the Birds of Grand Cayman. 27 



common all over Grand Cayman, particularly among or 

 near mangroves, where it has a way of proclaiming its 

 presence by the curious ringing cry from which it gets 

 its local name " Ching ching/' and by coming nearer and 

 nearer to the observer until it is on a branch close to his 

 head, on the ground at his feet, or by no means infrequently 

 on his outstretched foot if he is sitting still. From this 

 point of vantage it repeats its cry two or three times as a 

 sort of greeting, and then goes about its business. 



It is a decidedly better "mocking bird" than Mimus 

 orpheus, and can give a most realistic imitation of a frog 

 {Hyla septentrionalis) caught by a snake, or perhaps by the 

 bird itself, seeing that it is very fond of frogs as food, though 

 it seems to be practically omnivorous. 



During the winter months it flocks in large numbers, 

 flying from place to place before roosting, just as the 

 Common Starling does. This seems always to be among 

 the mangrove woods, and it is said to nest in colonies in 

 the most inaccessible parts of these, making an open nest 

 of sticks and laying bluish eggs. 



As well as those of Catotrophorus semipalmatus and Sterna 

 a?itillarum, already mentioned, the writer has had under 

 observation nests of the following Grand Cayman birds : — 



Colaptes gundlachi. Melopyrrha taylori. 



Mimus orpheus. Euethia olivacea. 



Vireosylva caymanensis. Spindalis salvini, 



Dendroeca petechia auricapilla. Coereba sharpii. 

 Dendroeca vitellina. 



Colaptes gundlachi is one of the common birds of the 

 island, and, as Mr. Lowe has observed ('Ibis,' 1911, p. 150), 

 is very tame. There cannot be many places in which it is 

 possible to watch a Woodpecker feeding within three feet 

 of the observer, as unconcernedly as if it were a canary in 

 a cage. Its breeding-season is July to August, and a very 

 favourite site for its nest is the stem of a dead Thatch-palm 

 [Thrinax argented). The uppermost two or three feet of 

 one of these, generally about five or six inches in diameter 



