120 TRINIDAD. 



persons in the neighbourhood. The White Gavilan is somewhat 

 smaller than the crested ; it is a great destroyer of chickens, as is 

 also the speckled species, which is still smaller. This latter is very 

 fond of snakes ; it always seizes them by the head with the bill, 

 and by the body with the claws, so as neither to be bitten nor in- 

 folded ; the snake, however, sometimes succeeds in enveloping its 

 enemy within its coils, and thus vanquishes it : this may happen 

 even in the air, as I have myself witnessed. The Black Gavilan 

 lives principally on fish. The Fork-tailed Kite, or Ciseaux (Fako 

 turcatus), may be said to be gregarious, as from five to twelve and 

 fifteen are commonly seen together ; they are also migratory, 

 being never seen except during a short interval in the rainy 

 season. 



Passercs. The number of passerinae is very great in Trinidad, 

 but I shall notice a few only. The Tyrants are remarkable for 

 their indomitable courage, and even the Gavilans and Corbeaux 

 yield to their repeated attacks; also, minute and apparently frail 

 as it is, the Humming-bird attacks all other birds, and ultimately 

 succeeds in driving them away from the tree whereon it has built 

 its nest. Our Tanagers are not only conspicuous for their gorgeous 

 plumage, but several of them are excellent warblers ; a wren 

 (Troglodytes vedon) is known here as the Rossignol, or Nightin- 

 gale, on account of its note ; it is very familiar, and frequently 

 builds under the eaves of houses. The Averano, or Campanero 

 (Ootinga variegata), has a very remarkable cry, as being of a 

 purely metallic sound; hence its Spanish appellation oi Campanero, 

 or Bell-ringer, and its equally common name, among the pea- 

 santry, of the Blacksmith. The French call it Capucin, from a 

 number of dark capillary appendages which hang from the throat 

 of the male, and bear some resemblance to a beard. One of our 

 Cassiques has gained the name of the Mocking-bird, which it 

 really deserves, as it imitates the songs of many of the feathered 

 tribes, and even the sounds made by other animals. Several 

 species are gregarious, and one (Qassicus cristatus) particularly 

 so, numbers of the latter constructing their nests close toge- 

 ther ; these are in the form of long cylindrical bags, made of 

 thready fibres, which the birds generally procure from the balisier. 

 The upper extremity of the nest is formed first, the threads being, 

 meanwhile, allowed to remain pendent ; the architect, from within, 

 then draws them up and interweaves them, so as to form a very 



