i 



THE BIRDS OF ANDROS ISLAND, BAHAMAS 57 



must have been several hundred, males, females, and young, and they kept up a 

 constant chorus of hoarse chirps, screams, and gurgling "okralees" until quite a 

 while after the sun had set. 



29. Pitangus bahamensis Bryant. Bahama Kingbird. "Fighter." — Not 

 uncommon in many parts of the island. I have nothing to add to Dr. Bryant's 

 account of its habits,^ except that in the stomach of one some fruits of the gum elemi 

 were found, showing that its diet was not entirely insectivorous. 



30. Blacicus bahamensis Bryant. Bahaman Wood Pewee. — This small 

 species, of which Dr. Bryant says he only saw three specimens, all in the month of 

 March, we found common on the island, not only in the coppet, but also in the pine- 

 yard, and even occasionally in the swashes. At one of our stopping places two or 

 three were always to be seen flying about near the house. They were very fear- 

 less, and several times flew so close as to touch us. One seemed to be particularly 

 tame and would fly in at the door or window or about our heads with perfect un- 

 concern. He had several favorite perches about the house, on one or another of 

 which he was to be found at any time of day, cocking his little head from side to 

 side, in wait for unwary flies. 



31. Myiarchis lucaysiensis Bryant. Rufous -tailed Flycatcher. — Not as abun- 

 dant as the preceding species, but quite often noted, especially in the northern part 

 of the island. Seven specimens were collected, all of which were males. 



[The series of seven specimens agrees with one of Bryant's original specimens 

 in the Lawrence Collection at the American Museum of Natural History, and 

 differs from a small series of M. sagrce in being much larger, with the bill narrower, 

 and in lacking the strong yellow suffusion of the lower abdomen, crissum, and 

 axillaries, which in M. lucaysiensis are either nearly pure white or only faintly 

 tinged with pale yellow. It is apparently a strongly marked form. — J. A. A.] 



*32. Tyrannus dominicensis Gwe^. Gray Kingbird. "Fighter." — Quite com- 

 mon on the island, but most abundant near the coast. On May 31 we found 

 a nest of this species in a small mangrove between tide marks. We had often 

 seen similar nests before, but could not be certain what bird had made them. The 

 nest was composed of small sticks rather compactly arranged. It was about nine 

 inches in diameter and four or five inches in depth. In the center was the cup, 

 about three inches in diameter and two or three deep, very neatly lined with a fiber 

 from some palm, probably from the spathe of the cocoanut palm. While exam- 

 ining the nest, the old birds flew from the shore and swooped over us, much 

 agitated. There were no eggs. On June 19 another nest was found in a man- 

 grove on the west side of the island. This time I shot both birds and secured 

 the nest and the one egg it contained. The latter was ovate in shape, 1.94 inches 

 long, and .70 wide; white with a few small brownish and lavender spots and 

 blotches, mostly near the larger end. It is stated that in Jamaica the nest of this 

 bird "is seldom found in any other tree than that of the palm kind." ^ In Florida, 

 however, it builds in the same situations as in the Bahamas. We found it a rather 



1 Proc. Bost. See. Nat. Hist., Vol. VII, p. 108. 



^ Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, "North American Birds," Vol. II, p. 322. 



