Grnund-Bove of Porto Rico. 113 



ChAM.EPELIA BERArUDIANA. 



ColumbigaUinn passeriaa hermudlana Bangs & Bradlee, Auk, 

 vol. xviii. p. 250. 



Six males from the Bermudas. 



Irides light hazel, with an inner ring of yellowish ; eyelids 

 edged with a narrow ring of light yellow. The bills of these 

 birds are darker than in any other form that I have yet met 

 with, and, even when examined in the perfectly fresh state, 

 appear to be almost uniformly black. My experience is 

 that, wdien examined very carefully on the spot, the nasal 

 prominences are seen to be of a dull horn-colour, and the tip 

 of the bill of a dark horn-colour or black ; while the edges of 

 the mandibles have a very narrow line of faint crimson, all 

 the rest of the bill being black. This applies to both the 

 adult male and the female. 



In the original description the bill is described as " wholly 

 brownish black without a trace of yellowish or orange. '' 

 The irides of young biids are greyish green. The freshly 

 moulted young male in breeding-plumage has the upper 

 parts of a beautiful pale smoke-blue colour, very striking as 

 the bird takes to the wing and flies away. The under parts are 

 of a very pale uniform tint of pink. Altogether this form 

 is the palest that I have seen, and freshly moulted specimens 

 of it are easily recognisable. Later on the plumage becomes 

 soiled with a ferruginous dye from contact with the peculiar 

 soil of the Bermudas, where it is very common. 



This bird has the habit of " shamming hurt " when dis- 

 turbed from its nest. I have once or twice seen it fall from 

 it like a stone and flutter along the ground in tlie most artful 

 manner. 



Cham.epelia insularis. 



Columbigallina passerina insularis Ridgway, Pr, U.S. Nat. 

 Mus. X. p. 574 (1887). 



Two males and two females from the Cayman Islands. 



Mr. Kidgway has described this bird as very similar to 

 C. bahaniensis, ''but larger and with the basal half (or more) 

 of the bill distinctly orange or yellowish." 



Beyond the fact that the specimens which Dr. Bowdler 



SER. IX. — VOL. II. I 



