from the West Indies. 557 



bird. The song is nearly always uttered from the top of a 

 tree, and owing to the thick foliage the birds succeed in 

 hiding themselves very securely. 



I obtained seven specimens, two of which are quite 

 immature. A more adult bird has a yellow superciliary 

 stripe, in common with the young. The adult has this stripe 

 pure white. Younger examples have also a more ashy back. 



The Honey-creeper feeds on small insects, which it 

 obtains by pecking a hole in the side of the flowers of 

 Hibiscus and other plants. It extracts the insects with its 

 barbed extensile tongue. 



EUETHIA BICOLOR (Linn.). 



Euetheia bicolor Cory, B. W. I. p. 96. 



This little Finch is common. Its nest is a domed 

 structure placed in the top of a thick bush. I found 

 several and took seven eggs. Three seems to be the full 

 number in a clutch. I shot two examples of this bird in 

 Barbadoes. 



QuiSCALUS FORTIROSTRIS Lawr. 



Quiscalus fortirostris Cory, B. W. I. p. 110. 



This is by far the most abundant bird on the island. 

 Towards evening flocks gather together and repair to the 

 grass in the fields near the town, when they somewhat 

 resemble Starlings in their actions. 



This bird has a variety of notes ; the one most used is a 

 Woodpecker-like laugh. 



As I shall refer to several other species of the genus in the 

 course of this paper, I may as well now describe the curious 

 flight of these birds. The tail is always carried in a peculiar 

 way : it is folded, as it were, down the centre, so that when 

 it is viewed from behind the tips of the rectrices form a V — 

 that is, the central pair are the keel, and the outer pair 

 form the top of the figure. When the bird flies, and wishes 

 to change its course, the tail is (to use a nautical term) " put 

 over " and acts as a rudder. All the members of this genus 

 that I met with had this curious habit, and the birds from 

 Jamaica and Grand Cayman kept their tails in this formation 



