1894
March 20
(No 5)
Trinidad, B.W.I.
Caparo
clear and full the succeeding three somewhat husky or
throaty with a cooing quality much like that of a Barred Owl.
This [delete]both Chapman & Carr considered[/delete] was probably an individual [delete]quality[/delete]
peculiarity. It detracted much from the general effect of
the song which also disappointed me in other respects. Still
it was a remarkable performance. The voice was the most
human in character that I have ever heard and its pathos
was undescribable - a slow, sad wail of hopeless sorrow. The
effect was doubtless marred for me by the fact that the
bird was so near & in plain sight.
[margin]Po-me-one[/margin]
  With the first note he threw his head sharply upward, with
the next the bill was invariably turned to the right, with
the third to the left, with the fourth it was again turned
to the right and brought down to a horizontal plain. With
the fifth note it was sometimes (if not always) pointed
downward. Between the calls the bird sat perfectly erect [diagram]
and still. Just before calling his throat always swelled
to fully double its normal size.
  After calling a dozen times or more he flew back into
the woods but when we whistled he would quickly return,
circle, and again alight nearly above us changing his perch
on the different occasions. Once he chose the top of a
stub but usually the topmost slender twigs of a bois immortel.
It was a revelation to see a Goatsucker perch in this manner.
Another "Po-me-one" with a much finer voice than
our's was calling in the distance most of the time.
  An hour later after walking down the road for half-a-
mile or more, seeing nothing but a small Bat which
flew as slowly as a moth back & forth low down
over the road, we returned & kept up the road
towards the bridge. Our "Po-me-one" was calling