Aviculture in Tropical America



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Another very common bird, in the gardens and the country, is the

charming Quit or Sugar-bird (Coereba martinicana), locally called

“ Sucrier Each island and several parts of the South American

Continent has a particular species of Quit. All of them are tiny

birds with curved bills and short tails, black, white, yellow, and grey

feathers. The Martinique Quit is almost entirely black, with yellow

underparts, and, according to age, yellow or cream-white eyebrows 5

the base of the bill is red. They are easily caught, and live well on

the usual mixture of Mellin’s food, honey, and milk, and insectile

food. They are rather delicate when first caught, and on the journey ;

they generally get very dirty and sluggish, but soon recover, and I have

now eight of these active and bright little birds in perfect plumage.

I landed nine, and lost half a dozen on the way to Europe. The three

West Indian Humming-birds (Sulampis jugularis, Sericotes holocericeus,

and Bellona exilis) are gorgeous and very abundant. As my late

friend the Marquis de Siegur had brought the three species to France

in 1914 I did not try to capture any, as I preferred to import Guiana

Humming-birds. Two species of Seed-eaters are plentiful in Martinique

—the Grey Finch (Euethia bicolor) called “ Cici ”, and the Red-throated

Finch ( Loxigilla noctis). Both are easy to catch, but difficult to

keep at first. I landed only one male Cici, a very small grey bird,

with almost black head and breast, and five Red-throated Finches,

one adult male and four young ones. These latter are grey and

resemble in shape a Bullfinch, with a smaller head and beak ; the

male is jet-black, with red throat and eyebrows ; it is a very handsome

bird. There is in Martinique a very nice song-bird of the Tyrant

family (Elainea martinicana) called the “ Siffleur ”, a plain grey bird

with a crest, most charming in shape and character. Several young

ones were brought to me, but only one survived ; it unfortunately

died in a fit one month after its arrival in France. A Grey Thrush

(Cichlherminia herminieri) also died soon after it reached Europe.

As a consequence of the cold weather my birds had to suffer on the

journey from Havre to Cleres.


My collection of live Martinique birds was completed by a pair of

Passerine Doves ( Columbula passerina) and nine Martinique Doves

(Zenaida martinicana), a fine Pigeon, of a rich rufous colour, varied



