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The Green Tody (Todus viridis) the Robin of Jamaica, is not in the

least like a Robin, but is a little Finch no bigger than the Grass Quit, of a

bright grass green with a red throat, very gay and striking—quite the

brightest-coloured of the native birds other than Parrakeets.


I have made arrangements to have some of the following birds sent

to me, but doing so was a matter of great difficulty, as it was almost im¬

possible to find anyone who would undertake to catch and ship them.

Whether or not they wall reach me safely remains to be seen.


Ground Doves [ChamcspeUa passerina) little grey things, very pretty—

Banana Birds ; Grass Quits ; Banana Quits ; Woodpecker Quits ; Green

Tody ; Blue Quit (Euphonia jainaica ).


I have managed to secure a couple of Parrots, one a Jamaica Amazon

(Chrysotis collatia ?) of which, so far as I can make out, there are two

indigenous species, one with a black bill and one with a white, the latter

being considered by the natives the better talker (d). The white-billed bird

has blue wings and a red tail, and is otherwise all green. The black-billed

bird has two curious black spots on its cheeks, blue flights, a little red on

the shoulders, and a tint of dark peacock blue about the forehead. Both

are small birds, hardly larger than a Blackbird, and the general plumage is

very rich dark green. My other Parrot is merely an imported Double-

fronted Amazon from one of twelve brought by a super-cargo of an

American Fruit Steamer, residing in Port Antonio. He lost nine out of the

dozen by poisoning : they got loose in his garden and ate something which

incontinently finished them off. This bird is a good talker, but I could have

bought it just as well in England. It cost ten dollars; the freightage is

nil for birds with passengers on the home-bound steamers, but it is the

proper thing to give somebody a tip on their behalf. Several Parrots on

board are looked after— tant bien que mal —by various stewards, who generally

omit to clean them out, but feed them liberally enough, put them out on

the sunny after-deck in the daytime and take them in at night. Mine have

cosy quarters in the barber’s shop, whence I fetch them every morning,

tidy them up, and take them an outing, and I shall give the barber 5/- each

for his kind accommodation, wdiich sum is about that paid by the other

proprietors to their deputies.


In Port Antonio, I picked up for five dollars, a lovely little bird, which

I will not attempt to name, as I have never kept any of the Tanagers or

Sugar Birds and fancy it belongs to one or other family. It is the size of

the long-tailed Humming Bird, of Jamaica, and has a similar beak. Its

general colour is in several shades of bright royal blue, the head capped

with exquisite turquoise, short erectile feathers, put up like those of the

Saffron Finch when it receives attention, of which it is very fond. The

wings have a bar of bright yellow, and are yellow underneath, the feet and

legs are orange and waxen, and the toenails black. This exquisite sprite

lives on banana, of which he consumes a vast amount, getting through

about one third of a large banana in one day. He will not touch any other

fruit, and never goes on the floor of the cage. He is perfectly steady, and

in show plumage. Our members would, I am sure, be amused if they

could see the cage enshrining this fragile jewel. I bought him in a crazy

erection of split cane, hailing, I fancy, from India, though he himself was

said to have come from S. America, and when we got to Kingston I went



( d). Chrysotis collatia and C. agilis. —D. S.-S.



