On the Birds of Margarita Island, Venezuela. 5417 
XXX.—On the Birds of Margarita Island, Venezuela. 
By Percy R. Lows, B.A., M.B., &c. 
I wave thought it worth while to place on record the 
birds which I have observed during two flying visits to this 
island: once in January 1904, when Dr. Bowdler Sharpe 
and I made a small collection; and again in March 1906, 
when I obtained a somewhat larger number. Small though 
the series necessarily was, it is interesting as being the 
first to arrive in England from this island and as con- 
taining so many examples which differ more or less from 
the mainland forms. The specimens which we collected are 
referable to fifty species. 
Two American naturalists (Lieut. Robinson and Mr. Austin 
H. Clark) have previously recorded the results of their 
observations and collections in Margarita (see Proc. U.S. 
Nat. Mus. vol. xviii. pp. 649-685, and ‘The Auk,’ vol. xix. 
No. 3, pp. 258-267). 
We arrived off the island (on our first visit) on Jan. 6, 
1904, in the steam yacht ‘ Emerald’ (the first turbine yacht, 
by the way, to cross the Atlantic), and it was due to the 
kindness and hospitality of Sir Frederic Johnstone and 
Lady Wilton that we were lucky enough to have such an 
expert in bird-lore as Dr. Sharpe with us. 
After a little difficulty in deciding the question as to our 
proper objective, owing to the confusion of names on the 
chart and in the sailing-directions, we at length dropped our 
anchor off Porlemar, about a mile and a half from the shore. 
This rather shabby and squalid collection of adobe houses 
and mud-and-wattle huts does duty as the only port of 
Margarita. A small fleet of pearl-fishing boats anchored in 
the roadstead was about the only evidence of industry or 
activity apparent. 
Nifo, one of Christopher Columbus’s lieutenants, came here 
in 1499, also in search of the pearls, and was the first person 
from the Old World to land on the island. 
Seen from our anchorage, Margarita, although possessing 
a certain charm in virtue of its wild appearance, was not 
