332 Dr. C. Christy— Field-Notes 



blue colour, and had a thin, rough, chalky shell. The habits 

 and manner of this bird are very peculiar, and its cry is most 

 distinctive, reminding one of the mew of a cat or a Common 

 Buzzard [Buteo vulgaris). 



32. Ceryle alcyon. Locally '•' Rejongo." 



(Cory, op. cit. p. 103.) 



This was a familiar bird during June along the Yuna and 

 in the creeks amongst the mangroves at the head of Samana 

 Bay. When out shooting Ibis or Duck I was often startled 

 by its loud rattling scream. The stomach of one (length 

 12^ inches, stretch 20|) shot on March 7th was full of the 

 remains of small crabs. 



4-33. TODUS SUBULATUS. 



(Cory, op. cit. p. 105.) 



A common and most grotesque-looking little bird, peculiar 

 to the island, and locally called by the natives '' Barrancoli,^^ 

 but by the negroes " Robin Redbreast,^' 



At first sight it resembles a small European Kingfisher, 

 and, in fact, in structure and mode of life it is almost identical 

 with the Kingfishers, except that it feeds on insects instead 

 of fish. I have often noticed that it is invariably seen or 

 heard in the immediate vicinity of water, and, like the King- 

 fisher also, it breeds in a hole dug by its own energies in 

 some soft bank at the side of a stream or roadway. 



In walking through the forest I often stopped to identify this 

 little creature, and to listen to its most extraordinary noises. 



When first approached it makes a noise easily mistaken 

 for the grunting of some pigs, which are common in the 

 forest, and at intervals snapping its enormous ungainly bill, 

 loud enough to be heard some distance off. Its commonest 

 note is a loud chirping, not unlike the early spring note of 

 our Chaffinch, with one or two variations, getting louder and 

 more excited as one remains, and yet all the time sitting 

 stock-still on a branch with its feathers puffed out, its head 

 sunk between its shoulders, its beak stuck up in fro}it 

 looking far too heavy for it, and its back so exactly the 

 colour of the surrounding foliage that it is most difficult at 

 first to see it. 



