THE BIEDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 169 



In Haiti the stilt seemingly is locally common. Descourtilz says 

 that it deposits from two to four eggs, and that its local name of 

 pet-pet is given in imitation of its cry. W. L. Abbott reports it 

 common in suitable localities, and shot a male and two females near 

 Port-de-Paix April 14, 1917, and a female at the Etang Saumatre, 

 April 5, 1920. He found it also on the saline on Grande Cayemite 

 Island in the early part of January, 1918. Bartsch recorded it be- 

 tween Port-au-Prince and St. Marc April 21 and 22, 1927. Wetmore 

 observed two near Aquin, on April 3, 1927 near a salt water lagoon 

 and near Desdunes in passing low over the swamps in an airplane on 

 April 28 saw a considerable colony at one lagoon. Beebe in 1927 

 recorded it at Source Matelas, January 23 and March 21, and at the 

 Etang Miragoane, and says that two shot at the former locality had 

 been feeding on corixids. Danforth found it in 1927 at the Etang 

 Bois-Neuf, the sloughs near the mouth of the Artibonite River, Les 

 Salines, Sources Puantes, and on Gonave Island. Bond says that 

 it is common in all fresh water swamps, and is found also in mangrove 

 lined lagoons along the coast. He records it at Etang Miragoane, 

 Trou Caiman, Port-de-Paix, and Fort Liberte, and on Gonave and 

 Tortue Islands. Stilts were nesting at the Trou Caiman in June. 



These birds are found in lowland marshes usually those that 

 border salt water, and appear to be local in their distribution. They 

 walk gracefully about on their long stiltlike legs and when on their 

 breeding grounds are so solicitous for their nests or young that 

 they fly courageously to meet intruding man, sad to say, often to 

 their own destruction. Their sharp, barking calls are distinctive and 

 resemble those of no other bird. 



The body of the black-necked stilt, about as large as that of a 

 small pigeon, is mounted on very tall, slender stilts of legs that with 

 the long neck and straight bill give the bird a curious appearance 

 of fragility. It is pure white below and on the lower back, and 

 black on wings, neck and upper back, with a wash of gray on the 

 back in the immature. The tail is grayish white. 



Superfamily OEDICNEMIDES 

 Family OEDICNEMIDAE 



OEDICNEMUS DOMINICENSIS Cory 



HISPANIOLAN THICK-KNEE, BUCARO, COTJRLIS DE TERRE, COTTRRE-VITE, 

 COQ SAVANNE, POTJLE SAVANNE 



OEdicnemus dominicensis Cory, Quart. Journ. Boston Zool. Soc, October, 

 1883, p. 46 (La Vega, Dominican Republic). 



Courlis de Terre, Descoubtilz, Voy. Nat., vol. 2, 1809, pp. 202-204 

 (description). 



