loo GuNDLACH Oil somc Cuban Birds. [Apni 



Elena de Faz, wife of Don Carlos Booth, my first protector in 

 this island. 



The locality mentioned was afterwards destroyed by a railroad, 

 and I found no more of this little bird at Cardenas. Never have 

 I observed the species in other places in the western part of this 

 island, except in a key near Cardenas. In 1S57 I visited the city 

 of Santiago de Cuba in the eastern part of this island, and also in 

 the years from 1SS5 to iSSS. There the species is common in 

 the spring. A friend who resides in Puerto-Principe (the middle 

 part of the island) has observed the species there, and like me 

 only during the months of January to end of April. In May it 

 disjppears, but I have observed later single specimens in the inte- 

 rior of the island. It seems that they breed there. 



The male has a fine song. This species flies before the flowers 

 in a horizontal direction like moths (sphinges), not like Chlo- 

 rcstcs riccordi with an inclined body and moving his long 

 forked tail. 



My observations seem to prove that the males go through two 

 moults in every year. I have noticed that young males with the 

 plumage similar to that of the female have sometimes no red, 

 perfect feathers on the throat. These may be young ones one 

 year of age. Other specimens have perfectly grown red feathers 

 on the head and throat, but not the rufl' of elongated feathers. 

 The tail is emarginated and without the white spots. These are 

 perhaps males of two years of age ; and others with the entirely 

 perfect plumage are probably very old males. I will continue 

 my observations. 



In Vol. VI, p. 46, of 'The Auk' is an article entitled "Remarks 

 upon abnormal coloring of plumage observed in several species 

 of birds," by George N. Lawrence. The principal object of 

 these remarks was a specimen of Psittactis with uniform pale 

 blue plumage, described in 1S62 (Ann. Lye. of Nat. Hist., 

 Vol. VII, p. 475) as a new species from Panama under the 

 name of Psittacns S7ibccFruleus Lawr., figured afterwards by 

 Dr. Otto Finsch of the Bremen Museum in 1865 from the orig- 

 inal specimen. In 1S71 (Ibis, p. 94) Mr. Salvin considers the 

 specimen as an accidental variety of the B. tovi. 



I have noticed with great interest the explanation given by 

 Mr. LawM'ence, and I have noticed two similar cases of blue-col- 

 ored Chrysotis leiicocephaliis Linn. I am convinced that Mr. 

 Lawrence has good reasons for his opinion. In the bleu-colorcd 



