ANNOTATED LIST OF SPECIES. 



FOREWORD. 



The species of birds discussed in the following pages comprise all those known 

 at present to inhabit or to visit Porto Rico. For each species are given the 

 names under which it is known, a brief account of its habits, and a statement 

 regarding its food and economic status. Where deemed advisable, detailed lists 

 of insects and other animals, seeds, and fruits identified in the stomachs are 

 given in systematic order, so that as the status of other forms of life becomes 

 known the relation of the birds to them may be more easily ascertained. Birds 

 which have been enumerated by previous authors, but the occurrence of which 

 has been found to be doubtful, have been included in brackets, with a brief sum- 

 mary of their status. A bibliography of important titles referred to in the 

 preparation of this paper is given and, though not exhaustive, will prove of 

 value. In citations reference is made to author, year of publication, and page. 

 In case of two titles by the same author in one year, the second is distinguished 

 by the letter a, following the year. 



ANTIL.L.EAN GREBE. Podilymous podiceps antillarum Bangs. 

 Zaramago, Zaramagullon, Saramagullon. 



The Antillean grebe is known in the lagoons along the coast, but is retiring and 

 seldom seen. In some of the large lagoons it is resident, though migrants un- 

 doubtedly occur in the winter months. At the Laguna de Guanica these birds 

 were fairly common the last of May and very wild from much hunting. July 9 

 I saw two pairs on a large lagoon northeast of Manati that were evidently 

 mated. As I walked along the shore they swam out, two together, with the 

 male bowing and nodding, advancing and retreating before the female, cackling 

 loudly, kali Jcah Icah. One pair was seen feeding offshore, diving regularly in 

 the shallow water. 



They occur at times in very small sloughs where there is an abundant growth 

 of water plants to protect them, as in the charcos along the Bayamon River, 

 near Bayamon. Here they are seen only by chance, perhaps merely a ripple 

 in the water betraying their passage in the dense vegetation. 



Food. — The stomach of a single bird collected at the Laguna de Manati July 

 9 contained fragments of 2 dragon flies and more than 25 small crawfish. Be- 

 sides this there was the large mass of feathers always found in grebe stomachs, 

 in the present case forming more than 65 per cent of its contents. Bowdish 

 (1902-3, p. 357) found the remains of three crawfish in one stomach, together 

 with a small quantity of " mammal hair," which may have been the feathers 

 alluded to. From such meager data the grebe appears to be beneficial in Porto 

 Rico as elsewhere. 



WEST INDIAN GREBE. Colymbus dominicus dominions (Linnaeus). 

 Tigua, Saramagullon., Zaramagullon. 



The West Indian grebe is undoubtedly a rare resident in Porto Rico, for while 

 small grebes are reported from several localities none were seen. Gundlach 

 (1878, p. 395) found them at the Laguna de Guanica. Stahl (1887, p. 453) evi- 

 dently did not consider them resident, as he says that they occur on the ponds 

 9767°— Bull. 326—16 2 17 



