308 Mr. P. R. Lowe un Birds collected 



which I consider to be undoubtedly a good and very- 

 constant subspecies and similar to the bird found in Jamaica, 

 the black of the under parts in adult birds ending abruptly 

 on the lower part of the chest or in the middle of the breast. 

 Six males which I obtained on the islands of Grenada and 

 St. Vincent agree exactly with those from Barbados and 

 must be undoubtedly referred to the same subspecies. 



Island of St. Vincent. 

 Leaving Barbados on Dec. 12th, we arrived here the 

 same day and stayed until Dec. 19th. 



Chrysotis guildingi (Vig.). 



This magnificent Parrot still occurs in sufficient numbers 

 on the island to make its preservation a matter of certainty 

 if proper care is exercised. Several large flocks are known 

 to exist, and 1 was informed by the Heveuue Officer at 

 Chateau-Belair that they regularly came down to his garden 

 among the hills to feed. The effect of the recent eruption 

 must have been moderate in regard to its extinction. 

 Strangely enough, although a large number of birds are 

 strictly preserved on the island, this species remains un- 

 protected. 



Myiauestes sibilans Lawr. " Soufiriere Bird." 

 This bird was also reported to have been wiped out by the 

 eruption. I was told, however, that for days after that 

 calamity it was both seen and heard in numbers round 

 Chateau-Belair and that it then gradually disappeared, 

 having apparently gone back to the mountains. This species 

 is not nearly so rare, I believe, as some would have us 

 suppose. It lives in the " high woods " and is very retiring 

 and "skulking" in its habits, so, as no one dreams of 

 climbing to the densely-wooded mountain-tops without some 

 very good reason, very little is known about it. 



In times gone by the Negroes, or rather the Caribs, had a 

 superstitious dread of the bird, and did not dream of killing 

 it. It used to be very common in and around the Souffriere 

 and there never could have been such difficulty in obtaining 

 specimens as one might gather from Mr. Ober's accounts. 



