BIEDS OF PORTO RICO. 117 



seeds of the royal palm. The bird is known to many of the Porto Ricans and 

 at one time must have been fairly common. Now, however, it is very rare if 

 not actually extinct. An oriole seen below Aibonito January 5, was thought to 

 be this species, but identification was not certain. All the reports regarding 

 its occurrence come from the western end of the island. The species is com- 

 monly kept as a cage bird, and probably has been introduced in this manner. 



PORTO RICAN BLACKBIRD. Holoqiiiscalus brachypterus (Cassin). 



Mozambique, Chango. (Plates VIII and IX.) 



The Porto Rican blackbird is one of the characteristic birds of the island, 

 being found wherever there are cultivated fields. In the lowlands, below 500 

 feet altitude, it is the most common bird, and above that it occurs in small 

 numbers. 



The birds are found ordinarily in small flocks of from 3 or 4 to 25, feeding on 

 the ground in the pastures or cultivated fields. The males strut about, holding 

 the head and tail high, calling squeakily, while the females are more preoccu- 

 pied searching busily for food. In flight the V-shape of the tail is much exag- 

 gerated, the birds seeming almost deformed. In rising this is rather a hin- 

 drance to them, and in flying, up into a palm they sometimes go beyond the tree 

 and then come back, not being able to rise at a sharp angle. Their favorite 

 perches are the royal and coconut palms, where they spend much time, walking 

 up and down the broad leaf stems or sitting quietly in their shade. The ordi- 

 nary call note is a gracklelike chuck or a thin high tee tee tee, and the song may 

 be represented by the syllables ICsee ah — h — h, rather a wheezy effort, given 

 with the wings spread and the tail deeply V-shaped. 



The breeding season extends from the 1st of May until the 10th of July, the 

 birds usually nesting in colonies in royal or coconut palms, though at times an 

 isolated Jobo tree (Spondias lutea) is chosen. The royal palm is, however, the 

 favorite location. The nests are constructed in the large seed clusters and at 

 the bases of the long leaves, often in close proximity. The birds were con- 

 tinually flying back and forth about the nests calling, singing, and posturing, 

 making a scene of the greatest animation. Nest construction is carried on by 

 the females, though the males always accompany them, strutting about on the 

 ground and driving other intruding males from the chosen nesting site. Incu- 

 bation, too, falls to the lot of the female, her spouse following her expeditions 

 for food, but when the young are hatched both sexes care for them. After the 

 middle of June the young commonly follow their parents, teasing for food, and 

 when unnoticed protest vigorously. In August these family parties join in 

 small flocks, remaining together until the next year. The flocks feed in the cul- 

 tivated fields, pastures, or sometimes on the gravel bars of streams, where 

 occasionally they wade in the shallow water, turning over the leaves for aquatic 

 insects or, standing in water up to their bodies, splash and flutter in bathing. 



This species is widely recognized as the most beneficial on the island, and for- 

 tunately it is also one of the most common. While the cane and tobacco fields 

 are being prepared for planting, flocks of the birds follow the plow, feeding on 

 the insects exposed in the overturned furrows. Even when the cane is well 

 grown they follow the cultivator through the rows. In the breeding season it 

 is common to see three or four fly from the low-lying fields inland into the foot- 

 hills with a white grub shining in each bill. On the ground they walk rapidly 

 along, peering from side to side and following the working peons closely. 



After the breeding season old and young were observed feeding also on wild 

 fruits, among which were the following: Icaco (Chrysobalanus sp.), sapalo 

 (Palicourea riparia), and moral (Cordia nitida). In spring the adults were 



