on the Birds of St. Croix. 259 



Though most of the inhabitants know this bird by name, yet 

 very few have seen it alive or dead. It is certainly not common 

 in the island, but is probably a i-egular visitant, even if not a 

 permanent resident. 



" On my arrival in St. Croix in 1857, there was given to me 

 the skin of a bird of this species, which had been shot, some 

 years previously, on the borders of the large putrid pond on the 

 south side of the island, called Krausse's Lagoon. It was re- 

 garded as a very great curiosity, and justly so, since it was then 

 probably the only bird-skin that had ever been prepared in 

 St. Croix."— A. N. 



" This species only came under my observation on a few oc- 

 casions, and always at the name locality, namely, Krausse^s 

 Lagoon. This lagoon is surrounded by a dense girdle of Man- 

 groves, and clumps of the same trees stand out in the midst of 

 the water, some of them forming islands (if islands they can be 

 called where there is no terra Jirma, but only the network 

 of their arching roots to afford a landing-place), or belts sub- 

 dividing the lagoon into ponds of various sizes and shapes. The 

 water is seldom more than two feet deep, in some places not two 

 inches, so that every slight change, even of half a point, in the 

 ' Trade ' alters the relative extent of mud and lake. Excepting 

 the Mangroves, the shores of the lagoon may be said to be 

 almost destitute of vegetation : there are no tall rushes, no bam- 

 boos, no long reeds or grass ; the Mangrove alone, but most 

 luxuriantly, grows out of the mud. When embarked on the 

 waters of this pool, so delightful to the eye, one's sense of 

 smell is assailed by the most pungent odours, recalling remi- 

 niscences of blowing eggs once fondly cherished but long since 

 deserted by their rightful owners. They increase as every step 

 taken by the naked negro who is pushing along the flat-bot- 

 tomed * bateau ' stirs up the mud, and serve to excuse, if they 

 do not require, the use of the strongest tobacco, to enable one 

 to hold up one's head. Even the keenest sportsman or the 

 most ardent ornithologist is almost prostrated by the horrible 

 stench of sulphuretted hydrogen. But at length, on emerging 

 from an opening in one of the innumerable belts of trees which 

 intersect the lagoon, one's attention is attracted by three or four 



