Field-Nates on the Birds of San Domingo. 317 



kept alive some days while encamped. They made a plaintive 

 whistling noise, and when turned out fed all round the hut, 

 and returned towards dusk, when we whistled for them ; 

 they became quite tame. 



XXV — Field-Notes on the Birds of the Island of San 

 Domingo. By Dr. Cuthbert Christy. 



At the beginning of January, 1895, I landed at the famous 

 old city of Santo Domingo, the capital of San Domingo, and, 

 after spending a day and a half among the picturesque ruins 

 of old houses and fortifications and other places of interest, 

 steamed away for Sanchez, where we arrived a day and a half 

 later. This little town of ten years^ growth (Las Caiiitas of 

 the old maps) is situated at the east end of San Domingo, 

 at the head of Samana Bay. It is the port and the head- 

 quarters of the Samana and Santiago Railway Company, 

 which runs west as far as La Vega, a distance of about 70 

 miles. From these two points, Sanchez and La Vega, all 

 my collections were made. I left the island again in July, 

 1895, returning home via New York. 



The port of Sanchez stands in a very healthy situation 

 at the foot of a densely-wooded range of hills which 

 bounds Samana Bay on the north, and continues along the 

 north of the island. The south shore of the bay is a mass 

 of honeycombed white coral rocks, forming picturesque 

 inlets and islands densely covered with trees and matted 

 vegetation, but singularly devoid of bird-life, except Pelicans 

 and some of the Ardeidse, which resort to the islands to 

 breed. 



At the head of the bay, commencing a mile or so to the 

 west of Sanchez, is a vast morass, some 20 square miles in 

 extent, really the delta of the river Yuna, which drains the 

 great " Vega Heal " of Columbus. In this morass the orni- 

 thologist finds a rich avifauna, and I look back with feelings 

 of pleasure to the several excursions I made into it. It can, 



