10 BULLETIN - 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Philadelphes, formed by amateurs resident in Haiti, interested in 

 various phases of science, and among other papers contributed to 

 that organization is said to have presented one on le colihri (possibly 

 the tody, rather than the hummingbird, since colibri is the usual 

 name for the common tody of Haiti). Deshayes died in Cap- 

 Haitien in 1788 leaving to the Cercle des Philadelphes his manu- 

 scripts and a part of his library. His portrait was hung in the 

 assembly room of the society. 



Among other naturalist-observers of the French colonial period 

 mention must be made of M. de liable who is said to have been 

 " marechal de camp, ingenieur en Chef de la partie du nord de St. 

 Domingue." All that is known of his work as a naturalist is found 

 in a set of water color drawings bound in four volumes that have 

 been available for examination through the courtesy of Wheldon and 

 Wesley Ltd. of London, and that have since been purchased for the 

 Blacker Library in McGill University at Montreal through the 

 interest of Dr. Casey A. Wood. One of these volumes is given to 

 birds and includes 58 plates of that group, most of them natural size, 

 shown in most cases in excellent color and attitude, and taken ob- 

 viously from life. They include a herring gull, the only record for 

 the island, as well as representation of Antrostomus cubanensis 

 ekmani and Pterodroma liasitata; the majority are the common birds 

 of the island. These plates have been bound in a volume lO 1 /^ by 

 121/2 inches, the binding being old with a sticker on the inside of the 

 front cover that reads 



Aux deux Creoles 



Rue du Faub. St. Honore, No. 60. 



De La Rue, Rapetier. 



Fabrique toutes sortes de Registres & Portfeu 



Fourniture de Bureaux 



Tient tout ce qui a rapport au Dessin & a Pein re 



a Paris 



The birds are shown in life-like attitude in many cases with a 

 background of landscape. The collection has been renumbered in 

 its present arrangement and some of the drawings that had become 

 frayed at the margins trimmed. The original inscription in some 

 cases is partly gone but has been carefully copied so that the word- 

 ing has been preserved. The drawings of birds are marked as made 

 " au Cap " which would signify Cap-Hai'tien, except one which is 

 marked Fort Dauphin, and are dated from December 29, 1773, to 

 August 19, 1784. Apparently Rabie's interest in depicting the local 

 fauna and flora was aroused in 1771 since some of his drawings of 

 fishes are marked as made at sea in that year. Moreau de Saint- 

 Mery mentions his name as an engineer as early as 1752 so that he 



