106 ' THE CONDOR Voi,. X 



adults, taken from May 1 to June 18. Many adult males in this series are in the 

 yellow phase of plumage. 



The house finch is by far the commonest bird of the island. Mr. Brown has 

 sent us the following account of it: "On our arrival — May 1 — well grown young 

 were about with the old birds, and at that time the house finches were scattered 

 about in large numbers all over the island. On the cliffs and about the rocks near 

 the landing there were several hundred of them. Late in June they gathered in 

 flocks and all left the lower altitudes, even those, some thirty or forty, that had 

 been living about our cabins. Empty nests were found in a variety of situations, 

 in the pines and cypresses, in cactus plants, and in crevices in the rocks. Their 

 food seemed to consist chiefly of grass seeds and insects, but the birds that lived 

 near our cabins were very partial to goat meat and made our meat-shed their head- 

 quarters." 



Junco insularis Ridg. A large series, including young and adults, was taken 

 from May 4 to June 18. 



The Guadaloupe junco, a very tame, confiding little bird, is fairly abundant 

 throughout the island, though more numerous at high altitudes — in the cypress 

 groves, the pine woods and among the oaks. A few, however, breed down even 

 to sea level. One pair was feeding its young among the rocks on the beach at the 

 landing. 



At the time of Mr. Brown's arrival — May 1 — full grown young were about. 

 One nest only in which there were still young birds, four in number, was found. 

 This was placed on a lower branch of a pine, was bulky and made mostly of dried 

 grass stems. 



Birds Probabi^y Now Extinct 



Polyborus lutosus Ridg. When Beck visited Guadaloupe in 1900-1901 the 

 Caracara still occurred in the island, though probably in small numbers. It ap- 

 pears now to be entirely extinct. During two months spent in Guadaloupe by 

 Brown and Marsden the island was ransacked from end to end, but no trace of the 

 caracara could be found. 



Goats were killed and left at various points on the island, especially upon the 

 high, open tableland, where the caracaras, had there been any, must have detected 

 them, but nothing came to any of the many carcasses that were thus exposed. 



Thryomanes brevicaudus Ridg. Writing in The; Condor in May, 1901, 

 A. W. Anthony gave it as his opinion that the Guadaloupe wren was extinct. It 

 undoubtedly is. Brown and Marsden hunting in vain every spot where it might 

 possibly have survived. 



Pipilo consobrinus Ridg. In the same article in which Anthony refers to the 

 Guadaloupe wren as "among those that were", he mentions the towhee, saying 

 that it is "now nearly or quite extinct." Unfortunately there can no longer be 

 any doubt of the complete extermination of this strongly characterized island 

 species. If there had been a living individual, we feel sure it could not have es- 

 caped the close scrutiny of two such experienced field collectors as Brown and 

 Marsden, who searched the whole island for two months, the towhee being one of 

 the birds they especially sought. 



Boston , Massach n setts . 



