340 Dr. C. Christy— Field-Nutes 



river. There were about 16 nests in the trees and on the 

 mangrove-bushes, many of them with eggs, which he described 

 as blue. Those which were destined for me got broken in 

 transit. 



-rSO. Ardea egretta. Locally " Galca-real " or " Royal 

 Heron.^^ 



A common bird in the Yuna swamp, but observed nowJiere 

 else. It was not very easy to approach, but I shot several 

 specimens with No. 4 shot at long distances. It is really 

 easier to bring down than almost any other large bird, for 

 if one single shot so much as touches the wing-bones they 

 splinter at once, being large thin tubes of compact bone filled 

 with air. Hence the graceful flight of the bird, its buoyancy 

 enabling it to settle slowly and easily, and when rising one 

 beat of its wings makes it bounce into the air like a toy- 

 balloon. 



The usual attitude of this bird is markedly rectangular, 

 and has none of the beautiful curves of neck and body 

 invariably shown in plates and stuffed specimens. It stands 

 with its body almost upright, its long thin neck rising as 

 straight as a stick perpendicularly from the shoulders, and 

 its head and long beak exactly at right angles to its neck. 

 It is impossible for it to bend its neck in graceful curves, 

 for each individual cervical vertebra is 2 inches or more long. 

 The pectoral skeleton is surprisingly small and fragile for 

 the size of the bird. The anterior border of the sternum is 

 very deeply notched to receive a coil of the trachea, and 

 the furcula is jointed closely to the sternum, evidently so 

 that it should not press upon the coil of trachea above. I 

 do not remember to have heard this species make any noise. 



It seemed always to feed alone, and not in company like 

 A. ccerulea. 



The Galea breeds early, for on Feb. 18 I made a trip to 

 the Baracota, another river which falls into the head of 

 Samana Bay, on board the steam-tug belonging to the 

 Railway Company. On coming out of the mouth of the 

 river we had to hug the south shore of the bay, and passed 



