110 JOURNAL OP THE TRINIDAD 



on the bare ground, and that their colour would probably 

 resemble that of the surrounding earth and stone. 



"VVe failed to find the eggs that day, but about a fortnight 

 later Mr. Tate happened to be walking over the same ground and 

 found ;i single egg. We went together the next day, and put up 

 the bird again. There was no difficulty in identifying it as 

 Caprimulgus albicollis. There was still only one egg, laid in a 

 slight depression in the ground, close to a stump and under the 

 shade of a tuft of leaves. 



The egg differs from that of Caprimulgus europceus in having 

 far more red about it, both in the ground tint and in the 

 mottling. Indeed most of the colouring is in shades of salmon 

 colour and reddish brown. There are a few gray marks towards 

 the larger end. The egg is smaller than that of the Euroj)ean 

 night jar. By reason of its reddish colour it is easy to distin- 

 guish the egg as it lies on the ground. This is not the case with 

 the European species. 



Dr. Leotaud in his book on the birds of Trinidad describes 

 the eggs of this species as white. It may be that he wrote his 

 description from a pair of eggs in which no colouring matter 

 had been deposited. This accident, it is well known, may 

 happen to any egg from disease or defect in the mother bird. 



I have heard of other eggs of Caprimulgus albicollis at 

 Maraval, and they have been described as being of the colour of 

 the egg now shown. The usual number of e#gs is two as in 

 other members of the Goatsucker family. 



1st June, 1894. 



CO 



NOTES ON THE CACAO BEETLE 

 (SteirostoiiKt depressum) 



By A. B. Carr. 



rPHlS beetle, which is known to the Spanish peons as Con- 

 \ goroche, belongs to the Longicornes. In its younger stages 

 it lives in trees, especially in cacao trees, and as of late years its 

 numbers seem to have increased, I think a few notes on its life 

 history and the means of combating it would be interesting to 

 the Members of the Club, and useful to Cacao Planters. 



The larval stage : The egg is generally laid about the month 

 of February or March. The places selected for this purpose 

 being cither some little crevices in the bark of the tree or in its 

 fork ; or in a wound made in trimming. The larva when first 



