108 BULLETIN 121, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



whither they come at certain seasous of the year to mate, to lay their eggs, 

 and to raise their young. 



This bird is ahuost the size of a " poitle il fleur " ; that is what in the 

 islands we call the young chickens which have not yet laid but which are in 

 condition to lay very soon. Its plumage is black ; its wings long and strong ; 

 its legs rather short ; its feet like those of ducks, but furnished with strong 

 and long claws; its beak is a good inch and a half long, pointed and ex- 

 tremely hard and strong; it has large eyes on a level with its crown which 

 serve it admirably well at night, but which are so useless in the daytime 

 that it can not endure the light nor distinguish objects, so that when it is 

 surprised outside of its retreat it hurls itself against everything it meets and 

 finally falls to earth. 



These birds live on fish which they go to sea at night to catch. After their 

 fishing is finished they return to the mountain where they withdraw into 

 burrows like rabbits, and they do not leave these burrows to return to the 

 sea until night has come again. They cry on the wing as if they called or 

 replied to each other. They begin to appear toward the end of the month of 

 September. They are then found in pairs in each burrow. They live in this 

 way until the end of November, after which they disappear and not a single 

 one is seen or heard until the middle or thereabouts of the month of January, 

 when they again appear. At this time there is never found more than one, 

 male or female, in each burrow until the month of March, when the mother is 

 found with her two young. When the little diablotins are taken at this time 

 they are covered with down, thick and yellow like the down of goslings ; they 

 are like balls of fat ; they are called " couttous." They are ready to fly at 

 the ejid of May ; at this time they leave and are neither seen nor heard again 

 until the month of September. All that I have just said regarding the 

 diablotins' visits to and residence in Guadeloupe and Dominica recurs regu- 

 larly and without ever having failed during all the years. The flesh of this 

 bird is blackish and tastes a little of fish ; otherwise it is good and very 

 nutritious. The " couttous " are regarded as being more delicate, and this 

 is true; but they are too fat, so that they give off grease as if they were full 

 of oil. 



The manner of cooking them when they are fully grown is to boil them in 

 water with salt and fine herbs luitil they are half done, when they are taken 

 out and allowed to drain ; this partial cooking removes the fat and takes away 

 the flavor of fish. The process is finished by making them into a stew, a 

 " ragout," or otherwise, with orange peel and leaves of " bois d' lude." 



The little diablotins, or " couttous," are better roasted on a spit, or on a 

 gridiron, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and the seeds of " bois d' Inde " mixed 

 together. 



It may be said that these birds are a manna which God sends every year for 

 the negroes and for the lowly inhabitants, who do not live on anything else 

 during the season. 



The difliculty of hunting these birds preserves the species, which would have 

 been entirely exterminated years ago, according to the bad custom of the 

 French, did they not retire to localities which are not accessible to everyone. 



In spite of the dangers and inconveniences inseparable from hunting them, 

 my curiosity led me to accompany four of our negroes who left one Sunday 

 afternoon and who did not have to return until the next evening; for that 

 length of time was necessary to reach the locality, to seek the game, and to 

 return. Besides my negro I took with me a young creole who was appren- 

 ticed to us to refine sugar, and whose name was Albert de Launay. We walked 



