342 BULLETIN 15 5, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



to be repeated at a short interval, or perhaps answered from a little 

 distance. The countryman knows this disembodied voice as the jil- 

 guero or the musicien, according to whether one is traveling in the 

 Dominican Republic or in Haiti, but is almost sure to state that it is 

 supposed to be a bird but that by no possible chance can one ever be 

 seen. By the superstitious the notes are believed to emanate from 

 some spirit. The observant naturalist on penetrating the thicket 

 may obtain a fleeting glimpse of a small gray bird with a reddish 

 brown throat and under tail-coverts and will know that he has found 

 the source of the mysterious voice in the solitaire. 



Though common in many localities in the interior hills in Hispan- 

 iola comparatively few specimens have been taken until recently. 

 Cherrie in 1895 obtained seven at Aguacate and three at Catarrey, 

 and has written an interesting account of the bird and his impres- 

 sions of the wonderful song. From February 20 to 28 at Aguacate 

 he found them mating. He reports the food as fruits and insects, 

 the latter taken frequently on the wing. Verrill in 1907 recorded 

 them only from Sanchez and Miranda, though he reports that the 

 song was often heard in the mountainous districts. R. H. Beck 

 secured two on La Hotte June 22 and July 3, 1917. Kaempfer col- 

 lected four which are in the Tring Museum. 



Dr. W. L. Abbott secured a small series at the following localities : 

 one male, Hato Viejo River, near Limon, on the Samana Peninsula, 

 April 23, 1921 ; four males near Constanza, April 10, 11, 13 and 29, 

 1919; four males Loma del Rio Grande, above Constanza, April 18 

 and 22, 1919; one male, El Rio May 14, 1919; and a pair at Loma 

 del Cielo, in the Bahoruco Mountains March 13, 1922. Ciferri 

 secured skins at 1200 to 1500 meters elevation on Monte Viejo August 

 25 to 28, 1929. 



In 1927 Wetmore recorded the song of the solitaire on the trail 

 to Constanza from the summit of El Barrero above the first crossing 

 of the Rio Jimenoa near Jarabacoa where it was noted frequently. 

 The bird was common in the rain-forest and was heard daily from 

 May 17 to 30 during the entire period of work in the upland country. 

 The birds sang from perches in the tree tops but always were con- 

 cealed among the leaves. Though usually found in extensive tracts 

 of dense jungle they sang at times from scattered growths of trees 

 along streams passing through open mountain meadows. The song 

 resembled the notes of a flute or occasionally of some one whistling, 

 varying in tone in different individuals, but always of such a char- 

 acter as to be easily imitated. The first note was low, the second 

 higher in scale, and the third low again like the first. At intervals 

 with these clearer calls there came a ringing, double note. Occasion- 

 ally a pair was observed in the dense growth hopping about alertly. 



