on the Birds of St. Croix. 147 



being his own planter, and ensuring a plentiful supply of his 

 favoui'ite food. The nest is often placed under the fronds, or 

 among the spathes, of a Cocoa-nut or Mountain-cabbage tree ; 

 but sometimes in any ordinary situation, the end of a bough of a 

 Manchioneel or Turpentine tree being chosen. It is flat in con- 

 struction, and large for the size of the bird, being nearly a foot 

 in diameter, composed of a platform of twigs, in the midst of 

 which is hollowed a cup, lined with fine roots, and thus in archi- 

 tectural style much resembling that of a Bullfinch {Pyrrhula 

 vulgaris, Temm.). The eggs do not seem to exceed three in 

 number, and equal in beauty the most splendid varieties of 

 those of the Red-backed Shrike {Enneoctotms collurio, Boie) ; 

 they are of a delicate creamy-white, marked at the larger end with 

 blotches and spots of pink or orange-brown of difi'erent shades 

 and sizes, and often disposed in a zone. The bird has eggs from 

 the end of May till August. 



t 31 . Black-faced Finch. Phoni-para bicolor, Bp, Consp. 

 Frinyilla hicolor, Linn. Spermophila bicolor, Gosse, 111. B. Jam. 

 pi. 64 ; Catesby, Nat. Hist. Carol, pi. 37. " Cane,'' " Parson," 

 and " Java Sparrow.'' 



The Bunting-like song of this very common bird is heard 

 almost as early in the morning as the cry of the Chicheree. It 

 frequents the curing-houses, hopping on the uncovered sugar- 

 hogsheads, and making a plentiful meal therefrom. It is sociable, 

 and generally feeds in small flocks, mostly on the ground, among 

 the Guinea-grass {Andropogon bicolor, Roxb.) which is grown as 

 forage for horses. The crops of those we have dissected usually 

 contained small seeds. It builds its domed nest in a low bush, 

 thicket of Bamboo, or even in a creeper planted against a house : 

 this is seldom more than four feet or so from the ground, and is 

 composed entirely of dry grass, the interior being lined with a 

 finer material of the same kind ; the opening at the side is 

 large for the size of the nest. It breeds from the middle of May 

 to the end of July. The eggs are white, spotted or blotched with 

 dull red, especially at the larger end, and often very much re- 

 semble those of the Certhiola, already described. With one 

 exceptional nest of four, three was the number always found. 



