THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 407 



Resident; found near Port-de-Paix and the mouth of the Arti- 

 bonite River, Haiti. 



The tawny-shouldered blackbird was unknown in Hispaniola until 

 its discovery near the mouth of the Artibonite River, a short distance 

 from St. Marc, Haiti, in the summer of 1927 by Stuart T. Danforth 

 and John T. Emlen, jr. Five specimens, an adult and an immature 

 male, and three females, were taken near some sloughs in the locality 

 mentioned on July 29, two being in the private collection of Mr. Dan- 

 forth in the College of Agriculture of the University of Porto Rico 

 at Mayagiiez, Porto Rico, and two in the Academy of Natural Sci- 

 ences. These were described as Agelaius quisqueyensis under the im- 

 pression that they represented a distinct species. Mr. Danforth 

 recently has deposited the type in the United States National 

 Museum. Danforth and Emlen report that they observed about 

 twenty of these blackbirds on the date mentioned near sloughs along 

 the Artibonite River, about eight miles from St. Marc, where they 

 were in flocks of five to ten, resting in trees standing in water. Some 

 were feeding young birds on the wing. Bond has reported the species 

 from near Port-de-Paix where he secured one on March 13, 1928. He 

 writes that the note is quite different from that of Holoquiscalus. 



Through the courtesy of Dr. Witmer Stone and James Bond of the 

 Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, an adult female and an 

 immature male taken by Emlen, with an adult male secured by Bond 

 March 13, 1928, were sent to Washington for examination. On com- 

 parison with a considerable series of A. humeralis from Cuba in the 

 United States National Museum the bird of Haiti, which was de- 

 scribed as Agelaius quisqueyensis under the impression that it was 

 new, is found to be identical with the bird of Cuba and must be re- 

 corded under the name humeralis. The color of the shoulder patch 

 in this species is variable from light to dark so that the shade rep- 

 resented in the Haitian specimens is easily duplicated in many 

 Cuban skins. No characters to support separation of two races are 

 found after the most careful comparisons. 



Following are measurements in millimeters from adult birds from 

 Haiti : 



Two males, wing 100.3-101.9, 48 tail 81.3-82.0, 48 culmen from base 

 17.0-18.1, 48 tarsus 24.3-2G.3. 48 



One female, wing 95.7, tail 80.8, culmen from base 16.9, tarsus 23.9. 



The limited area from which this blackbird is known in Haiti, 

 and the fact that it has not been recorded earlier suggest that it may 

 have been established recently on the island by individuals come from 

 Cuba. Abbott did not secure it during extensive travels on the island 



48 Type- 



