THE BIEDS OF HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN EEPUBLIC 411 



Quiscalus ater, Bryant, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 11, May, 1867, 

 p. 94 (Jeremie).— Cory, Bull. Nuttall Ornith. Club, 1881, p. 153 (Haiti).— 

 Tristram, Ibis, 1SS4, p. 16S (Dominican Republic). 



Quiscalus niger, Cassin, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 1866, p. 407 

 (Jeremie). — Cory, Birds Haiti and San Domingo, July, 18S4. p. 73, col. pi. 

 (PStionville, Puerto Plata, SamanS) ; Cat. West Indian Birds, 1892, p. Ill (" San 

 Domingo"). — Tippenhauer, Die Insel Haiti, 1892, pp. 320, 321 (listed). — 

 Cherrie, Field Columbian Mus., Ornith. ser., vol. 1, 1896, p. 17 (Catarrey; 

 Aguacate, Santo Domingo City, specimens). — Christy, Ibis, 1897, pp. 326-327 

 (habits).— Verrill, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 61, 1909, p. 362 

 (habits). — Kaempfer, Journ. fur Ornith., 1924, p. 180 (distribution; albinos). 



Holoquiscalus niger, Peters, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., vol. 61, 1917, p. 424 

 (Sosua, specimens; Monte Cristi).- — Beebe, Zool. Soc. Bull., vol. 30, 1927, p. 141; 

 Beneath Tropic Seas, 1928, p. 222 (noted). 



Holoquiscalus gundlaeJii niger, Ekman, Fauna och Flora, 1929, p. 110 

 (Haiti). 



Holoquiscalus niger niger, Peters, Auk, 1921, pp. 444-445 (synonymy, distri- 

 bution ) .—Bond, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, vol. 80, 1928, p. 515 (Haiti, 

 Gonave Island). — Danforth, Auk, 1929, p. 373 (common). — Moltoni, Att. Soc. 

 Ital. Scienz. Nat, vol. 68, 1929, p. 325 (Bonao, San Juan, specimens). 



Resident; locally common. 



The grackle is widely distributed in both republics being found 

 about marshes, savannas, open fields bordered by trees, semi-open 

 groves, and even in open pine forest. It does not feed far from 

 water, though any mud hole, particularly if surrounded by thick 

 brush may harbor a few. Peters notes that in the arid Monte Cristi 

 region the birds were confined to the marshes along the Rio Yaqui 

 del Norte. In Haiti the grackle ranges across the summit of La 

 Selle, as Wetmore observed it there in some numbers from April 9 

 to 16, both in the clearings of the Jardins Bois Pin, and through the 

 open forest of pines above. He recorded it in pairs at the Riviere 

 Jaquisy below Morne Cabaio April 9, and on the slopes above to 

 1,500 meters. It was observed also at Chapelle Faure April 17. In 

 the Dominican Republic, however, it does not appear to range to such 

 high elevations. Neither Abbott nor Wetmore found it near 

 Constanza, and Kaempfer does not report it above TOO meters. 

 Abbott secured two at Jarabacoa October 12, 1916, and Wetmore 

 recorded the species as common along the Rio Camii near La Vega 

 but not among the hills above. 



Montbeillard, writing in 1775, gives some account of the habits 

 of this species, probably from notes furnished by Deshayes, saying 

 among other things that the stomach is muscular, and is filled ordi- 

 narily with scarabaeids and other insects. At Sanchez Christy saw 

 them visiting nests of the palm-chat to rob them of their eggs. The 

 birds feed on the ground where this is open, walking about in pairs 

 or in little groups. Albino individuals seem to be fairly common in 

 this species and attract the attention usual with " white blackbirds," 



