THE OOLOQIST. 



149 



most everywhere, both in the pine 

 woods and in the orange groves. 

 Among the natives it is known as "El 

 bobo"( meaning fool) because when 

 one of them is shot, tiie others fly 

 about and alight near by and several 

 can be shot before the flock takes 

 alarm. They are becoming a little 

 more educated now that Americans 

 are settling here and sometimes they 

 are quite an important factor as food. 

 Their flesh is sweet and tender. This 

 is one large tract here known as "El 

 Bobo" because of the large number of 

 these doves found here. They are pro- 

 tected from February to August and 

 as they raise several broods in a sea- 

 son, they stand a pretty good chance 

 to hold their own. The orange grow- 

 ers are glad to have them around as 

 they do a great deal of good in the 

 groves by eating injurious weed seeds 

 as well as insects. .^ 



The Simpkin (Aramus gigantus) one 

 of our locally comomn birds is to be 

 found here along most of the arroyas 

 and rivers. In the early morning and 

 late afternoon this peculiar wader 

 may be seen standing at the water's 

 edge fishing. Upon approach it will 

 try to get out of sight by running in- 

 to the jungle, but if the intruder 

 comes too close, it will rise in heavy 

 flight uttering loud discordant croaks. 

 Even late into the night the Simpkin 

 may be heard and from my observa- 

 tions, there seems to be much individ- 

 uality in their voices. The flesh, al- 

 though a little strong, is not unpal- 

 atable and locally it is known as 

 "Crane," among the Americans, and 

 "Gnua," among the natives. 



Ruddy Quail Dove (Geotrygon mon- " 

 tana.) This is quite an interesting 

 bird. My first impressions were that 

 it was rare, but as I got around more 

 into the jungles I found that it was 

 fairly common. It loves the dark tan- 

 gles and feeds almost entirely on the 



ground. When flushed it reminds you 

 of a Ruffed Grouse, except that the 

 whirl of wings is absent, its flight be- 

 ing noiseless. It flies but a short dis- 

 tance, generally placing a tree between 

 you and it, and lights either on the 

 ground or a blown down tree trunk. 

 Its flesh is tender and quite gamey. 

 The natives call it "Perdy." 



A. C. READ, 

 McKinley, Isle of Pines, 



Cuba. 



THE CROW AS A RAPTORE. 



The reading of Mr. R. P. Sharpless' 

 notes in the last OOLOGIST about a 

 Crow carrying off a young Black Bird, 

 reminds me of a similar incident that 

 occured last spring. Two young 

 friends of mine were driving along a 

 road that skirts the Brandywine mea- 

 dows. They noticed a Crow flying 

 very low and trying to rise with some- 

 thing in its claws. A large rabbit was 

 following and springing from the 

 ground trying to reach the Crow. 



Their near approach frightened the 

 Crow and it dropped the young rabbit, 

 which escaped in the grass, apparent- 

 ly uninjured. 



Two years ago I noticed rather an 

 unusual departure of the Purple 

 Crackle from its usual habits. A 

 large male that was feeding in the 

 meadow beside the stream, attempted 

 to seize a good sized Green frog. Af- 

 ter a strenuous tussel the frog escap- 

 ed to the water and was safe. 



THOMAS. H. JACKSON, 



West Chester, Pa. 



BIRD NOTES. 



. .As the season now is substantially 

 over, we trust that our subscribers 

 will divide the pleasure of their sum- 

 mer experience with our readers by 

 furnishing us many interesting notes 

 for the coming fall and winter. We 



