BOOBY AND MAN-O'-WAR BIRD 



209 



attempt was made to discover it, but the abmidance of the 

 birds from nightfall until midnight, as betrayed by their 

 singular calls, together with the absence of other land near- 

 er than thirty miles, leaves little doubt of their presence. 



A single Sooty Tern was seen late one afternoon, but 

 numbers of these birds, with possibly also I'ridled Terns, 

 were heard Hying about the Cay after nightfall. Possibly 

 they may have roosted on the Cay, or their visit may have 

 had some connection with theii* later occupniion of it. 



The three d u c k 

 Plawks living on the 

 Cay apparently found 

 sufficient subsistence iji 

 the Slioi-e IJirds whicli 

 visited it and of which 

 they were several times 

 seen in pursuit. 



The presence of the 

 birds above mentioned, 

 indicates that Cay 

 Verde would be an ad- 

 mirable station for the 

 study of the migration 

 of birds through this re- 

 gion. The small size of ,, „ , .,. , , u^,.^,, 



^ . Yellow-crowned Night Heron 



the Cay would permit 



the taking of fairly accurate daily censuses, while the dis- 

 tance from the nearest land makes it the only available stop- 

 ping place in a large area. 



It is to this isolation that the presence of large numbers 

 of breeding birds on the Cay, may be chiefly attributed. Ani- 

 mal food is always at a premium in the Bahamas where indi- 

 genous mammalia are virtually absent, and conditions are 

 generally not favorable for the support of domesticated 

 species. 



The Bahaman negro considers all flesh edible, and those 



