Vol. XX"j Clark, Habits of Certain Venezuelan Birds. 285 



NOTES ON THE HABITS OF CERTAIN VENEZUELAN 



BIRDS. 



BY AUSTIN H. CLARK. 



In 'The Auk' for July, 1902 (Vol. XIX, pp. 258-267), I 

 published a list of the birds of Margarita Island, Venezuela, based 

 on a collection made by myself in that locality in the summer of 

 1 90 1. During my stay on the island, as well as while at various 

 towns on the mainland, I took copious notes on the habits of the 

 different species, which lack of space prevented my giving, at that 

 time, in as much detail as I would have desired. In view of the 

 fact that so few people ever visit this part of the world, or ever 

 see these birds under the conditions which pertain there, I shall 

 take this opportunity of selecting the most interesting from among 

 them, and giving a brief sketch of their peculiarities, treating them 

 in the order in which they were given in the list. 



The Booby Gannet {Sula sula Linn.) was one of the commonest 

 sea-birds at the time of my visit. The first were observed far 

 out in the Caribbean ; and on nearing the South American coast, 

 little companies of half a dozen or so became rather frequent. 

 But in no place did I see them so abundant as in the channel 

 between Margarita and the mainland, and, at certain times, about 

 Carupano. They seemed to approach the land solely for the 

 purpose of feeding, after which they withdrew to open water. 

 Just oft" Cariipano there was a certain spot to which every day 

 came hundreds of sea-birds of many species to fish. Over one 

 half of this congregation were common Brown Pelicans {Pelfcanus 

 fiiscus Linn.), and most of the rest were these gannets. Overhead 

 soared a score or more Frigate Birds {Frcgata aquila Linn.), while 

 various gulls and terns composed the remainder. All the larger 

 members of this vast flock acted in perfect unison, wheeling about 

 until a sufficient altitude was obtained, all diving with a great 

 splash, then all slowly rising again to repeat the performance. 

 Every now and then a Frigate Bird would come swooping down 

 upon some hapless gull. I was much puzzled, at first, to find a 

 plausible explanation for the fact that, day after day, the birds 

 collected in practically the same spot to feed. The water there 



