^°' 19^3^ ] Bowmsu, Bh-ds of Porto Rico. I^ 



bore a general resemblance to nests of tbe Bronzed Grackle, though 

 rather less bulky. Tlie nesting season seems to begin the last week of 

 May or the first of June. The birds have a great variety of notes, gener- 

 ally resembling those of other grackles. Near Maj'aguez, Oct. 2, 1500, I 

 observed a tiock of about a dozen of these birds evidently feeding on 

 vermin in the hair of a cow. She stood quietly, apparently realizing 

 their purpose, and the\' clambered over her belly, legs, udder and teats 

 and climbed up and down her tail as though it were a weed-stalk. After 

 standing for some time she moved along and the grackles followed her. 



62. Spermestes cucullatus. — This intioduced species is locally and sea- 

 sonally common. Oct. 9, 1901, at Mayaguez, 1 shot a female, and near 

 the same spot I shot a male, on the 21st. Stomachs contained grass, weed 

 seeds and fine grit. The habits of this and the next species are strikingly 

 suggestive of those of the American Goldfinch, particularly the flight 

 and notes of the next. 



63. Sporseginthus melpoda. This exotic is abundant in some of the 

 marshy tracts in the vicinity of Mayaguez and Cabo Rojo Lighthouse. I 

 have never found them far froih these wet tracts. Birds collected May 23 

 and 30 showed indications that they were breeding at the time. Thev 

 undoubtedly nest among the flags and rank growth in the marshes, but 

 these places are so difficult of investigation that I failed to find a nest. 



64. Ammodramus savannarum. Wkst Ixdian Gi^a.sshoim-eiv vSpar- 

 Row. — P\Tirly common in suitable localities. I collected them near San 

 Juan, Aguadilla, and Mayaguez, and a nest and eggs from a p;;sture 

 studded with dwarf bushes, close to San Juan Bay. The nest was in a 

 slight depression in a clump of v\ ire grass, in a small space clear of bushes, 

 and was composed entirely of fine grasses. ]t w as \erv neat, domed over, 

 growing grasses being woven into the sides, and was well concealed. It 

 measured 3.75 X 2.00 inches in diameter and 3.00 X --oo inches in depth.. 

 It contained three well incubated eggs, not distinguishable from those of 

 A. s. pdsseriinis. Another set taken at Aguadilla, June 16, 1900, consisted 

 of three fiesh eggs. The nest was built of bits of grass, finer ones being 

 used for lining ; it was partially domed and protected by a clump of grass 

 and situated in a slight hollow in an open field. The bird in ajipearance 

 and habits closely reseinbles A. s. passerinus. 



65. Loxigilla portoricensis. Porto Rico Grosbeak.— I found this 

 Grosbeak very common in the vicinity of San Juan, Mayaguez, Aguadilla 

 and Las Marias. The males have a song very much like that of the Song 

 Sparrows, but exaggerated. They also have call whistles of several notes 

 each, one of which, a high-pitched note repeated three times rapidly, 

 is easily imitated. Some of their notes are strikingly like notes of the 

 Cardinal. The bird is somewhat shy and objects to too close observation, 

 usually keeping well concealed, and flying away into the bushes when 

 approached. Its food consists chiefly of fruit and seeds of various kinds. 



June 15, 1900, I found a nest near Aguadilla. Jt was in a ravine 

 between two of the wooded hills which rise sugar-loaf shaped from the 



