on Birds of Paradise in the West Indies.



39



Birds of Paradise are apparently omnivorous, but, in common

with several other native species, they seemed to be very partial to

the soft fruits of the papaw. One would have thought that no bird

would have dared to interfere with the Paradisea, yet the much

smaller, yellow-tailed Cassiques ( Ostinops decumanus ) were obviously

their masters, and only permitted them to feed on the papaw trees

when they had finished their own meal. By the way, these

Cassiques, or “corn-birds” as they are termed locally, are delight¬

fully quaint birds, and deserve a few words of comment, if only for

their extraordinary repertoire of strange sounds. Their song, for in¬

stance, opens with some very singular notes that sound more like the

hollow “ gobble ” of liquid being poured out of a large-bellied flagon

Than anything else I can think of ; these are usually followed by a

prolonged creaking note, which Chapman has aptly likened to the

chafing of boughs in a wind ; or again by the very curious splutter¬

ing sound that cannot be expressed in black and white. These birds

are also wont to utter a singularly human whistle—so human, in

fact, that on more than one occasion I have turned sharply round

under the impression that someone was trying to attract my attention

by this means. Many of their remarkable purse-shaped nests were

to be seen swinging' from the outer branches of the higher trees.


Another bird that we found feasting greedily upon the papaws

was the handsome Blue Tanager— Tanagra cana sclateri (Berl).

Some of these were constantly present, fighting and bickering to¬

gether for possession of the ripe fruit. Humming-birds, Petcharies,

Grass-finches, House Wrens, and, of course, the “ day-clean,” or

Mocking-bird [Mimas gilvus —an extraordinarily plentiful species on

Little Tobago—were likewise usually to be seen about the clearings ;

but these were all inoffensive species that never disputed the rights

of their larger brethren.


It must not be supposed that the Birds of Paradise are the first

birds to be introduced into Little Tobago ; domestic fowls have lived

there in a feral state for a number of years. The story of their

introduction is not lacking in romantic interest. Some thirty-five or

forty years ago, an old man named Mitchell dwelt alone on the



cf. Notes on Birds from Yucatan in this number.—ED.



