354 AD. BOUCARD 



birds, the cane and other crops will suffer in their turn. 

 A heavy export tax on birds skins has been proposed, 

 may it soon be laid on and the vegetable wealth of the 

 Island saved. » 



Page 255, Tortuga {Extracted from Léotaud on Birds of 

 Trinidad). 



« The Insectivorus tribes are the true representatives 

 of our ornithology. They are so many which feed on In- 

 sects and their larva that it must be asked with much 

 reason : « What would become of our vegetation, of 

 ourselves should these Insect destroyers disappear. » 

 Every ivhere may he seen^ M. Léotaud speaks of five and 

 twenty years ago, my experience would make me substi- 

 tute for his words : Hardly any where seen one of these 

 Insectivora in pursuit of seizure of its prey, either on the 

 wing, or on the trunks of the trees, in the coverts of 

 thickets or in the calice of the flowers. Whenever called 

 to witness one of these frequent migrations from one point 

 to another so often practised by ants ; not only can the 

 Dendrocolaptes be seen following the moving trail and 

 preying on the ants and eggs themselves ; but even the 

 black Tanager abandon his usual fruits for this more 

 tempting delicacy. Our frugivorous and baccivorous genera 

 are also pretty numerous and most of them are so fond 

 of Insect food that they unite as occasion offers with the 

 Insectivorous tribes. » 



Le résumé de ce qui précède est que l'on tue telle- 

 ment d'Oiseaux et surtout d'Oiseaux-Mouches à la 

 Trinidad, qu'ils deviennent de plus en plus rares, ce qui 

 est un très grand malheur, que les plantations en souf- 

 frent et que les espèces d'Oiseaux qui étaient très 

 communes du temps de M. Léotaud sont devenues très 

 rares. 



Il est certain que la protection efficace des Oiseaux est 

 absolument indispensable dans toutes les Antilles, et en 

 général dans toutes les îles, parce que le nombre des 

 Oiseaux y est très limité et que, dans ces conditions, si des 

 mesures rigoureuses ne sont pas prises immédiatement 



