dis- 

 posed. Here, too, we found a small rookery of the Louisiana heron and 4 

 white-crowned pigeons, a bird not noted on previous trips. There were 

 also gray kingbirds and quite a lot of breeding boat-tailed grackles, a few 

 laughing gulls, and two royal terns. 



On the little key to the north of this we saw brown pelicans, least 

 tern boat-tailed grackles, gray kingbirds, laughing gulls, and red-winged 

 blackbirds. 



May 23 : This morning we paid another visit to the little key in which the 

 Louisiana herons have a small rookery. We found that some of the nests 

 of this little heron contained eggs, while in other instances quite large young 

 birds were present. We also noted man-of-war birds, brown pelicans, some 

 laughing gulls, white-crowned pigeons, boat-tailed grackle, gray kingbird, 

 least tern, and a couple of royal terns. 



Arrived at Key West shortly after 1 p. m. About the harbor we noticed 

 laughing gulls and a few man-of-war birds. 



May 24: Made a visit to the Sambo Key, where the following birds were 

 seen: laughing gull, royal tern, brown pelican, man-of-war ])ird, least tern, 

 and a few noddy and sooty terns. 



May 25 : Saw a few small flocks of sooty and noddy terns over Key West 

 Harbor this morning; also some man-of-war birds and a few laughing gulls. 



On our way between Key West and the Tortugas we saw a few laughing 

 gulls, a number of man-of-war birds, and a few royal terns only. 



In the afternoon I made a trip through Loggerhead Key and noted 4 barn 

 swallows, a yellow-billed cuckoo, a wood pewee, and a warbler, which prob- 

 ably was a yellow palm warbler. 



May 26 : On an early morning walk from the Laboratory to the light- 

 house and up along the western shore, I noticed a gray kingbird, 2 barn 

 swallows, a yellow palm warbler, and 2 Wilson's plovers. In the afternoon 

 we made a visit to Fort Jefferson, where I saw the following birds: least 

 tern, sooty tern, noddy tern, royal tern, a few boobies on the stakes outside 

 of the fort, some man-of-war birds, and laughing gulls. 



May 27: In an early morning walk around the island I saw a gray king- 

 bird, a barn swallow, and 1 male and 3 female bobolinks. In the afternoon 

 we again visited Fort Jefferson, where the following birds were noted : boobies 

 on the stakes marking the channel, least tern, royal tern, sooty tern, noddy 

 tern, laughing gulls, and man-of-war birds. 



May 28: On an early morning trip through the island, a yellow-billed 

 cuckoo, least tern, a night hawk, and a man-of-war bird were seen; also 2 

 owl pellets at the farther end of the island. These, when submitted to the 

 experts of the Biological Survey at Washington, were believed to be products 

 of the short-eared owl. One of these was said to consist of feathers and 

 the other of hair and a few small bones of a Paromyscus. In the afternoon 

 I observed 5 females and 1 male bobolink, a least tern, a couple of barn 

 swallows, and a Ward's heron. 



In order to determine the species of the night hawk on the key, I shot a 

 specimen (several more were seen on the following day). The specimen 

 shot proved to be a female and on comparison at Washington I am in doubt 

 as to what it really is. Of course it is a subspecies of C. virginianus, but it 

 will be necessary to secure a male to make certain the particular race to 

 which it belongs. The character presented by the female suggests that it 

 will probably prove to be a new race. 



