THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 123 



Haiti, introduced; locally common. 



Introduction of the quail in Haiti came during the French colonial 

 period as it was recorded from Leogane, at the close of the eighteenth 

 century. Of this locality Moreau de Saint-Mery in his pleasantly 

 informative descriptive narrative says " elle a beaucoup de cailles, 

 dont l'espece est semblable a, la perdix a pied gris des Etats-Unis 

 d'Amerique." 



Cory in 1881 said the bob-white was common, and according to 

 statement of the inhabitants had been introduced many years ago. 

 It is curious that the species was not mentioned by Younglove who 

 between January and June, 1866 covered much of the same area in 

 Haiti visited by Cory. The bird is well known to the Haitian coun- 

 trymen and is now established in many sections. 



Paul Bartsch recorded it at Thomazeau, April 2, 1917, near Jeremie 

 April 10, about five miles west of Jeremie April 16, in the Cul-de- 

 Sac region April 24, and near Port-au-Prince, including the coastal 

 region and the hills back of the city, from April 25 to 27. The 

 specimen collected by Abbott, the only one from Haiti in the United 

 States National Museum, is similar in color to birds from Christ- 

 church Parish, South Carolina in the deep brown of the upper sur- 

 face, the greater extent of black, and the restriction of brownish 

 mixture in the black of the auricular region. On the other hand it 

 is much more buffy below. This bird is decidedly darker than those 

 from the central and northern states, but is entirely different from 

 the form found in Florida. Cory remarks of his Haitian specimens 

 that they " approach very closely in coloration to the, Bahama form, 

 but are lighter and much less black on the breast than that which is 

 found in Florida." 



"Wetmore found the quail at Fond-des-Negres from April 3 to 5, 

 1927, and heard the males whistling regularly in early morning. Dr. 

 and Mrs. C. H. Arndt at the Coffee Experiment Station said that 

 they had heard it calling daily for some time. It is well known near 

 Miragoane where Mr. Rogevie said that the natives trapped quail 

 and offered them for sale alive. He had kept several in captivity 

 at one time. They were said to be offered at times in the markets 

 of Port-au-Prince. W. R. Barbour of the Service Technique stated 

 that he had found quail in some numbers throughout the Cul-de-Sac 

 Plain. Beebe in 1927 heard it daily at Bizoton and found it at the 

 Etang Miragoane. On April 17, 1927 Wetmore heard its calls near 

 Kenskoff, and W. L. Abbott, on June 13, 1920, shot a male near Furcy. 

 Danforth recorded it in 1927 at Mirebalais, Grand Goave and Fonds- 

 des-Negres. Bond found it at Furcy and near the Etang Miragoane. 



There is such abundance of cover in its range that quail are diffi- 

 cult to find. They seem from present information to occur along the 

 southern peninsula from a point west of Jeremie through Fonds-des- 



