on the Birds of San Domingo. 331 



-f^ 30. Saurothera dominicexsis. 



(Cory^ op. cit. p. 98.) 



Locally " Pajaro bobo '^ or the ''Silly bird/^ apparently 

 because, whea one stops to observe it, the bird, instead of 

 flying away, remains in the bush or tree and can be easily 

 killed. 



It is another species peculiar to the island and common 

 wlierever I went. The natives say it feeds on lizards ; but 

 the stomachs of both specimens which I skinned (males, on 

 April 4) were full of big green grasshoppers. 



Its loud cry is easily confused at first with that of the 

 "Boojaro^^ {(Edicnemus dominice^isis) ; but sometimes in 

 the mango- trees it makes a deep croaking noise. 



-31. Crotophagaani. Locally ^^Hoodeo," ''Black Witch/' 



(Cory, op. cit. p. 100.) 



Seen once or twice at Sanchez, but very common at La 

 Vega, usually in flocks of 10 or 12 in the clearings where 

 cattle were feeding. There were no cattle at Sanchez. The 

 peculiar knife- blade shape of the upper mandible in this bird, 

 I think, must be to enable it to separate the small blades of 

 grass and so hunt more easily for beetles and insects. The 

 stomach of a female (length 14 inches, stretch 16^) which 

 I shot at La Vega on May 6 was full of insects, beetles, 

 and grasshoppers. All the specimens I handled had a most 

 abominable smell, both in life and even after the skin was 

 prepared. 



In two large trees standing in a small savanna near a 

 railway station on the line to La Vega, I was shown two 

 large nests built of sticks, which were said to have belonged 

 to this species. The native who pointed them out to me 

 said they were years old and had been forsaken on account 

 of the railway being so near. He also assured me that each 

 nest belonged to quite a number of birds, which I find now 

 may have been the case. 



Some eggs, said to have been those of the Black Witch, were 

 sent to me early in July at La Vega. They were large, I 

 thought, for the size of the bird, nearly round, of a greenish- 



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