338 Ur. C. Chvkty—FielcL Notes 



dilating tliese syllables in a sepulchral voice wlieu surprised 

 M'liile feeding in the dark and silent mangrove-swamps, 

 was vei'y common up the rivers Yuna and Baracota, at 

 the head of Samana Bay. The natives shoot them to eat, 

 but the flesh to my mind has a disagreeable flavour. 



Of all fliglit-shootiug that I have experienced I think the 

 White Ibis affords the best. Several times while at Sanchez 

 I rowed over with two companions, and a native boy to act 

 as retriever, to one of the mouths of the Yuna, reaching there 

 just before dusk. As soon as we had chosen a partly-con- 

 cealed place for the boat, where we could command a view 

 of open water on both sides of us, so as not to lose any birds 

 in the mangrove-bushes, the Kokos and Ducks began to come 

 over in small parties to feed on the mud, affording us some 

 splendid shooting, the Kokos flying slowly and silently, the 

 Ducks swiftly and whistling. In the half-hour before dark- 

 ness set in we often had secured 10 or 15 Ducks and perhaps 

 30 or 40 Ibises, besides other birds. 



A young male I skinned on Jan, 28th measured — length 

 25^ inches, stretch 30^. 



-L 47. Tantall's loculator. 



This species was not common; but I gathered from the 

 natives and others that there were always a few to be seen 

 in the morass at the mouth of the Yuna. 



At the end of June, while on a shooting expedition in this 

 morasSj I saw five of these birds about half a mile off" perched 

 on a tree covered with matted creepers. They very soon 

 rose, and rather to my surprise circled high up into the air. 

 We several times during that day saw single birds, and once 

 I obtained a long shot at one flying over, but without result. 

 The boatmen called them the " Faisan.^-" What the word 

 meant they could not tell me; but it seemed to have some 

 connection -with the bare vulture-like head and neck of the 

 bird. 



48. Ardea c^rulea. 



(Cory, op. cit. p. 154.) 



Ihis is by far the commonest of all the Ardea that I met 



