Vol. XX 

 •903 



I Clark, Habits 0/ Certain Venezuelan Birds. 20*? 



spur of the central mcAintain just south of El Valle, there was a 

 large cave, consisting of a spacious chamber, with an entrance 

 about ten feet in diameter, and two shafts, one leading directly up 

 through the roof, and the other slanting. The only inhabitants 

 were a number of small bats (belonging to the genera Feropteryx, 

 Micronycieris, and Glossophaga). The whole floor was covered 

 with the skeletons of small birds and mammals, the larger part 

 being those of the small doves. I recognized also Bonaparte's 

 woodpecker among them, and in addition the remains of a murine 

 opossum (? Marmosa robinsoni Bangs) and some small rodent. 

 The question arose, what brought them there ? The cave was 

 high above any place where these forms could be found commonly, 

 if at all,^ and no birds but vultures were seen in the vicinity ; 

 neither were there any traces of owls having lived here. The 

 remains must have been accumulating for many years, as in some 

 places they were over an inch deep, and the ground in front of the 

 cave was strewn with them. 



In spite of the work done in this locality by Capt. Robinson and 

 myself, there are still several species on the island which neither 

 of us obtained ; and it is to be hoped that, in the near future, some- 

 one will visit Margarita and make a much more complete list than 

 we have been able to do. 



