ANI. 355 



In flight they most nearly resemble a Canada or Florida Jay, alternately flopping 

 and sailing, moving with a straight forward fliglit from tree to tree with great rapiditj^, 

 uttering tlieir monrnful notes as they quickly disappear in the distance, vanishing so 

 utterh", that one pauses to wonder whether they were really birds, or whether, after all, 

 the Creoles are not right in thinking them beings endowed with supernatural powers. 



Another un-Cuckoolike haljit of the Anis is that they associate in flocks, and 

 I do not think that I ever saw a single living specimen alone by itself. This 

 gregarious habit has evidently endowed them with one virtue and that is that they are 

 sympathetic. When one is wounded and utters cries of alarm, the remaining members 

 of the flock gather around and exliibit their solicitation by loud cries and frantic 

 movements. 



A careful study of the Anis convinced me of the fact tliat a niunlx'r of females are 

 led by two or three niales, and these males take great care of their charges. Thev utter 

 cries of alarm wlien they perceive an intruder, and drive the females before them into a 

 place of safety. I have even seen males fly against females or j^oung birds which did not 

 attempt to escape soon euougli, and knock them off the limb on wliich they sat and then 

 accompany them to a distant thicket. 



I am inclined to think that the Ani is polygamous, and this habit of the males taking 

 care of a numljer of females would appear to conflrm tliis idea. It is now a well 

 established fact that several birds unite in Ijuilding a single nest in which a number of 

 females deposit eggs. Governor Bhxke called my attention to a nest that was built in 

 a tamarand tree that stood in the grounds of the Government House at Nassau. It 

 was placed on a branch about ten feet from the ground and was quite a bulky structure. 

 The eggs wei-e deposited in April, and there were originally nine in all. I did not seethe 

 nest until June 4th, at whicii time the vouno; had flown, leavins; two addled esus behind 

 them. The Anis must breed somewhat irregularly, for as earl\- as March 22d I procured 

 newly-fledged young. They also moult irregularly; on March Stii, 1884, I found a 

 number at Nassau which had just completed moulting, and on April 24th, of the same 

 year, I got two specimens, at Deep Creek, Andros, Avhich had just begun to moult. 



Anis live largely on locusts, esijecially a large species, which is quite common on the 

 Bahamas, and which has a peculiar, rather disagreeable odor, which is imparted to the birds. 

 I have also found beetles in their stomachs. The local name at Nassau and on Andros is 

 Devil's Bird and Deadman's Bird, but on Cayman Brae, where they are also common, they 

 are called Old Annas. 



