i89a.J Scott on ihe Birds of yamatca. 121 



Qiiail and other ground-nesting birds, but they (the Qiiail) are not ex- 

 terminated, for I saw five Qiiail at Halfway Tree three weeks ago." 

 These are the only personal records I was able to obtain, and one is of a 

 negative nature and the other two support the story of their destruction 

 by the mongoose. ]n the letter referred to Mr. Espent, in answer to 

 mv question as to where and how the mongoose was introduced, says, 

 "I got nine, four females and five males on the 9th of March, 1873; 

 others arrived subsequently, but I don't know how many. Mr. Morris 

 in a pamphlet he wrote said he thought the entire mongoose popula- 

 tion of Jamaica was due to my nine." From this it is apparent that 

 coincident with the introduction of a few individuals of the mongoose 

 began the disappearance of the Quail and that now, in a period of less 

 than twentv years from the date of the introduction of a few individuals 

 of the mongoose, the Qiiail, formerly very abundant, are practically ex- 

 terminated from the island and no longer can be considered as a part 

 of the bird fauna of the region. 



The following notes are quoted from Mr. Taylor's manuscript records: 



" The once abundant Qiiail has become so rare that by many it is re 

 garded as extinct. It still exists in a very few exceptionally favorable lo- 

 calities, and it is not unreasonable to believe that from these, also, it will 

 ere long be extirpated. That the evil is directlj' traceable to the mongoose 

 there can be but little doubt, as prior to the introduction of this animal 

 Quail were common even in the immediate vicinity of Kingston. The 

 habit of depositing single eggs here and there appears to be common to 

 this genus. Several eggs have been thus found, and I have taken one 

 from the bare ground at the roots of a tree in a wood near which the 

 birds were calling. It must have been lying some time, as it was quite 

 discolored where it had rested on the decaying leaves, etc." 



99. Numida meleagris Linn. Guinea-fowl. — This is also an intro- 

 duced species which I have no personal knowledge of, save that I was 

 told that they had once been common and now were almost unknown 

 on the island. According to Gosse's account, written in 1847 (Birds of 

 Jamaica, p. 325), " it was abundant in Jamaica as a wild bird, 150 years 

 ago, for Falconer mentions it among the wild game in his amusing ' Ad- 

 ventures.' I shall confine myself to a few notes of its present habits 



The Guinea-fowl makes itself too familiar to the settlers by its depre 

 dations in the provision grounds. In the cooler months of the year, they 

 come in numerous coveys from the woods, and scattering themselves in 

 the grounds at early dawn, scratch up the yams and cocoes." The ac- 

 count goes on to tell of the depredations caused by the great numbers of 

 these birds, and various methods of getting rid of them are described and 

 others suggested. 



In contrast to all this I now quote from Mr. Taylor 's manuscript notes 

 recently sent to me from Jamaica: "Like the Qiiail this bird has de- 

 creased in numbers sadly, and from the same cause apparently. The 



16 



