326 Dr. C. Christy— Field-Noies 



forced to the conclusion that the young females were able 

 to sing as well as the old males, and, what is more, quite a 

 different song. I think now that there can be little doubt 

 of this rather extraordinary peculiarity, for upon looking up 

 the subject I find that Maynard, in his ' Birds of Eastern 

 North America,'' mentions the same thing in connection with 

 the Baltimore Oriole, with some still more extraordinary 

 additions ; and in a paper in the ' Field Columbian Museum, 

 Chicago,' vol. i. no. 1, on the '' Ornithology of San Domingo,'' 

 by Mr. George K. Clierrie, he says: — "Males and females 

 are alike in plumage, and both sing;" and he goes on to say, 

 ''One individual that I secured, while but slightly wounded, 

 gave a splendid exhibition of its powers of song, as a result 

 of, or under the influence of, excitement and pain. A native 

 boy I had with me begged to have the bird, and for several 

 hours, while he was carrying it in his hand, the little crea- 

 ture sang almost continuously." As Cassin, Cory, and 

 others seem to have studied the Icteridae pretty closely, it 

 is hardly probable that there can still be two species in San 

 Domingo, although several varieties have been described. 



The following specimens wei'e obtained : — Sanchez, Feb. 12, 

 an adult (length 7j inches) ; Feb. 29, an adult male (length 

 85 inches), in which the testes were small. La Vega, April 17, 

 an immature male in which the beak and feathers on the 

 forehead w^ere caked with some brown stuff, which I took to 

 be the pulp of the cacao-seeds ; May 9, an adult male (length 

 8f inches, stretch II5) ; May 24, an immature female (length 

 8 inches, stretch 10), the one mentioned above ; and on 

 June 4 a young male nestling (length 6j inches, stretch IO5). 



The stomachs in all the specimens I examined were 

 practically empty, which rather surprised me, as I shot 

 them in the act, as I thought, of feeding. 



19. QuiSCALUS NIGER. 



(Cory, op. cit. p. 73.) 



This species, locally "Chinchilling," a name which well 

 describes the note of the bird, which is musical and bell- 

 like. It is peculiar to the island, and, like the American 

 Grackles, is interesting on account of its ability to a})- 



