564 BAHAMA HONEY CREEPER. 



The song of the Bahiuiiii Honey Creeper consists of :i series of low crnckling notes, 

 quite unlike tlie soimds emitted by any other bird, excepting ver\- closely allied species. 

 They also produce a chattering with the bill when disturbed and utter a sharp chirp of 

 alarm. 



The time of breeding seems to be in March, April, and Mny, as the following notes 

 will show; on March Sth, 1884, m^y attention was attracted to a female which was 

 carrying material to a nearly completed nest, and on the 17tli it contained two eggs which 

 were shghtly incubated. This nest was placed low in the scrub within easy reach as I 

 stood on the ground. On March 9tli I followed a female which was carrying weed stalks 

 in her beak. I soon came to the nest that was placed in a small bush about on a level 

 with my face. On the 15th the nest contained three eggs, and on the same day that I 

 found the first nest, I found another, this time liy following the male. The first two nests 

 were near a road, but this bird led me deeper into the scrub, and w'leu I came to the nest 

 it was placed in a small tree some ten feet from the ground. 



I continued to find nests up to the last of the month of March, but during the last 

 week all contained embryos considerably advanced. On April 17th we visited Andros and 

 found fully fledged young of the Creeper. At Deep Ci'eek, April, l^Tth, saw a pair mating. 

 Upon our return at Nassau, the last week in May I found the young fully grown, and 

 on the 30th saw a female building a nest. Upon visiting Green Key south of New Prov- 

 idence, June 6th, I found nothing but empty nests from which the young had recently 

 tiown. On April 10th, 1893, Mr. Curtiss found a nest on U Key, near Highburn, Key which 

 contained two young about a week old and one abortive egg. 



As a rule, neither male nor female pay nuich attention to the intruder when the nest 

 is visited. In most cases, I find that I have recorded that the female slipped quietly out 

 of the nest and instantly disappeared. This was especially noticeable when the eggs were 

 fresh. The nest on the U Key was placed in a low bush not over three feet from the 

 ground ; both parents were present and neither exhibited the slightest solicitude for the 

 safety of their offspring. Both were very tame, coming within a foot of our heads as we 

 sat on the groimd near the nest. Tliis last mentioned was placed the lowest of any I ever 

 saw and the one I have mentioned as finding in the scrub ten feet up, was by fiu' the high- 

 est. The usual distance from the ground is between four and five feet. The nests are 

 seldom fastened securely to the bushes, l)ut are usually laid in the forks formed by twigs. 



In Kingston, Jamaica, two pairs of the closely allied Jamaica Honey Creeper began to 

 build their nests in a huge mango which stood beside my window. These nests were 

 placed neai'ly twenty feet from the ground. On March 27th, I found Sharp's Honey Creep- 

 er nesting on Cayman Brae, and the nests were placed over the base of the cocoa-nut 

 leaves fifteen or twenty feet from the ground. 



