THE BIRDS OE HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 229 



Subfamily Crotophaginae 



CROTOPHAGA ANI Linnaeus 

 ANI, BLACK WITCH, JUDIO, BOTJTS-TABAC, PERRQQUET NOIR 



Crotophaga ani Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, vol. 1, 1758, p. 105 (Ja- 

 maica). — Ritter, Naturh. Reis. Westind. Insel Hayti, 1836, pp. 152-155 

 (Haiti, specimen). — Hartlaub, Isis, 1847, p. 610 (listed). — Salle, Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. Loudon, 1857, p. 234 (Dominican Republic). — Bryant, Proc. Boston 

 Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, May, 1867, p. 95 (Haiti).— Cory, Bull. Nuttall Ornith. 

 Club, 1881, p. 154 (Haiti, abundant) ; Birds Haiti and San Domingo, July, 

 3S84, pp. 100-101 (Dominican Republic, Haiti) ; Cat. West Indian Birds, 1892, 

 p. 102 (Haiti, Dominican Republic). — Cherrie, Field Columbian Mus., Ornith. 

 ser., vol. 1, 1S96, p. 19 (Dominican Republic). — Tristram, Cat. Coll. Birds 

 belonging H. B. Tristram, 1889, p. 272 (Dominican Republic). — Tippenhauer, 

 Die Insel Haiti, 1892, pp. 318, 322 (listed).— Christy, Ibis, 1897, pp. 331-332 

 (Sanchez, La Vega). — Verrill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1909, p. 359 

 (Dominican Republic). — Peters, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 61, 1917, p. 409 

 (Sosua, specimens). — Kaempfer, Journ. fur Ornith., 1924, p. 180 (Dominican 

 Republic). — Ciferri, Segund. Inf. An. Est. Nac. Agr. Moca, 1927, p. 6 

 (specimen). — Beebe, Zool. Soc. Bull., vol. 30, 1927, p. 140; Beneath Tropic 

 Seas, 1928, pp. 51, 221 (Haiti).— Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 

 80, 1928, p. 500 (Haiti).— Danforth, Auk, 1929, p. 368 (common).— Lonnberg, 

 Fauna och Flora, 1929, p. 102 (Haiti).— Ekman, Ark. for Bot, vol. 22A, No. 16, 

 1929, p. 7 (Navassa).— Moltoni, Att. Soc. Ital. Scienz. Nat., vol. 68, 1929, p. 316 

 (Haina, Moca, specimens). 



Ani des Paletuviers, Montbeillard, in Buffon, Hist. Nat. Ois., vol. 6, 1779, 

 pp. 423^29 (part). 



Bouts-de-tabac, Saint-Meey, Descrip. Part. Franc. lie Saint-Domingue, 

 vol. 1, 1797, p. 717 (Port-de-Paix). 



Crotophaga major, Ritter, Naturh. Reis. Westind. Insel Hayti, 1836, p. 155 

 (Haiti, specimen). — Hartlaub, Isis, 1847. p. 610 (listed). 



Resident, common and widely distributed; absent from heavily 

 forested areas. 



The ani is found mainly in fields and open pastures, especially 

 where these are intermingled with shrubs or thickets. The birds 

 are gregarious and are seldom seen alone as usually from six to 

 a dozen are found in company. They frequently feed on the ground 

 about cattle, capturing insects disturbed from the grass. They 

 greet intruders with querulous calls and when disturbed fly up to 

 low perches where they assume picturesque attitudes, often half 

 a dozen perching on one limb facing in different directions with 

 craning heads and twitching tails. In flight the feet are thrown 

 back beneath the tail. 



Christy found a few anis at Sanchez, but observed them in greatest 

 abundance at La Vega where he examined eggs taken early in July. 

 Verrill found them abundant. Abbott secured specimens at Laguna, 

 on the Samana Peninsula, August 6, and at Sanchez October 23, 

 1916. Kaempfer says that they roost at night in company, and that 



