Birds observed in the Bermuda Islands. ] 85 



Februaiy, with consequent extermination in a very few years' 

 time. Fortunately, howeverj there is nothing at present to 

 suggest the likelihood of such a calamity. Their insect diet 

 perhaps makes the birds difficult to keep in captivity, for the 

 species does not appear in the cages of that inveterate 

 " bird-fancier," John Chinaman ; they have no ornamental 

 plumes, stores of oil, or other such possessions likely to 

 attract the attention of the utilitarian, so that, despite their 

 isolation, singularity of habitat, and indifference to man, 

 I think we may say with a satisfactory measure of confidence, 

 " Floreat Parado.vornis heudei." 



IX. — Notes on Birds observed in the Be7'muda Islands 

 during the Winter of 1912-1913. By John Noble 

 Kennedy, E.N. 



The Bermudas are a curiously elongated group of islands 

 situated in the Atlantic about 600 miles west of Cape 

 Hatteras in the United States, and in latitude 32° 15' N. 

 and longitude 64:° 51' W. There are no high hills and 

 most of the ground is cultivated, the fertile meadows being 

 interspersed by cedar groves. The climate during the 

 winter months is warm and damp. 



The group does not appear to be in one of the direct lines 

 of migration, but the list of " accidental visitors " is a long 

 on.e. I once visited the lighthouse at Gibb's Hill with 

 a view of gaining some information as to migrants killed 

 at the lantern, but I was told that only one bird had been 

 taken in this manner during the past three years. 



The last general list of the birds of these islands, compiled 

 by Captain S. G. Reid, B.E., appeared in the ' Zoologist ' 

 for October and November 1S77, and, except for an article 

 on the resident land birds published in 1 901 "^, the ornithology 

 of the Bermudas appears to have been somewhat neglected 

 of late years. 



* " The E-esident Land Birds of Bermuda," by OiUram Bjmgs it T, 

 S. Bradlee, ' Auk,' vol. xvlii. pp. 249-257. 



