THE OOLOGIST 



/ 



Bird Life of a Small Pond at McKin- 

 ley, Isle of Pines, Cuba. 



Mr. Bridgen, the Isle of Pines Com- 

 pany's photographer and myself while 

 surveying a tract in McKinley the last 

 day of May ran into a little pond which 

 we thought worthy of investigation. 

 It was formed by being the lowest 

 spot in a comparatively level country 

 about a quarter of a mile from the riv- 

 er. The pond was circular and dur- 

 ing the rainy season covered perhaps 

 an acre although now it is only about 

 one-fourth as large. It is surrounded 

 by an inpenetrable jungle of inter-wo- 

 ven trees which reminds one of the 

 masses of mangroves near the sea. 

 These trees were in blossom and were 

 very pretty with their white, sweet- 

 smelling flowers. 



A pair of Southern Green Herons 

 were very much at home and acted as 

 if they had a nest nearby. The Cuban 

 Crackles as is always the case near 

 water at this season were very much 

 in evidence. 



The Cuban Green Woodpeckers, Ori- 

 oles and Pewees were busily feeding 

 among the palmettos to the West. In 

 the open pine woods East of the pond, 

 Cuban Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Quail, 

 Meadowlarks, Sparrow Hawks, King- 

 birds, Ground Doves were quite com- 

 mon. A few West Indian Mourning 

 Doves and Red-legged Thrushes were 

 also seen. Four or five Anis (known 

 here as Black Parrots) in the low bush- 

 es, a couple of White-crowned Pigeons 

 feeding on the nuts of a nearby Royal 

 Palm and a Southern Turkey Buzzard 

 added to the scene to make it typical 

 of this section of the island. The lack 

 of time prevented a more detailed ex- 

 amination. 



A. C. Read. 



Birds of Santa Barbara Mountain and 

 Vicinity, jr.le of Pines, Cuba. 



Santa Barbara Mountain is situated 

 in the South-western part of what is 

 known as the McKinley Colonies, the 

 Western part of the Isle of Pines, and 

 about seven miles East of the West 

 coast. 



The mountain itself is not very im- 

 posing, but because of the height of 

 the surrounding country from which 

 it rises, it makes a fine point for study- 

 ing the lay of the land. 



To the North and East the country 

 is rolling, forested with yellow pine, 

 "bottle" palms and small hardwood, 

 while along the numerous arroyos 

 (small streams) there is a dense 

 growth of hard wood, palmettos, tree 

 ferns, royal palms and other semi- 

 tropical plants. 



To the Southeast the land rises to 

 a long even chain of mountains which 

 shut off the view in that quarter. 



To the East on a clear day, such as 

 the one on which we climbed Santa 

 Barbara, a person can see way across 

 the island a distance of about twenty- 

 five miles. 



With the exception of the South 

 and a small part of the East, where 

 the Casas and Caballos mountains 

 rise, the Carribean Sea is in sight 

 all the way around, looking dark blue 

 in the distance with here and there 

 a white speck (the sail of some distant 

 boat). 



To the Northwest the land lies flat 

 and rather open. The mouth of the 

 Pine River about five miles distant 

 is discernable while to the Southwest, 

 the keys which partly surround the 

 island are plainly seen. 



The woods especially at this season, 

 (October) are full of birds. Among the 

 pines are to be seen the (Cuban) Red- 

 bellied Woodpeckers, Ground Doves, 

 Kingbirds, Sparrow-hawks, "El-Bobo" 

 Pigeons, Yellow-throated Warblers, 



