THE BIEDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 129 



humid forests where they lived principally upon mollusks. In the 

 evening they perched on the tops of tall trees and from these elevated 

 points uttered their sonorous cries. 



Peters reports that his type specimen was killed in thick brush 

 bordering a dry stream-bed, and that another, flushed March 30 from 

 tall grass flew into nearby woods. He thought that possibly limpkins 

 were more common in that vicinity than his few notes indicate, as 

 they were retiring in habit, an observation borne out by the series 

 collected by Abbott at this same point. 



Cory secured specimens of this bird at Samana, and Canon Tris- 

 tram had one taken at Almercen (now Villa Kivas) by A. S. 

 Toogood in 1887. Danforth saw them near mountain streams in 

 the vicinity of Bonao and Villa Alta Gracia on August 7, 1927, 

 where he heard them calling during the night. He received a speci- 

 men taken near Bonao December 14, 1927, by Ermanno Ciferri. 

 Others were sent by Ciferri to Moltoni. 



In Haiti the limpkin is first definitely noted by Cory who secured 

 two at Gantier and remarks that the flesh was held in high esteem 

 for the table. Abbott forwarded a female taken at Moustique on 

 March 2, 1917. He says that limpkins are common on the northeast 

 peninsula but that he did not find them in the southern part of the 

 republic. He heard them calling on Tortue Island. The limpkin 

 was reported to Wetmore at various points, both in the uplands 

 and along the coastal plain but he did not meet it in person. It is 

 probably less common now than formerly. 



Bond writes that he found the limpkin generally distributed 

 through Haiti from sea-level to 1,500 meters altitude, occurring on 

 Gonave and Tortue as well as on the main island. He collected a 

 female near St. Michel March 8, 1928. Regarding its habits he 

 writes " this peculiar bird never took to wing if it could possibly 

 avoid it, preferring to run through the undergrowth just far enough 

 to keep out of sight. If chased and hard pressed it would open 

 its wings like a hen, and run with great speed. On one occasion 

 I chased a limpkin for about five minutes and was not only unable 

 to make it fly, but failed to oust it from the clump of bushes where 

 I had found it. Only once, when I came face to face with a limpkin 

 on Gonave Island, was it startled sufficiently to take to flight, and 

 had it not been on a steep hillside, I firmly believe that it would 

 not have done so." Among bones brought from the caves at En 

 Cafe, Gonave Island by J. S. C. Boswell are leg bones of a limpkin. 

 Poole and Perrygo collected one at Dondon January 19, 1929. 



The bird is as large as a medium sized hen with long bill, long 

 neck, and long legs. The plumage is olive brown in general with 

 prominent white streaks, more pronounced on the anterior portion 

 of the body. The throat is white. 



