270 JOURNAL OF THE TRINIDAD 



negroes are impressed by it, as its native name, Poor-me-one, 

 meaning " Poor me all alone," clearly shows. To identify Poor- 

 me-one, therefore, became one of our chief objects. 



This strange bird calls only on moonlit nights from February 

 to June. The calendar told us the moon would be full March 20, 

 and as the slender crescent grew larger we listened anxiously for 

 the notes of Nyctibius. But we neither saw nor heard sign of it 

 until the evening of the 16th when, as we were strolling home- 

 ward from the forest, we saw a large bird, which we at first 

 supposed was an Owl, sitting on the top of a stub about thirty 

 feet in height. We had no difficulty in identifying this bird as a 

 Nyctibius and congratulated ourselves on the knowledge that it 

 was probably resident so near our house. For the four succeed- 

 ing evenings doubtless the same bird appeared about half an 

 hour after sunset and on set wings sailed slowly and majestically 

 from a point of the forest distant some two hundred yards, until 

 directly above the stub upon which we had first seen him. After 

 descending in a broad spiral, which ended a few feet below his 

 perch, he pitched sharply upward, closing his wings as he secured 

 a footing. His position was upright and he seemed a continua- 

 tion of the stub, against which his tail was pressed. He invari- 

 ably faced the west but kept his head turning from side to side 

 after the manner of Flycatchers. At short, irregular intervals — 

 usually two or three times a minute — he launched out after 

 insects, flying in a perfectly straight, slightly ascending line with 

 firm and vigorous, yet easy wing-beats, his tail wide-spread. At 

 the moment he reached his prey he often turned abruptly to 

 secure it, then wheeled suddenly, and returned to the stub by a 

 long, slow, graceful glide and lit as before described. With few 

 exceptions his sallies were made toward the west, evidently 

 because of the background afforded by the after glow, and he 

 often flew thirty or forty yards before reaching his object. 



Interesting as it was to observe a Goatsucker in the r61e of 

 a hawk -like Flycatcher, the certainty of our identification made 

 us earnestly wish to hear the bird call, when the identity of 

 Poor-me-one and Ifyctibius could be instantly settled. But each 

 night the bird returned to the forest in silence. 



March 20 the moon was full and shortly after eight o'clock, 

 to our great delight, we heard Poor-me-one calling from the forest. 

 We at once started in the direction of the sound. Crossing a belt 

 of cacao, leaping some of the drains, stumbling into others, wading 

 knee-deep through the dew-drenched grass, breathless and per- 

 spiring, we came at length to the edge of a low, swampy wood 

 whence issued the strange cry. The bird now became silent. We 

 listened anxiously for several minutes and were greeted only by 

 the cook-er-ree-coo and startling scream of an Owl (Megascops 

 brasiliensis). Finally, after consultation, Mr. Carr whistled an 



