i,Si;i.| Scott on tlic Hinh of ydtmn'ro . 35 S 



Nos. 10570 to 10573 iiicliisi\'c. Throe were feiiKiles and one a male. The 

 females all appeared aViout to breed, but showed considerable individual 

 variation in this respect In one the egg jolk was almost or quite developed 

 and tiie first eg^ would have been laid in a week at latest. The other two 

 would Iiave bred in the next four or five weeks. These four birds were all in 

 full plumage. Manj' individuals were seen beside those thatwere secured, 

 and the birds were abundant at this point, though of course local in distri- 

 bution. 



From Mr. Ta\lor's notes I add the following : 'T have never seen this 

 species associating with the larger or Pied-billed Grebe, nor have I ever 

 noted it on any waters, save those of the 'ponds' that occur on nearly all 

 cattle 'pens.' On many of these miniature lakes, however, they are 

 numerous, nesting among the rushes and rank growth at the margins. 

 Three eggs in my possession were taken in the month of September, 

 18S8, from a pond at 'New Works,' a pen near Linstead in St. Cath- 

 erine." 



3. ^strelata caribbaea ( C« r^'r). Jamaica Petrel. Blue Mountain 

 Duck. Dry Land Booby. — Dr. E. N. Bancroft in the 'Zoological Jour- 

 nal' (Vol. V, 1828, pp. 80, 81) speaks at some length of a bird, evidently a 

 Petrel of some kind. There is no attempt at a description and no figure is 

 given. He suggests at the end of his remarks that if it should be found to be 

 a new species, the naine Proccllaria Jamaicensis be applied to it. Though 

 this name has been used by many authors in dealing with the species 

 under discussion, it is clearly nomen nudtim, and as such should be dis- 

 pensed with. Dr. Alexander Carte in Proceedings of the London Zoo- 

 logical Society for 1866 (pp. 93-95) figures and carefully describes under 

 the name oi Pterodroina caribbiPa the bird under consideration. This 

 appears to be the first recognizable diagnosis. The types were two birds 

 sent to the Royal Dublin Society by Mr. W. T. March, and the following 

 notes were sent by the saine gentleman to Dr. Alexander Carte, and are 

 quoted in the paper above cited. 



"It is a night-bird, living in burrows in the tnarly clefts of the moun- 

 tains at the east and northeast end of the island. 



"The burrows form a gallery 6 to 10 feet long, terminating in a chamber 

 sufficiently commodious to accommodate the pair; from this they sally 

 forth at night, flying over the sea in search of food (fishes), returning 

 before dawn. 



"It is often seen on moonlight nights and at sunrise running about the 

 neighborhood of its domicile, and sometimes crossing the road regardless 

 of the laborers going to their work. I know nothing of its nidification. 



"The first specimen recorded was obtained by the late George Atkinson. 

 The second by Sir Henry Barkly. The next, a pair,* were sent by me to 

 the Royal Dublin Society." 



The small number of individuals extant in collections is a commentary 

 on its rarity, or perhaps on the difliculty of obtaining a bird that was 

 common at points on the Island of Jamaica in very recent times. 



* The types. 



