BIRDS OF PORTO RICO. 95 



so that the crow is an injurious species. Its numbers, however, are now so 

 few and it is so closely confined to its restricted range that it has little or no 

 influence on the balance of nature. Hence no destructive measures are neces- 

 sary, and it should be conserved as an interesting species. Unlike the crow of 

 the United States, it can not accommodate its habits to changed conditions and 

 can be expected to survive only in the Government forest reserve on El Yunque 

 de Luquillo. 



LATIMER'S VIREO. Yireo latimeri Baird. 

 Julian Chivi. 



Latimer's vireo is a tolerably common resident species in Porto Rico, found 

 in many localities, though having a local range. None were observed east of 

 Trujillo Alto, Caguas, and Patillas, and in the western part of the island they 

 were found only under certain conditions. The birds frequented coffee planta- 

 tions somewhat, but were most common in the limestone hills, covered with 

 dense brush and matted with creepers, a prominent feature of the landscape 

 along the north coast. In the dry hills of the south coast also they were com- 

 mon and were perhaps most abundant in the forest growth along the Rio de la 

 Lapa, back of Salinas. They worked industriously through the brush and 

 tangles, sometimes high up in the trees, but more often near the ground. They 

 exhibited some curiosity, and once one came out and scolded with a wrenlike 

 chatter for several minutes, until the brush was full of peering grassquits, 

 honey creepers, and spindalis. The females seem to be almost silent, but the 

 males sing incessantly a sharply accented song, in imitation of which it gets its 

 native name of Julian clii-vi. There are two distinct strains in this song, and 

 the bird sometimes changes from one to the other, repeating them 22 or 23 times 

 a minute, frequently keeping this up for an hour. A quick scolding note like 

 chee chee chur chur chur is sometimes heard. 



The birds nested in April and May, and young birds were seen July 5 still 

 following their parents with soft call notes. Bowdish (1902-3, p. 16) records 

 immature birds taken as late as October. In May the males sang incessantly, 

 frequently remaining on one perch for half an hour or so, but by the middle of 

 June they were mostly silent. 



Food. — Forty-three stomachs of this bird were collected, representing the food 

 of every month from December to August, inclusive, except March, and it was 

 found that 86.21 per cent of the contents by bulk was formed by animal matter 

 and 13.79 per cent by vegetable. Orthoptera, Homoptera, and Lepidoptera are 

 the largest items in the class of insects, while the vegetable matter is com- 

 posed of seeds. 



Animal food. — Even Latimer's vireo relishes nymphs of the mole cricket 

 (Scapteriscus didactylus), which were found in 6 stomachs, though they amount 

 to but 0.9 per cent. Grasshopper remains were found in 6 stomachs, and inde- 

 terminate Orthoptera in 10. One bird had secured a roach and another a man- 

 tis. All of these make up 21.77 per cent, a surprising amount for a bird of this 

 family. The insects taken were almost entirely nymphs, though some larger 

 adults were secured. Undoubtedly nearly all the unidentified material be- 

 longed to the family Locustidse, as the members of this group are found largely 

 in foliage. Of the true bugs, homopterous remains come to 15.1 per cent, much 

 of which is formed by cicadas (Proarno hilaris), large morsels for a bird of 

 this size. Many lantern flies and leaf hoppers also were secured, the first named 

 being found frequently. Two assassin bugs and three stinkbugs come to 3.67 

 per cent. Leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae) were found in 6 stomachs and amount 

 to 2.76 per cent, while longicorn bettles make up 1.75 per cent. Snout beetles 

 were found in 21 stomachs and, though amounting to only 3.26 per cent, are an 



