122 



THE OOLOGIST 



Impressions of the Birds of IVicKinley, 



isle of Pines, Cuba, IVlade on an 



Early Spring IVIorning 



(March IS, 1911). 



As I awoke about 5 a. m. the first 

 sound which reached my ears was the 

 note of the Cuban Pigmy Owl; a shrill, 

 sharp, short whistle beginning very 

 high pitched, running down the scale 

 and repeated over and over again. 

 This owl is very small as its name sig- 

 nifies and measures 7.2 inches in 

 length. Glauciduine siju as it is scien- 

 tifically known, is only partially noc- 

 tual, feeding in the day time as well 

 as at night. It is an inhabitant of the 

 jungles along the rivers and arroyos 

 although sometimes found in the open 

 pine woods. Its food consists chiefiy 

 of chameleons, field mice and grass- 

 hoppers, though on one occasion I 

 saw it tackle a Meadowlark and kill 

 it. The little fellow was then attacked 

 by a half dozen Meadowlarks and 

 driven off. 



The voice 1 heard next was that of 

 the Cuban Kingbird (Tolmarchus cau- 

 difasceatus) or rather several were in 

 chorus. This is very similar to our 

 northern Kingbird, being about the 

 same size and color but lacking the 

 white tip of the tail and shows a light 

 patch at the base of the tail when in 

 flight. 



A.fter breakfast 1 started to walk to 

 the office, a distance of perhaps a 

 mile and a half, part of the way being 

 along the beautiful Nuevas River, 

 which is bordered by thick jungles. 

 The rest of the road is through open 

 pine country and clearings until we 

 come to the big .500 acre grove. The 

 office is situated a little northwest of 

 the center. 



Just as I turned out of the tract on- 

 to the main road a Red-legged Thrush, 

 perched high on the topmost branch of 

 a beautiful elm-like "Jucaro," burst 

 into full song, if it can be called such. 



This is locally called Cuban Robin and 

 in general habits is similar to our 

 American Robin, but is perhaps a lit- 

 tle more fond of the woods. Mimoci- 

 chla rubripes is about the same size 

 as its northern cousin but it is slatey- 

 gray in color, about that of a Catbird. 

 It has a black throat bordered on each 

 side with a white line; the lower 

 breast and belly is tinged with rusty 

 red about the color of an immature 

 robin's breast. Most of the time it is 

 very silent only emitting occasional 

 robin-like chirps when startled but at 

 this season, especially in the early 

 morning, as the sun rises from the 

 heavy bank of clouds in the east, and 

 in the late evening just as the sun is 

 sinlving in a blaze of glory which is 

 beyond description in this country, it 

 gives a poor imitation of the robin's 

 rain song. 



As I passed slowly down the road 

 the prettiest bird of this section, the 

 Isle of Pines Trogon, came into view 

 perched in a thicket where a single 

 ray of sunlight fell on its bright plum- 

 age. This bird Priotelus temnurus 

 vescus, measures about 10 inches, and 

 has the crown of the head black shad- 

 ing into purple on the neck and a 

 green on the back. Its entire upper 

 parts are iridiscent, changing from 

 purple to green as the light falls dif- 

 ferently on it. The throat and breast 

 are pure white while the belly is a 

 bright Vermillion. The outer tail 

 feathers are shorter than the rest 

 and have a peculiar curl outward. The 

 Trogon inhabits thick jungles and 

 nests in cavities of broken stubs of 

 the Bottle Palm. 



Coming to the river I looked down 

 stream and saw a short distance off 

 on a sand bar a lonely Limpkin, Ara 

 mus giganteus, hunting snails, its 

 principal diet. Often one finds a Limp- 

 kin with its bill twisted out of shape 

 by extracting the snails from their 



