62 



THE OSPREY. 



vine growing on a tree which almost overhung my 

 cabin, and I counted seven birds clinging to a sway- 

 ing creeper making as graceful a scene from bird 

 life as a Ciiacomelli picture. 



If the Trogons and Paroquets were ornamental 

 the Torcazas were useful. This fine Pigeon, fully as 

 large as our domestic bird, was an important addi- 

 tion to our limited fare of rice and plantains It fed 

 upon the berries of the royal palm and the large 

 number of these trees growing in the valley proved 

 so attractive that Pigeons could be procured almost 

 daily When they were wanting, the bodies of birds 

 of almost any species, whose skins had been trans- 

 formed into 'specimens,' were added to the pot. 

 Poor Lopez, I imagine, was not pleased either with 

 our bill of fare or the constancy with which we ad- 

 hered to it, and I once heard him telling a visitor 

 that for breakfast we had "pajaros con arroz " and 

 for dinner "arroz con pajaros." 



The Owl mentioned as a member of my morning 

 chorus was diurnal Though peculiar to Cuba it 

 belongs in the group of Pigmy Owls and its soft (oo 

 resembles that of GlaKiidiiiiii pltalnitoidt-s, but the 

 notes, instead of being connected, are uttered at in- 

 tervals of about five seconds. Their favorite perch 

 while calling is near the top of a tall, leafless tree, 

 often facing the sun. They may remain in one place 

 for an hour or more accompanying their periodic 

 note with a nervous twitching of the tail which, wren- 

 like, is sometimes raised to form an acute angle with 

 the back. A female, started from her nest in the top 

 of a dead palm trunk sixteen feet in height, contained 

 an egg ready for deposition. The tree was badi} 

 decayed and, as I pushed it, fell to the ground In 

 the loose fibers below the depression which formed 

 the nest I found two lizards each twelve inches long, 

 and thirty-five large tree toads of two species. As it 

 was more than probable that these animals had bur- 

 rowed into the trunk from above, it is natural to 

 suppose that they would have left it in the same wa}-, 

 when their passage would have no doubt seriously 

 interfered with the domestic arrangements of (ilait- 

 c i dill III . 



One of the most interesting birds I saw in Cuba, 

 in fact one of the most interesting birds I have ever 

 seen, was not a member of my morning choir. It 

 was common enough to have taken a prominent place 

 in any fauna had it not been rendered inconspicuous 

 by its small size, protective colors, and insignificant 



voice. This was the Tody or Podorera ( Todus nnil- 

 ticolcr), distinguished as being a member of the only 

 family of birds peculiar to the West Indies. One 

 could not help speculating on its relationships. What 

 had become of its mainland allies- Had they suc- 

 cumbed to the severity of the continental struggle 

 for existence while this island-inhabiting form had 

 survived under the protection afforded by its insular 

 homer' Its nearest relatives are the Kingfishers to 

 which it bears a laughable resemblance Imagine a 

 Kingfisher somewhat less than four inches in length, 

 shining green above, whitish below, with a bright 

 red throat, and a long, flat bill, who sits in low 

 bushes curiously bobbing his head, uttering a Hum- 

 mingbird-like twitter and making frequent darts after 

 insects. Its flight is accompanied by a wooden, whir- 

 ring sound, due, no doubt, to the attenuation of his 

 outer primaries, and so closely did the bird harmon- 

 ize in color with its leafy surroundings that the sound 

 of its voice was often the first notice I had of its 

 presence. Strangely enough, like the Kingfishers, 

 this diminutive creature nests in a hole in a bank, 

 excavated with its bill and in which, like its larger 

 relative, it lays white eggs. 



Other birds there were whose habits furnished food 

 for thought, but it is obviously impossible to write of 

 them all in the limits of a single article. After leav- 

 ing San Juan I took up my quarters in an old sugar 

 mill, distant some thirty-five miles in the Trinidad 

 valley, which has since been destroyed by the insur- 

 gents. From there I went thirty miles to the west- 

 ward and as the guest of the commanding officer 

 lived with a small detachment of Spanish troops 

 stationed on the road which runs along the coast 

 from Trinidad to Cienfuegos, and m\- field work 

 ended in the mangrove swamps I had noticed on en- 

 tering the harbor of Casilda. Each locality brought 

 new experiences and material additions to my col- 

 lections, which in all included over 500 specimens. 

 Of the technical results attending a study of these 

 birds, and of the affinities of the Cuban avifauna, I 

 have here made no mention, but the student who 

 cares to pursue the subject further will find a detailed 

 report upon my collections with certain speculations 

 on the origin of West Indian bird-life in the fourth 

 volume of the Bulletin of the American Museum of 

 Natural History.* 



* Notes on Birds and Mammals Observed near Trinidad, 

 Cuba, vvitli Remarks on the Origin of West Indian Bird Life. 

 Bull. Am. Mns. Nat. Hist. IV.. 1892. pp 279-330. 



THE BIRD HOUSE FOR THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 



WILLIAM T. HORNADAV. 



IN many of the largest and best zoological gardens very numerous and complicated. Even of our own 



of the world, the bird collections seem rather North American birds, we must provide for the rep- 



unfortunately scattered and broken up. To a resentatives of 18 orders, and as many of our 61 



great extent, this is unavoidable, for the practical dif- families and 766 species as it is possible to gather, 



ficulties to be faced in providing comfortable homes When to the great diversity in size and food habits 



for the feathered inhabitants of the earth are really of birds we add the requirements as to temperature, 



