THE OSPREY. 



JS.i\ 1 1 1 1 i>;trt'^te< 1 iVlfci^ci^iirie of F'tjpu.lcir Ornitliologv, 



1 'i 1 1 jl i«l !»=•( 1 XIontlil.N' e'Jceept ii:i JxsLly and A.u.gu.st. 



Volume 2. 



JANUARY, J 898. 



Number 5. 



AN ORNITHOLOGIST'S EXPERIENCES IN CUBA. 



KKANK M. CHAPMAN. 



N CUBA, at the present 

 time, collecting is doubt- 

 less attended by sufficient 

 excitement to satisfy the 

 desires of the most ex- 

 perienced field naturalist. 

 I, ho\ve\er, visited the 

 island before guerrillas, 

 Spanish troops, and in- 

 surgents were in season, and can claim, I am glad to 

 say, no part in a chase which has somewhat too seri- 

 ous aspects to be ranked among the pleasures of a 

 winter's outing. 



There were, it is true, rumors of war, hut at the 

 time of which I write — February to April iSg2 — 

 the chief occupation of the Spanish arm\ and ci\il 

 guards quartered on this long suffering isle, was to 

 pursue that famous bandit, (iarcia, who, like the snipe 

 an ardent sportsman hunted for an entire spring, af- 

 forded them unlimited exercise and opportunity for 

 the display of their lack of military talent The 

 apparent ease with which for several years this out- 

 law and his band dominated certain parts of northern 

 Cuba, making travel an uncertain and dangerous 

 undertaking, gives abundant reason for the belief 

 that the present insurrection will not be ended so 

 long as a patriot remains on the island. Residents of 

 Havana, to whom I brought letters of introduction, 

 advised me to leave Senor (iarcia in undisturbed 

 possession of the northern coast region. I accepted 

 the advice as sound, and early on the morning of 

 February 24 boarded the train for Batabano, thirty 

 miles from Havana on the south side of the island. 

 Here connection was made with a side-wheel coast- 

 ing steamer for Cienfuegos. Phis sail of twelve hours 

 1 recall with unfailing pleasure. Our course led 

 through a maze of mangrove islands varying in size 

 from the bars just awash and with a few cigar-like 

 shoots of this low-growing tree dotting their surface, 

 to larger islands of thirty acres or more, whose lux- 

 uriant growth of dark green was a rest to the eye. 

 While these islands gave a constanth varying shore 

 line, the extreme beauty of the scene was occasioned 

 by the character of the water, which was so clear 



that the bottom was plainly visible at a depth of 

 probably thirty feet. P"or this reason as the depth 

 of the water or nature of the bottom changed, the 

 apparent color of the water changed with it, creat- 

 ing remarkable variations, the effect of which was 

 heightened by a sky hung with fluffy, cumulous 

 clouds. Every imaginable shade of blue, from pearly 

 azure to deepest ultramarine, was represented, and 

 there were also shades of brown and green. These 

 colors appeared in irregular but sharply defined 

 patches, and often were all visible at the same time. 

 Through this variegated sea the steamer left a ser- 

 pentine, creamy train, which, at night, was sprinkled 

 with phosphorescent diamonds 



This much was to be seen; but in my mind's eye 

 I pictured the fieet of Columbus feeling its way along 

 this unknown shore, or the no less venturesome 

 Cortez, bound on his expedition of conquest, and 

 that more peaceful, but no less successful explorer. 

 Humboldt, who had sailed over this same route in a 

 small schooner just ninety one years ago. 



Taking into consideration the apparently favorable 

 character of the region, few birds were seen. Cor- 

 morants (doubtless Phaliurororax dilophits floridaniis) 

 were not uncommon in flocks of ten to thirty, and 

 several Laughing Ciulls, Brown Pelicans, and Frigate- 

 birds were observed: but the ornithological event of 

 the day was the discovery of two Great White Herons, 

 a species I had never seen alive before. Its occur- 

 ence at this point was particularly interesting for 

 here it was that an archer from the fleet of Columbus 

 reported seeing natives clad in long, white garments, 

 whose appearance so alarmed him that, terrified, he 

 returned to his ship, giving to the .\dmiral our first 

 report of what was probably Ardea cni id,ii/(ilis . 



The following day 1 awoke to find myself in the 

 magnificent land-locked harbor of Cienfuegos. The 

 morning was passed ashore in this unattractive but 

 commercially important city, and at 10 a. m. I em- 

 barked on a smaller steamer for Casilda, the port of 

 Trinidad, which was to be my base of operations. 



The intervening coast differs radically from that 

 lying to the westward. Here, in place of countless 

 mangrove islands, is an unbroken sea wall of lime- 



^■C 



