56 BULLETIN- 326, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



in the tops of the trees, but from their green coloration the parrots were the 

 less conspicuous. Frequently they remained quiet in the trees for half an hour 

 or more and then flew out in sudden alarm. 



Around El Yunque the parrots were somewhat tamer, as they were not 

 hunted so much, and a few were secured about a large clearing above the Rio 

 Mameyes. The birds were in pairs or small bands during March and were 

 then breeding. During early morning and evening they fed in the forest, but 

 in passing back and forth stopped in the high dead trees of the clearing. They 

 also came here to dry their feathers after the heavy rains that came at 

 intervals during the day. When it rained heavily on the mountain many birds 

 descended to the warmer valleys, returning when the weather cleared. The 

 call note, given on the wing when alarmed, was a rapid, strident kdr, kdr 

 that could easily be heard a mile away, and served to alarm the entire forest. 

 When feeding, low chuckling notes were frequently heard. In the trees the 

 birds watched intruders suspiciously or went through the characteristic pos- 

 turings of Amazona in captivity, swinging head down and then climbing back 

 by the aid of their bills. 



These birds nest during March and April, and are said to lay two eggs, 

 depositing them in a hollow tree. They are greatly sought after by the 

 natives, who keep the young as pets and teach them to speak a few words of 

 Spanish. Most of the captive birds on the island, however, are brought from 

 Santo Domingo. The adults also are hunted as game birds, and prized for 

 their flesh. Formerly when there were large forest areas on the island the 

 birds were very common and, traveling in large bands, damaged cornfields, 

 gonduros, etc. Men engaged in school work said that, as late as 1903, children 

 were frequently kept at home to drive the parrots out of the fields. The 

 handful remaining is now too small to do any great damage, and the birds 

 should be protected, or one of the most interesting forms will soon be lost from 

 the avifauna of the island. 



Food. — The parrot seems to be almost entirely frugivorous, all of the wild 

 fruits being eaten in season. It is very fond of the wild fig (Ficus sp.) 

 and the jagua (Genipa americana), while in the swamps near Mameyes the 

 ground beneath icaco trees (Chrysobalanus sp.) was strewn with husks which 

 the birds had dropped. In eight stomachs examined, vegetable matter only was 

 found, seeds of tabonuco {Dacryodes excelsa) and allied species in the same 

 family (Burseraceae) greatly predominating. A bird taken near Mameyes 

 had eaten icacos (Chrysobalanus sp.) and its stomach contained also a few 

 bits of wood. In the birds secured on El Yunque the stomachs were usually 

 filled with small seeds while the crops were distended with larger fruits and 

 drupes. The hard seeds in the gizzard seem to take the place of gravel used 

 by many birds as a triturating element, and while they serve to grind up 

 larger fragments are in their turn pulverized and utilized as food. Wherever 

 parrots were common the ground was always littered with seeds, bits of peri- 

 carp, and other waste matter which they had discarded. 



[BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO. Coccyzus erythroptJialmus (Wilson). 

 Pajaro Bobo. 



The black-billed cuckoo is of doubtful occurrence in Porto Rico. Gundlacb included it 

 on the strength of a drawing in the album of Bello, who received the bird from the in- 

 terior of the island. 1 



YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO. Coccyzus americanus (Linnaeus). 

 Pajaro Bobo., Pajaro Bobo de Costa. 



On August 27 a cuckoo heard calling in an almendra grove at Joyuda near 

 Cabo Rojo was secured as it sat in the sun on a low limb ; it proved to be 



