﻿312 Mr. E. Hartert on the Birds of 



in Curasao and Bonaire. It is equally common on both 

 these islands, and is an inhabitant of open bushy places, as 

 well as of mangroves and other trees. My series shows a 

 very great variation. The adult males are bright yellow 

 beneath ; the breast, and sometimes the sides of the body, 

 streaked with rufous ; and the top of the head has a large 

 patch of chestnut-brown. Sometimes the entire top of the 

 head is covered with this colour, sometimes it forms a horse- 

 shoe, sometimes it is developed only on the forehead and over 

 the eyes. It seems that as the bird advances in age the 

 chestnut on the head and the striations on the lower parts 

 are more developed. Quite young birds have no streaks on 

 the breast and no chestnut on the crown. The females, as a 

 rule, have no chestnut on the head nor streaks beneath, but 

 sometimes indications of the stripes and of the chestnut crown 

 are visible, and in some specimens the top of the head is 

 spotted with chestnut and the streaks on the breast are well 

 developed, although not so strongly as in the adult males. 



This species is very closely allied to Dendrmca capitalis, 

 Lawr., from Barbados, but the chestnut on the crown is 

 generally lighter, and the streaks on the breast are some- 

 what broader and not so well defined. Some specimens, 

 however, run very close to those from Barbados. 



This bird is very familiar, and known under the name of 

 " Para de misa," which means " mass-bird," and often 

 lives with great tameness in the vicinity of houses. Its 

 song is a melodious warbling, soft and short, chiefly heard 

 in the early morning. The nest is placed on the outer twigs 

 of bushes, and is a tiny, very deep cup-shaped structure, 

 composed of thin grasses interwoven with spider-webs, 

 feathers, and hairs. I found some nests at the end of July, 

 but did not get any eggs. 



3. Certhiola uropygialis (Berl.). 



The nearest ally of this species is not C. barbadensis, 

 as surmised by H. von Berlepsch (J. f. O. 1892, p. 77), but 

 C. newtoni, from St. Croix, and C. sancti-thomce. Berlepsclr's 



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