THE OOLOaiST 



97 



apparently used to give a powerful 

 shove as the fish leaves the water, 

 after it spreads its delicate planes 

 and sails through the air. 



Not a single gull has been noted 

 since leaving the colder Atlantic, but 

 today (Jan. 11) a Man-0-War bird wac 

 noted in Lat. 25 deg. 54 N or abou: 

 1U8 miles north of San Salvador. This 

 is unusually far north to see this bird 

 -and as they never light in the water 

 it must have traveled a considerable 

 distance. A shearwater was also noted 

 today. At 8:30 p. m. we passed San 

 Salvador light. 



January 11th. Sighted Cuba about 

 2 p. m. and soon the steamer ap- 

 proached near enough to afford a 

 splendid view of this wonderful island. 

 The cliffs in some places rise almost 

 perpendicularly from the water to a 

 height of five or six hundred feet. 

 They are covered with beautiful tropi- 

 cal vegetation. The rock is, I should 

 say, coraline lime stone, and is formed 

 in curious ledges containing many 

 caves, the whole resembling a sponge 

 of hugs proportions. At the base of 

 the cliffs there is a natural sea wall 

 about ten feet high against which the 

 waves break. There is great variation 

 in the scenery and the general im- 

 pression is one of peace and beauty 

 of a certain rugged type. When we 

 first approached the Island, a bluish 

 haze hung over the hills, and this con- 

 trasting with the green vegetation and 

 vivid blue water in the foreground 

 made a scene that I will never forget. 

 1 noted several more specimens of the 

 Man-o-war bird and also many tropic 

 birds that were doubtless nesting in 

 the cliffs. 



January 13th. Arrived at Kingston, 

 Jamaica. Jamaica is a very mountain- 

 ous Island thickly grown with tropical 

 vegetation and a population of quaint 

 negroes that one cannot help loving. 

 Walking about the Island we noted 



many interesting birds including the 

 Todus, a tiny kingfisher with fiycatch- 

 ing habits and native only to the West 

 Indians, none having ever been found 

 on the South American mainland. 

 Hundreds of beautiful lizards and 

 butterfiies were also seen. Among the 

 birds of interest were such familiar 

 fellows as yellow-throat, redstart, 

 black and white, parula, palm and 

 prairie warblers. Also several peli- 

 cans. Royal Tern, Man-o-war bird, 

 tropic birds, groove-billed anis, mock- 

 ing bird, several flycatchers, grass 

 quits mango, and long-tailed humming 

 birds, ground doves, grackles, ceroe- 

 bas, red-headed vulture, swifts, and 

 white-winged doves. 



January 15th. Arrived at Colon, 

 about 2 p. m. after a short but inter- 

 esting voyage along the coast which 

 is mountainous and much like the 

 coast of Cuba in appearance. About 

 an hour from the harbor of Colon we 

 passed a typical bird rock. This is 

 perhaps one hundred feet high and is, 

 of course, and Island, being at least a 

 miles from shore. The rock was white 

 with the excrement of hundreds of 

 boobies which could be seen sitting in 

 every nook and cranny in the rock. A 

 few sooty terns were also present. A 

 pair of martins flew abroad before we 

 reached colon and became greatly ex- 

 cited over a hole in the forward mast. 



In the city the same evening I noted 

 many tiny bats abroad, flying so fast 

 that it was very difficult to follow their 

 movements. 



January 16th. Made a trip to Cule- 

 bra to see the great canal operations 

 and incidentally noted a great many 

 birds along the rail-way course which 

 travels right through the swamps and 

 half flooded jungles which are being 

 gradually killed by the rise of the 

 water back of the great dam. 



Young little blue herons were abund- 

 ant, contrasting sharply in their white 



