34 BULLETIN" 326, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



latimeri) as well as a few feathers of a honey creeper {Ccereoa portoricensis) , 

 thus substantiating field observations. 



OSPREY. Pandion hctUaetus carolinensis (Gmelin). 

 AGUILAj GUINCHO., Aguila Maeina. 



The osprey is apparently a rare winter visitant to this region. Bowdish 

 (1902-3/ p. 361) notes two from Vieques and one from Mona, while Gundlach 

 (1878, p. 158) includes it on the authority of Blanco. Stahl (1883, pp. 58, 136) 

 recorded it as a migrant about the mouths of rivers and had one specimen in 

 his collection. Along the coast near Mameyes I saw several during February 

 perched on stakes in the water or circling over the shallows and occasionally 

 visiting swampy lagoons inland ; one was seen on Culebra April 8 and another 

 April 17. The osprey lives entirely on fish, but it is not numerous enough to be 

 of economic importance. 



GUINEA HEIf. Numida meleagris Linnseus. 

 Gallina de Guinea, Guinea. 



The guinea hen, formerly common in the forests, has become wild in Porto 

 Rico as in the other Greater Antilles. Gundlach (1878, p. 352) records the birds 

 as common, and says that their food consists of seeds, wild fruits, maize, rice, 

 sweet potatoes, and plantains, and that sometimes they cause considerable dam- 

 age to the latter crop. Ledru (1810, p. 207) says that the guinea hen was 

 brought to Porto Rico by the Genoese slavers about the year 1508. Stahl (Rich- 

 mond MS.) secured a specimen at Cabo Rojo many years ago, and Sundevall 

 (1869, p. 601) says that they were not rare. At present they are confined to 

 natural forest areas, as the Cerro Gordo near Maricao, in Caguana, near Barros, 

 and on El Yunque de Luquillo. They are few in number and so wild and 

 retiring that to secure them is largely a matter of chance. Formerly they were 

 considered game birds and hunted systematically. With the clearing of the 

 land and the loss of cover, only a small number will survive, and these in the 

 most inaccessible regions. They are described as being darker than the domestic 

 guinea hen and with a differently marked head. 



CUBAN QUAIL. Colinus virginianus cubanensis (Gould). 

 Codoeniz. 



The Cuban quail was introduced into Porto Rico by Don Ramon Soler in the 

 Hacienda Santa Ines near Vega Baja about 1860 (?) (Gundlach, 1878, p. 350). 

 Stahl (1883, p. 149) had two specimens in his collection, and Hjalmarson also 

 secured some (Sundevall, 1869, p. 601). Bowdish (1902-3, p. 360) saw one on a 

 hill near Mayaguez, but now the bird is apparently extinct. I could not learn of 

 any seen recently. 



AMERICAN COOT, MUD HEN. Fulica americana americana Gmelin. 

 Gallinazo, Gallareta, Yagareta., Dagareta Negra. 



The coot is found in Porto Rico, usually in flocks on the large lagoons. Many 

 individuals appear to be migratory, but the species as a whole is resident. They 

 were noted as very common on the Laguna de Guanica and on the large lagoon 

 north of Manati. Two birds were seen on Culebra April 13 and 19, respectively. 

 On the Laguna de Guanica May 26 a large number were apparently breeding. 

 The country people searched the marshes systematically for their eggs, so that 

 few escaped. *On a large lagoon north of Manati and Vega Baja on July 9 a 

 flock of 300 or 400 was noted, many of them young birds. 



. Food. — A coot taken on Culebra had eaten a water scavenger beetle, a num- 

 ber of small crustaceans, and a large mass of eggs belonging probably to other 



