BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 1 35 



Andros, Abaco, and Grand Bahama, but did not meet with it else- 

 where. He writes : " I was for a long while unable to explain satis- 

 factorily to myself the cause of their absence from Nassau, as in the 

 United States they are generally very abundant in the neighborhood 

 of the large Southern cities, as Charleston and Savannah, for instance. 

 This fact, I now think, is owing to their inability to procure food at 

 New Providence. All the animals slauohtered there are literally 

 devoured by the blacks; not a morsel, even to the entrails, is thrown 

 away as offal, so that the slaughter-houses, which at Savannah are 

 their principal feeding-places, do not at Nassau offer them a mouth- 

 ful of food. The number of domestic animals also running at large 

 on the island is so small, that the carcasses of those dying by disease 

 or accident would only afford them an occasional supply ; and the 

 native fauna is so meagre that it is unnecessary to take it into con- 

 sideration. I passed several days at Grassy Creek, near the south- 

 ern extremity of Andros Island. This is one of the places where the 

 Black-mouthed Helmet {Cass/s Madagascariensis\ of which cameos 

 are made, is procured. The shells, after being brought on shore, 

 are placed on scaffolds with the mouth downwards, in order that 

 after the deatli of the animal it may fall out of its own' weight. 

 These scaffolds are constantly attended by the Buzzards, and they 

 can frecjuently be seen tugging at the protruding animal, much to 

 the displeasure of the fishermen, as the birds frequently knock down 

 the shells, and sometimes drag them into the bushes out of sight. 

 The name given to this bird by the inhabitants is 'John Crow,' 

 the same as in Jamaica, according to Gosse. I examined several 



