1894
March 25
(No 3)
Trinidad, B.W.I.
Caparo
perch to which it always returned quickly after
being driven away. I noted the song of one individual
as swee-see-ser-weer repeated many times in quick
succession without the slightest variation. Another called
swee-see-see-se-see, swee-swee-se-seer. The tone was
high and chirping but not shrill.
  On the banks of a creek I had a fine opportunity to
watch a male Heterocnemis naevia which hopped along
the edge of the water and finally flew to a log where
it turned its body from side to side chattering like
a House Wren. This bird reminds me much more of a
Wren than of a Water Thrush. It resembles the latter
to be sure in its habit of feeding in muddy places on
or near the banks of streams but it does not wag its
tail and its gait is a Wren-like hop. It is an attractive
looking bird of neat plumage, soft coloring, and
sprightly motions.
  On the banks of this creek I killed two more
Hummers of a species new to me viz. Glaucis hirsutus.
I have indeed seen them daily, for they are common wherever
the wild plantain grows, but they are exceedingly
difficult to shoot for they rarely alight and [delete]they[/delete]
seldom poise [delete]in one spot[/delete] long enough to allow one
to get a fair aim. Their flight is a succession of
short flittings with momentary poising every few yards.
They make an exceptionally loud droning sound and
usually spread their broad brown tails when poising.
I killed both my birds to-day by snap shots with
the auxiliary. The ordinary note of this species is a