^"'- ^^ 1 BowDiSH, Birds of Porto Rico. I C 



1903 J ' -' ^j 



At Aguadilla, June 9, 1900, I took two nests with eggs, from trees grow- 

 ing in small clumps near a house on a cleared plantation. The first nest 

 •contained two eggs, slightly incubated. The nest measured 4.00 X 2.25 

 inches in diameter and 2.25 X -75 inches in depth. It was constructed 

 •<)£ fine vines and tendrils, and placed ten feet from the ground, in 

 an upright fork of a small mango. The second contained three eggs, 

 advanced in incubation. The nest measured 4.00 X 2.13 in diameter and 

 2.25 X i-oo inches in depth. It was composed of fine vines and tendrils, 

 ten feet up in the fork of a small mango tree in a coffee patch near a 

 house. These nests were frail saucer-shaped structures, greatly resem- 

 bling in position and structure typical nests of the Rose-breasted Gros- 

 beak. The eggs were also much like those of that bird. 



71. Progne dominicensis. West Indian Martin. — I found this bird 

 abundant at all points visited (except Decicheo Island), including Vieques 

 and Mona. It apparently nests exclusively about buildings, being seldom 

 «een away from towns during the breeding season, except on the wild 

 island of Mona, where it probably nests in rock crevices near the mouths 

 of the caves. It is migratory. Oct. 13, 1899, I recorded the last one for 

 that year, apparently a young of the season. The first recorded to arrive 

 for 1901 were three noted on Feb. i. On Feb. 5 I wrote : "About 3 p. m. a 

 fine rain commenced, and as it began to increase, the air abo\e the bar- 

 racks was suddenly filled with numljers of Progne domiiiiceiisis^ whirling 

 •and circling in every direction. There must have been hundreds of them. 

 This lasted for some time when they disappeared as suddenly as they had 

 •come, just as the rain increased to a heavy storm." On July 22, 1899, j 



noted, in the city of San Juan, a nest belonging to a pair of these birds, 

 situated in a niche between the window-cornice and roof of a balconv, on 

 the front of a house. As the birds seemed to be carrying food, it doubt- 

 less contained young. In their general appearance, notes and habits, 

 this species closely resembles the Purple Martin. 



72. Petrochelidon fulva. Cuban Cliff Swallow. — Unlike the Mar- 

 tin, the Cliff Swallow has not abandoned its primitive method of breed- 

 ing, and I saw no indication of their nesting in the vicinity of buildings. 

 It also differs from the Martin in that it is apparently not migratory, 

 •seeming to be equally abundant at all seasons. July i-t,, 1900, near Agua- 

 dilla, I found a colony of these birds occupj-ing a small cave in a rocky 

 hill near a road. About fifty or sixty birds were circling about, and in 

 the roof of the cave there were about fifteen or twentv nests. The cave 

 was about twenty feet high and tiie nests inaccessible, but the^- appeared 

 to be less elaborate than those of their American relatives. I intended to 

 visit this cave again with a ladder but circumstances prevented. The 

 stomach of one shot July i contained a great quantity of small beetles. 

 In companj' with about half a dozen of its kind this bird Avas circling 

 about a tree and occasionally alighting in the top branches, doubtless 

 engaged in catching these beetles. In notes, etc., this bird resembles the 

 United States species. 



