BIRDS OF PORTO RICO. 27 



Milligan, of the U. S. S. Fish Hatvk. At the Laguna de Guanica they are un- 

 doubtedly resident, as there are large areas of grassy marshes and many 

 open stretches filled with growths of the water plants they prefer. Here the 

 birds were rather wild and hard to approach, as they are molested a great 

 deal by egg hunters. They are found in the grass where the water is from 

 1 to 2 feet deep and flush with dangling feet and outstretched neck. Almost 

 at once the feet are drawn up, the head is doubled back onto the shoulders, 

 and the birds fly off just above the vegetation, to drop back again when out of 

 danger. When undisturbed, they sit quietly in the reeds or with long strides 

 clamber rather awkwardly through them, grasping the stems in their slender 

 toes. Gundlach (1878, p. 350) found a nest containing three eggs at Arecibo 

 May 7. The bird seen at Rio Piedras was in a mangrove swamp, but as that 

 is rather an unusual locality for them this individual may have been a migrant. 

 Food. — Three stomachs from the Laguna de Guanica contained nothing but 

 animal matter. Remains of small fish in all the stomachs made up the large 

 share of their contents (84.34 per cent). Crustacean remains in one formed 

 13.33 per cent, and a bit of an amphibian in one stomach figures as 0.33 per 

 cent. Insect matter amounting to 2 per cent in two stomachs was made up 

 entirely of fragments of aquatic Hemiptera. Quantities of feathers were found 

 in all three stomachs, but they undoubtedly came from the bird itself. The 

 bird thus seems to be about neutral from an economic standpoint. In its food 

 habits this bittern can not be regarded as injurious, as little or no use is made 

 of the small fresh-water lagoon fish, while the crustaceans taken may be con- 

 sidered as a point in its favor. The birds are too retiring to attract much 

 attention, but should be placed in the protected class. 



BITTERN. Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu). 

 Yaboa. 



Gundlach (1878a, p. 161) secured a bittern in November, 1873, at the Laguna 

 de Guanica and also records one (1874, p. 313) in the collection of Blanco at 

 San Juan. Stahl had none in his collection, and as no other specimens are 

 on record the species must be regarded as a casual migrant -to the island. 



[GLOSSY IBIS. Plegadis autumnalis (Linnaeus). 

 Coco, Coco Oscuro. 



The glossy ibis is included here, as Gundlach (1878, p. 366) mentions a drawing of it 

 in the -album of Dr. Bello, of Mayagiiez. Later records by Gundlach and others are all 

 apparently based upon this, so that it can be given only as a hypothetical species.] 



"WHITE IBIS. Guara alba (Linnseus). 

 Coco Blanco. 



Gundlach (1878, p. 364) did not find the white ibis on the island, but says 

 that it was reported from the northeastern portion. Stahl (1883, p. 64) listed it 

 without comment, but later (1887, p. 452) mentions it as a solitary species 

 seldom found. Richmond (MS.) notes a specimen from Porto Rico in the 

 Stahl collection in San Juan, and this is all that is known regarding its occur- 

 rence here. Formerly it may have been a resident species, but it is no longer 

 found. 



FLAMINGO. Phoenicopterus ruber Linnaeus. 

 Flamenco. 



The flamingo occurred formerly on Porto Rico and Culebra at least, and at 

 an early date was fairly common. Now it is said to be found occasionally in 

 the lagoons at Salinas and Aguirre, while stragglers are seen along the coast 

 from Guayama to Ponce. In the extreme southwestern corner of the island 



