THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 183 



lie). — Bryant, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, May, 1867, p. 96 (Domini- 

 can Republic).— Cory, Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club, 1881, p. 154 (Haiti); Birds 

 Haiti and San Domingo, Dec, 1884, pp. 134-135 (Puerto Plata, specimens) ; 

 Cat. West Indian Birds, 1892, p. 96 (Haiti, Dominican Republic). — Tristram, 

 Ibis, 1884, p. 168 (Dominican Republic). — Tippenhauer, Die Insel Haiti, 1892, 

 pp. 320, 322 (listed). — Cherrie, Field Columbian Mus., Ornith. ser., vol. 1, 1896, 

 p. 23 (sold in markets). — Verrill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1909, p. 

 357 (Dominican Republic). — Kaempfer, Journ. fur Ornith., 1924, p. 183 (San- 

 chez ) .—Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 80, 1928, p. 498 (Jacmel, 

 Ennery, Caracol ; Gonave and Tortue Islands). — Danforth, Auk, 1929, p. 365 

 (recorded). — Lonnberg, Fauna och Flora, 1929, p. 101 (Haiti, specimen). — 

 Ekman, Ark. for Bot., vol. 22A, No. 16, 1929, pp. 5, 7 (Navassa). 



Pigeon a couronne blanche, Descourtilz, Voy. Nat., vol. 2, 1S09, pp. 1S6-18S 

 (Haiti). 



Patagioenas leucocephala, Peters, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 61, 1917, 

 p. 408 (San Juan, Margante). 



Resident; common. 



In the Dominican Republic Salle, in 1857, wrote that the white- 

 crowned pigeon was abundant and sold at such a low price as to be a 

 veritable manna to the inhabitants. Pigeons were killed when in 

 flight between their feeding and resting grounds, or by means of an 

 artificial decoy placed in the top of a tree which attracted passing 

 birds so that they alighted, offering easy shots to the hunter beneath. 

 He found them nesting about March, and ranging in bands from 

 April to October. Cherrie, in May, 1895, saw immense numbers of- 

 fered for sale in the markets of Santo Domingo City. Verrill, in 

 1907, found them in great flocks from May to September. They were 

 hunted extensively and sold for ten cents to twenty-five cents a pair. 

 Abbott collected a male at San Lorenzo on Samana Bay, July 31, 

 1916, and on August 6, 1916 secured a male in juvenal plumage at 

 Laguna, on Samana Peninsula. This bird is duller gray than adults 

 and lacks the handsome markings of the hindneck, which is plain 

 sooty brown. The crown is the same color with a slight indication 

 of white on the forehead. The wing coverts and breast feathers are 

 tipped narrowly with cinnamon-buff. Kaempfer reported them 

 breeding near Sanchez in May. 



From May 7 to 13, 1927, Wetmore found the white-crowned pigeon 

 in abundance around Samana Bay, including the hills back of San 

 Lorenzo Bay. Many were seen between Sanchez and Pimentel May 

 16. The thousands that frequented the swamps bordering the lower 

 courses of the Rio Yuna and the Arroyo Barrancota were the great 

 feature of the bird life of this section. Flocks and single birds 

 passed above the tree tops with direct, sweeping flight, and others 

 rested scattered through the tops of the mangroves. Their white 

 crowns and dark plumage made a pleasing contrast when they were 

 at rest or on the wing. The birds were not greatly molested, though 

 occasionally a few were shot for the table, so that they were quite 



