38 Mr. C. E. Lister on the Birds of St. Vincent. 
As early as July 10th I have seen a nest in course of con- 
struction, while the preceding nest was observed on the 28th 
November; but, as already stated, August is the general 
breeding-month. The young are said to suffer a good deal 
from the attacks of the Carancho (Polyborus tharus) , probably 
from the fact that C. coscoroba is more frequently seen on 
land than C. nigricollis, and accordingly the young flappers 
are liable to be pounced upon before they can regain the 
water. 
The eggs are smooth, but neither so glossy nor so cream- 
coloured as those of C. nigricollis ; besides which they are 
decidedly smaller, the few specimens in my collection avera- 
ging 316 x 215, and of a proportionately rounder shape. 
[To be continued. | 
Il.—Field-Notes on the Birds of St. Vincent, West Indies. 
By C. HE. Listzr, B.A., Caius Coll. Camb. 
As the physical geography of some of the West-Indian Islands 
has been considerably modified since the advent of Europeans, 
chiefly by the clearing away of the virgin forests in order to 
plant sugar-canes, and as in some instances these changes 
have led to the extinction of several forest-loving species, I 
will preface my notes on the birds of St. Vincent by a short 
description of its physical geography. 
St. Vincent, like its neighbour St. Lucia, is of volcanic 
origin; a lofty ridge or backbone, commencing with the 
Souffriére on the north, runs due south across the whole 
island. This ridge has many sharp and pointed peaks, 
all, however, covered to their very summits with virgin 
forests. The Souffriére is said to be 3000 feet high; but 
it is probably not the highest poimt of this ridge. Nu- 
merous spurs descend on either side from this central 
chain; and on the western or leeward side they are very 
steep and precipitous in some places; so that the “ high 
woods” or virgin forests here approach the sea-coast much 
nearer than they do on the eastern or windward side, where, 
