BIRDS OF PORTO RICO. 



Ill 



numbers of caterpillars are eaten greedily, while ants, flies, and thrips are 

 taken in less number. The list includes many serious pests, against the attacks 

 of which the agriculturist must guard, and in destroying them the bird is per- 

 forming excellent service. Reports of the destructiveness of the honey creeper 

 to oranges seem unsubstantiated, but if individuals form this habit they should 

 be destroyed. Otherwise the species should be protected and encouraged in all 

 localities. The following were identified in these stomachs: 



TIIYSANOPTERA. 



Ommatothrips n. sp 



HEMII'TERA. 



Ormenis sp 



COLEOPTEItA. 



Bcymnus roseicollis 



Scymnillus sp 



Leptostylus sp 



Lema sp 



coleoptera — continued. 



Physimerus sp 2 



Cryptocephalus sp 1 



Myochrous sp 1 



Lachnopus sp 10 



Euscepes porcellus 1 



Phyllotrox sp 



Oaulophilus sp 



CaulopMlii8 latinasus 



Platypus sp 



Xylcborus sp 



Xyleborus inermis 



HOODED WEAVER FINCH. Spermestes cucullata (Swainson). 

 Diablito, Chupador db Arroz, Gorrion. 



The hooded weaver finch, an African species, has become naturalized in 

 Porto Rico, and is a common resident up to an altitude of 600 feet. Above 

 that it was noted only at Cayey (1,275 feet) and Adjuntas (1,550 feet). It 

 was evidently introduced many years ago, as Bryant (1S66, p. 254) mentions 

 that several specimens were taken on the island in the sixties. This species is 

 usually found in small flocks of from 10 to 25 and frequents open banks of 

 streams, borders of fields, and grass-grown pastures where food is abundant. 

 Near Cabo Rojo they were very common, and flocks of several hundred were 

 encountered. On the ground these tiny birds feed close together, clustering on 

 the ripening heads of malojillo (Panicum sp.), busily eating. When flushed 

 they rise in a close flock with low churring notes, and fly only a short distance 

 to a tree, where the whole flock divides into twos and threes, the birds sidling 

 along the limbs until they are as close together as possible.. Near Cabo Rojo 

 in August the young gathered in large flocks, and were evidently roosting at 

 night in dense mango trees. 



In May they divide into pairs and breed. A nest found near Yabucoa May 

 10 was built in a small tree on a steep slope, where the structure was visible 

 from all sides. It was located about 6 feet from the ground, and was built of 

 grass stems 8 or 10 inches long and well thatched in, but with the ends pro- 

 jecting crisscross in every direction. The top was arched over, but the nest 

 had a very untidy appearance. It contained one young bird about 3 days old, 

 and three eggs on the point of hatching. The eggs were opaque white and in 

 shape were elongate elliptical. 



Near Cabo Rojo the last of August these birds were preparing to raise a sec- 

 ond brood, as the first were old enough to care for themselves. At Comerio 

 they were feeding in seed-tobacco fields, where all the seed heads had not been 

 collected, but unless very abundant they would not do damage. 



Food. — In January, February, May, July, and August, 33 stomachs of this little 

 weaver finch were collected, and with many of them the gullet was preserved 

 also, as it was usually distended with seeds. The only animal matter in these 

 was the elytron of a rove beetle. Large quantities of sand were found in all, 

 and in a few were bits of snail shell, unquestionably picked up as an aid to 

 digestion. Seeds of various grasses and a few of sedge constitute the entire 



