I 80 Scott on the Birds of Jamaica. [~ April 



face marks very bright. Many females taken show this condition to some 

 degree, but this is the only one in a large series indistinguishable from 

 the adult male. 



167. Loxigilla violacea (Liu?/.). Cotton-tree Sparrow. Black 

 Bullfinch. Coffee-bird. — A common species at the points visited, but 

 it seemed more abundant at the lower altitudes than at Stonj' Hill and 

 points higher in the mountains. In a large series before me there are 

 many females quite as brightly colored as the more intense males, and in- 

 distinguishable from that sex in its highest plumage by any external 

 features of color or appearance. Three females taken on February 16 

 were about to lay the first egg. The only song I heard from these birds 

 was a series of rather weak notes, four or five in number, the last given 

 with rather more emphasis than the others. 



168. Loxigilla anoxantha (Gosse). Yellow-backed Finch. — This 

 was a rather common bird at most points visited, though I did not see it 

 at all during my stay at Constant Springs. At Stony Hill it was fairly 

 common, but only a few were observed or taken at Priestman's River. It 

 appears to be a species more common in the hills and higher altitudes 

 than in the lowlands near the sea. I made no notes as to its nesting but 

 Gosse ('Birds of Jamaica,' p. 248) speaks of finding a nest in June. On 

 January 17 on the hills above Priestman's River, altitude 1000 feet, I took 

 a young female (10,440) that apparently had not been long from the nest. 

 Another (10,624) taken near the same locality on January 24 was still 

 younger. 



169. Euphonia Jamaica (Linn.). Blue Quit. — At all points which I 

 visited this was one of the most abundant and conspicuous of the fruit- 

 eating birds. At Stony Hill they were gregarious and were feeding on 

 the mango fruit and the sour sop. I also saw them in large companies in 

 the vicinity of Constant Springs, and perhaps more abundantly at Priest- 

 man's River. They were equally common at all altitudes I visited. 



Gosse ('Birds of Jamaica,' pp. 238-242) gives so detailed an account of 

 the nesting, etc., of this bird that the reader is referred to the work cited. 



170. Spindalis nigricephala (Jameson). Mountain Bullfinch. 

 Orange-bird. Banana-bird. Cashew-bird. — Another gregarious, 

 fruit-eating species, and one of the more common and conspicuous birds 

 of the island. At Stony Hill they were seen almost daily in parties of 

 from three to ten, and more rarely a single individual or a pair. At 

 Priestman's River they were abundant and found in similar small com- 

 panies in the vicinity of any fruit-bearing trees, particularly mango, sour 

 sop, and the like. On January 14 at Priestman's River individuals of 

 both sexes were observed carrying material for nest building. 



171. Piranga erythromelas (Vie/71). Scarlet Tanager. — This is 

 apparently a rare migrant, passing through the island in March. There 

 are no recent records and the reader is referred to Gosse ('Birds of Jama- 

 ica,' p. 235) for greater detail. 



