NO. 17 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I916 39 



billed Tody {Todies angiistirostris) were obtained near Constanza, 

 where it replaces the ordinary Tody {T. sithiilatits) of the lower 

 country. A very rare siskin (Loximitris doininiccnsis) , peculiar to 

 the island and hitherto represented in the Museum only by the tyi)e 

 of the species, was foiuid at E\ Rio. 



One of the commonest and most conspicuous birds, and one 

 restricted to the island, is the Palm Chat {Ditltis doiiiinicus), sole 

 member of the family Dulidcne, whose systematic position is in doubt. 

 It is a species of peculiar habits and traits ; its manner of nestinj;, 

 for example, is quite unlike that of any other known American bird. 

 The members of a colony (these birds are gres^arious) construct a 

 large mass of sticks and .small twigs, within which they build their 

 nests. Dr. Abbott collected skeletons and specimens in alcohol, to 

 serve as a basis for further investig'ations into the affinities of the 

 family. 



The series of birds totalled about two hundred and fifty specimens, 

 of fifty or more sjiecies, over thirty of which are peculiar to the 

 island. The indigenous species of this island have long- constituted 

 the Museum's chief desiderata among- the birds of the West Indies, 

 hence Dr. Abbott's collection has proved of the greatest interest, 

 aside from the special discoveries mentioned above. 



CiiAS. W. Richmond. 



DREDGING FOR MARINE INVERTEBRATES OFF THE FLORIDA 



KEYS 

 In May 1916, Mr. John B. Henderson, a regent of the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, conducted a series of dredgings from his yacht 

 Eolis off Key West, bdorida. Owing to exceptionally good weather 

 conditions and to the fact that the (iulf Stream had receded much 

 farther oft' shore than is usual, the party was enabled to carry on 

 most successful operations upon the I^ourtales Plateau. This is a 

 strip of rocky bottom off the Florida Keys extending some forty or 

 fifty miles and lying between the dei)ths of 100 to 200 fathoms. It 

 is one of the richest localities in American waters with a fauna 

 peculiarly its own. Owing- to the great difficulty of dredg:ing- over 

 the rocky floor swept by the maximum current of the Gulf Stream, 

 but little attempt has been made to explore it since the work done 

 there by Pourtales, fifty years ago. The material collected covers 

 all groups of marine invertebrates. 



COLLECTING IN WESTERN CUBA 

 In the last few years, numerous collecting trips to western Cuba 

 have been made by Mr. Henderson, usually accompanied bv some 



