BIEDS OF PORTO EICO. 43 



I found them only near Cabo Rojo from August 24 to 31, when fall migration 

 was apparently at its height. The birds fed along the overflowed borders of 

 lagoons and also in moist newly plowed fields in the lowlands. Many were seen 

 in flight following the trend of the coast southward. 



Food. — Four stomachs examined, all taken at Cabo Rojo the last of August, 

 contained nothing but animal matter. Water boatmen (Corixa sp.) found in 

 each of the four make 57.5 per cent, and two stomachs contained nothing else. 

 Crustacean remains, among which were several crabs (Sesarma (Holometopus) 

 roberti), were identified in two stomachs, and make the remainder, 42.5 per 

 cent. Apparently this species is neutral as regards agricultural interests. 



GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. Totanus melanoleucus (Gmelin). 

 Playero, Caballero Chillon, Zarapico Blanquinegro. 



Apparently a migrant in spring and fall in Porto Rico, the greater yellow- 

 legs may occasionally spend the winter there around some of the more inacces- 

 sible lagoons. Three were noted near Salinas May 2 and one was taken. A 

 single individual was seen May 26 at the Laguna de Guanica, and on August 26 

 three or four were feeding on mud flats at Porto Real, near Cabo Rojo. The 

 species is recorded by Sundevall (1869, p. 602) and Gundlach (1878, p. 370). 

 Stahl (1887, p. 449) found them as early as August 9, 1886. 



Food. — The stomach of the single bird taken was nearly full of finely ground 

 fragments of small crustaceans. The only other items were the maxillae of an 

 aquatic larval insect. Nothing of economic importance was taken. 



MARBLED GODWIT. Limosa fedoa (Linnaeus). 

 Chorlo, Barga. 



Gundlach (1878, p. 36S) records the marbled godwit from Boqueron below 

 Cabo Rojo, where he found a single bird. There are no other certain records. 



SANDERLING. Calidris leucophcea (Pallas). 

 Arenero, Pdtilla. 



The sanderling is apparently a rare migrant in Porto Rico. The first record 

 is that of Gundlach (1878, p. 376), who notes a male taken at Bayamon by 

 Stahl. The latter (1883, p. 151) says that he had two specimens in his collec- 

 tion and adds (1887, p. 450) that the species lingers late in spring. Nothing 

 further has been found regarding its occurrence. 



SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. Ereunetes pusillus (Linnaeus). 



PdtillAj Putillita Diminuta, Zarapico Gracioso. 



The semipalmated sandpiper is a tolerably common winter visitant. From 

 August 24 to 31 individuals were common in the coastal region at Cabo Rojo 

 about the shallow lagoons. Several times they were seen singly or in small 

 flocks feeding in newly plowed fields, where the soil was soft from the heavy 

 rains, climbing over clods and furrows, or gathering about small pools of stand- 

 ing water. Bowdish took a specimen on Mona Island August 11, 1901, and Gund- 

 lach (1878, p. 374) records it as a winter visitant. Sundevall (1869, p. 602) 

 notes four specimens received from Hjalmarson. Stahl (1887, p. 449) says that 

 they arrived at the end of August, 1886, and (loc. cit, p. 452) that a few indi- 

 viduals remain throughout the summer. 



Food. — Six stomachs taken at Cabo Rojo in August contained 99.16 per cent 

 of animal matter and 0.84 per cent of vegetable matter. Beetles, bugs, fly 

 pupse, and small mollusks form the bulk of the food. Small water scavenger 

 beetles (Hydrophilidae) were found in four stomachs and amount to 27 per cent. 

 Two ground beetles (Bembidium sp.) amount to 5 per cent, and miscellaneous 



