THE BIEDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 313 



over slopes so steep as to be almost precipitous — until one reaches the 

 great pine forests of the interior mountains. In these cool altitudes 

 above the rustle of wind in the pine needles one may hear a low 

 chattering call from a little olive gray bird with a tinge of yellow on 

 the under surface that may be hopping about among the branches 

 or may be resting quietly on the lookout for insects. This is the 

 elaenia, one of the interesting native birds, whose intimate acquaint- 

 ance has come to few naturalists. Though partial to the extensive 

 stretches of pines that cover broad areas of the poorer soil in the 

 hills, the elaenia is somewhat remarkable for its catholic taste in 

 habitat, as though often found in the tops of the highest trees where 

 its tiny form is barely visible, it may come also within the borders of 

 the dense rain-forests, or may be seen in thickets of guava or other 

 low growth in more open country. Its call is a somewhat explosive 

 swee-o, given rather abruptly, followed at times by twittering notes, 

 or a mellow pleasantly modulated trill that is truly a song. In early 

 morning when the sun shines through the chill of the mountain air 

 the elaenia is most in evidence as then it comes freely into the open 

 and rests in the warming rays. Once known, in spite of its unobtru- 

 sive coloration it is a species never to be forgotten. 



To the present time the elaenia has been seen by few naturalists. 

 It was first described in 1807 by Vieillot, who called it the " mou- 

 cherolle a huppe blanche " from the white markings in the elongated 

 feathers of the crown. Though his description and plate apply 

 certainly to the present species which he says he found in " Saint- 

 Domingue " his observations have been overlooked, so that when 

 Cherrie collected one at Catarrey, January 31, 1895, and two others 

 at Aguacate on February 22 and 27 of the same year Cory immedi- 

 ately described these as a new species Elaenia cherriei in honor of 

 the collector, a name that the bird has borne in modern treatises but 

 that must give way to Elaenia albicapilla, as Vieillot has long pri- 

 ority in description. Cherrie noted little of his birds except that they 

 were found in the interior hills, and little more was added by A. H. 

 Verrill who in 1907 collected one specimen at Miranda. W. L. 

 Abbott, the first to observe the birds in numbers, found them one of 

 the commonest birds in the upland pine forests in the Dominican 

 Republic. His first specimen was taken near El Rio on October 8, 



1916. On a subsequent journey in 1919 he encountered them in 

 numbers and collected a series at Constanza from April 9 to 13, 

 shot one at Hondo May 4, and two more near El Rio May 16 and 18. 

 Beck secured a series on Loma Tina from January 3 to February 2, 

 one at La Cafiita February 22, one on Loma Ultimate Civil Feb- 

 ruary 1, and a series on Loma Rucilla February 24 to March 16, 



1917. An immature bird in juvenal plumage taken by Abbott at 

 El Rio October 8 resembles the adult in general but the olive of the 



