Recent Ornithological Publications, 405 



The following note on the Palm- Swift {Tachornis phcenicohia) 

 affords an interesting instance of change of habits, such as we 

 may suppose to have oi'iginally occurred in our own Hirundinidse 

 and Cypselidse : — 



"^ Previous to 1854, the habitat of the Palm-Swift was alto- 

 gether confined to the palm-trees in this district (St. Catherine) 

 and to the cocoa-nut palms near the coast at Wrack Bay, Health- 

 shire, Port Henderson, and Dawkins Pen, at Passage Fort. In 

 that year a colony of them established themselves on two cocoa- 

 nut palms in Spanish Town, one near the centre of the town, the 

 other at the north-east corner ; and there they remained until, in 

 1857, the palm at the north-east was taken down, and the other 

 divested of the lower fronds and the Swifts turned adrift. They 

 were then, for the first time, observed flitting about the lower 

 piazzas of the House of Assembly, the upper part of this build- 

 ing having been previously occupied by the H. fulva. In a 

 short time these prior occupants were driven out, and a con- 

 siderable colony of Palm-Swifts now occupy the lower colon- 

 nade in front of the ground story, used as public offices, where 

 they build on the tops of the end walls, or at the angles formed 

 by the beams and joists. None resort to the upper piazza ; but 

 they pertinaciously drive away the H. fulva on every attempt 

 they make to effect a lodgment. Small colonies of the Palm- 

 Swifts last year (1862) again returned to the palm in the centre 

 of the town ; but the large colony still retained its position in the 

 buildings." 



OiMimus Mr. March notes two species as occurring in Jamaica, 

 one of which he describes as new, under the name Mimus hillii. 

 Dr. Baird states that this new species is " very closely related to, 

 if not identical with, M. gundlachii of Cuba." Another bird 

 provided with a new name in this paper is the Spermojjhila bico- 

 lor of Gosse, which Professor Baird proposes to call S. marchii, 

 — the true Fringilla bicolor of Linnaeus, from the Bahamas, 

 being specifically different. We have never seen the Bahaman 

 bird, but have had some difficulty in determining whether Mr. 

 E. C. Taylor's Martinique specimens (see antea, p. 167) ought 

 to be referred to the Jamaican or Tobagan species, Tiaris omissa, 

 Jardine, 



