62 PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL MUSEUM i vol. *2 



April 9; at La Cour Z'Anglais, April 12 and 23; and at Les Glaces, 

 April 24. At the last point we camped for the night on a grassy 

 bench above the river, and had numbers of grackles around us 

 throughout our stay. It was always something of a surprise to find 

 them in heavy tree growth above the coffee plantations. The 

 species was very common on lie a Vache, April 27 to 30, and a few 

 were seen near L'Arcahaie, May 23. 



Grackles were observed regularly along our road from Port-au- 

 Prince, Haiti, to Barahona, Dominican Republic, on May G and 7, 

 and on the return trip on May 19 and 20. They were common at 

 Barahona on May 9, and a few were found in the scrub near the coast 

 on Beata Island, May 10 to 15. A few specimens obtained at this 

 point are in worn dress and have lost much of the gloss on the dorsal 

 surface that is so prominent in birds in fresh plumage. 



Family THRAUPIDAE, Tanagers 



SPINDAUS DOMINICENSIS (Bryant) 

 HiSPANIOLAN SpINDALIS 



Tanagra dominicensis Bryant, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, May 1867 

 p. 92 (Hispaniola). 



This tanager was among the most conspicuous of the smaller birds 

 of the La Hotte region during our work there in April. We observed 

 it first after leaving GefFrard on April 7, and on our return on April 26 

 recorded it in small numbers as far as the region between Post Avance 

 and Camp Perrin. At our camxp on Pic de Macaya tliis was the most 

 abundant bird, ranging from an altitude of 900 meters over the slopes 

 of the mountain to the summit. In the native plantations it was 

 found among growths of low bushes and weeds, and it was continually 

 in evidence in the shrubbery and bush grov/ths about our camp. In 

 the forest the spindalis ranged through the upper branches of the 

 deciduous trees and was the most active member of the forest avi- 

 fauna, so that any small bird in the tree tops that was not clearly seen 

 was almost certain on investigation to be this species. The period 

 of our work was the beginning of the breeding season, and we heard 

 these birds giving low, sibilant songs in addition to their low calls. 

 They were seen feeding on pokeberries. 



In our series of 16 specimens there are two males taken on April 18 

 and 20 that are molting from a dull immature plumage, resembling 

 that of the female, into bright adult dress. 



Wetmore and Swales ^^ listed this species under the name Spindalis 

 multicolor (Vieillot),'^ having overlooked the fact that Bangs and 



" U.S.Nat.Mus.BuU. 155, 1931, p. 414. 



" Tanagra miilticUor Vieillot, Tableau Enc. Meth., vol. 2, 1823, p. 775 ("Florides, les iles Bahama 3t da 

 Saint-Domingue ") . 



