THE BIRDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 409 



under cover. The call is a harsh chur-r-r-r while the whistled song 

 is clear and pleasant. Where it frequents palms in its search for food 

 it is more easily observed but even here with its slow leisurely move- 

 ments it often escapes detection. Its calls frequently betray its pres- 

 ence where the bird itself escapes detection. As it flies across open 

 spaces the yellow shoulders and under tail-coverts are in prominent 

 contrast to the black of the rest of the plumage. The slender form 

 and long tail also are notable when the bird is on the wing. 



Wetmore did not observe the oriole on the higher slopes of La 

 Selle but found it in small numbers at Constanza and El Rio so that 

 it does not fear the cold air of the mountains. Abbott collected a 

 number on Tortue Island where it is reported also by Bond, the latter 

 stating that a few are found through the higher hills of Gonave 

 Island as well. Bond secured a female on Gonave February 10, 1928 

 which is now in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of 

 Natural Sciences. 



Following is a digest of the definite records for this species : 



Dominican Republic: Duverge (Abbott); San Juan, Bonao, 

 Sanchez (Wetmore) ; Santo Domingo City, (Salle) ; Laguna 

 (Abbott) ; Samana, (Verrill, McGrigor) ; Caria Honda, La Valle, 

 Rio San Juan (Verrill) ; Rivas (Toogood, Abbott) ; La Vega (Cory, 

 Verrill) ; Vasquez (Danforth) ; Monte Cristi, Arroyo Salado, Sosua 

 (Peters) ; Puerto Plata (Cory) ; Jarabacoa (Abbott) ; Constanza, 

 El Rio (Wetmore) ; Haina, Moca, San Juan (Ciferri). 



Haiti: Jeremie (Abbott, Bartsch); Moline (Abbott); Trou des 

 Roseaux, Petit Goave, Glore (Bartsch) ; Fonds-des-Negres (Wet- 

 more) ; Port-au-Prince (Younglove, Bartsch, Wetmore) ; Petion- 

 ville (Cory) ; Fond Parisien, Riviere Bar, Moustique (Abbott) ; 

 Montfleury, Las Cahobes, Hinche, Caracol (Wetmore) ; St. Michel 

 (Miller) ; Gonave Island (Bond, Poole and Perry go) ; Tortue 

 Island (Abbott, Bond). St. Raphael, Fort Liberte, Cerca-la-Source 

 (Poole and Perrygo). 



The oriole has been reported in flocks by several observers, as 

 many as fifty having been seen in company. These birds feed regu- 

 larly about flowers especially those of the orange and agave, coming 

 to such blossoms with honey-creepers, hummingbirds and wood- 

 peckers. 



A nest secured by W. L. Abbott on Tortue Island, June 19, 1917, 

 was placed twenty feet from the ground on the under side of a leaf 

 of a coconut palm. The nest is a shallow basket composed of fibers 

 apparently stripped from a palm leaf, woven firmly together to 

 form an openwork frame which is well padded with cotton. The 

 whole is fastened to the palm leaf at either end by having long 

 fibres passed through slits made in the leaf for this purpose, the 

 support coming mainly at two points at each of which from twelve 



