Vol. XXII 

 1905 



G. M. Allen, Summer Birds in the Bahamas. I2Q 



times we saw what seemed to be scattered flocks feeding on the ground 

 or among the bushes, and on Jul/ 26th we heard several of them singing 

 softly among the open pine woods. Mr. Bryant also secured a specimen 

 at Andros. It has less white in the outer tail feathers than our New 

 Providence specimen. 



50. Spindalis zena townsendi Ridgway. Townsend's Spindalis. — 

 This race is characteristic of the large islands of the northern Bahamas, 

 and is strikingly different from the more southern zena by reason of its 

 olive-green back. So far as at present known, it is found only on Great 

 Abaco (tvpe locality), Little Abaco, and Great Bahama. The only 

 examples we met with were two specimens taken at Great Bahama among 

 the thick undergrowth of the pine woods. The cays seem not to offer 

 any attractions for this bird. 



51. Vireo calidris barbatulus (Cab.). Black-whiskered Vireo. — 

 This vireo is a bird of the more open tree growth, particularly in the 

 neighborhood of cultivated lands. We met with it not infrequently on 

 New Providence and Abaco, but saw none on Great Bahama, from which 

 island it has not yet been reported. Its absence there is doubtless due to 

 a lack of suitable tree growth, at least in the portions hitherto visited. 

 The extensive pine forests seem to be wholly avoided by it. The song is 

 somewhat similar to that of the Red-eyed Vireo, but less varied, almost a 

 monotone, delivered in a quiet apathetic way from some hidden perch. 

 On Elbow Cay, July 4, we found a nest of this bird swung from the 

 slender fork of a small tree at some six feet from the ground. The nest 

 contained a single egg of the usual vireo type, and appeared to be quite 

 fresh. We also found this species on several of the larger cays where 

 there were tall bushes, as at Stranger Cay. 



52. Vireo crassirostris (Bryant). Thick-billed Vireo. — This species 

 was the more conspicuous of the two vireos observed and was found on 

 all the large islands and on most of the cays of any size. Its explosive 

 little song was heard frequently during most of July and at times I was 

 able to observe the singer sitting quite motionless on some small branch 

 usually but a few feet from the ground. On the outer cays a few pairs 

 were found here and there in the dense tangled growth of vines and small 

 bushes which the Black-whiskered species generally avoids. We saw no 

 nests, but full grown young were not uncommon. This species was 

 noticeably tamer than the Black-whiskered, and it was a simple matter to 

 approach a singing bird very closely for the cracking of twigs or stirring 

 of branches seemed not to alarm it in the least. 



53. Callichelidon cyaneoviridis (Bryant). Bahama Swallow. — At 

 Nassau there was a small colony of these swallows about the Colonial 

 Hotel. A few were to be seen at almost all hours of the day flying about 

 the eaves or resting on the shelf-like cornice. We were unable to dis- 

 cover if the birds were breeding, but they seemed to use the hotel as a 

 rendezvous. At Hurricane Hole, Great Abaco, on July 22, a flock of a 

 dozen or more was watched for a while, flying back and forth about the 



