117 



Breadth of nostril . . . • 1^^ H 



Differciu'e of tail-featlH3rs . . 22 " 23 



Cabanis tlistinguislies M. Gundlachii from M. saturnimis, with 

 Avhich he compares it, first, by its having the spots on the flank 

 fainter, — in the present bird they are, if anythitig, more distinct ; 

 secondly, by the tips of the tail-feathers being much more nar- 

 rowly marked with white, diminishing gradually toward the cen- 

 tre, — in the present bird the first four feathers are almost equally 

 marked with white, the oth very slightly so, and the 6th not at all. 

 In one specimen the white is actually broader on the 4th than on 

 the 1st feather. 



Certhiola flaveola. One of the most abundant birds, and found 

 on most of the kays, the mocking-bird only being more genei-ally 

 met with. It had not commenced laying by the middle of April. 

 Judging from the quantity of empty nests seen, it must have the 

 same habit as many of the wrens, of making more nests than it 

 can occupy. The nests were pensile, formed of the fibres appar- 

 ently of the cocoa or some other palm. The entrance is at the 

 side, near the top. All those seen were on small bushes not 

 higher than the head from the ground. On my arrival at Nassau, 

 the leaf of life ( Verea crenata) was in full bloom, and these birds 

 seemed to derive their whole sustenance from the insects found in 

 its flowers. These it did not procure by inserting its bill into the 

 flower, but by thrusting it through the petals. After these flow- 

 ers had disappeared, I saw them in large numbers about the sour 

 oranges, devouring the juice and pulp of the fruit, and also the 

 small insects attracted there. The common name of this bird is 

 Banana bird. Though a well-known bird, still, as it has been 

 but recently added to the fauna of the United States, I think a 

 description of the recent specimen might be desirable, and accord- 

 ingly subjoin it. 



Male : plumage above fuliginous ; rump bright chrome yellow ; 

 a broad superciliary white stripe from the nostril ending abruptly 

 at the hind head. Wings and tail the same color as the back ; — 

 the former with the base of the primaries white, forming a large 

 bar of this color on the wings, and the edges of all the quills whit- 

 ish ; the latter with a white spot at the tips, of all but the middle 



