A NEW FINCH. 



159 



the margins of the mangrove swamp ; and on the arid 

 sun-baked slopes further away, where dwarf melon- 

 cactus and coarse grass struggled for the mastery amid 

 a wilderness of big weather-worn blocks of granite, we 

 came across numbers of small black finches (Euetheia 

 johnstonei), which were feeding on minute seeds of grass, 

 and picking up a living, where no living seemed to be 

 Tisible. These little finches, the ground-doves and the 

 golden warblers were certainly, with perhaps the exception 

 of some mocking-birds, Avhich we afterwards discovered, 

 the most numerous and typical of any of the birds on the 

 island. 



The little finch belongs to a genus which is found all over 

 the West Indies, as weU as elsewhere on the mainland 

 of Central and South America . In all the various localities 

 where they are found, they vary greatly in depth of colour, 

 size and o^her details ; but this particular one seems 

 to be the darkest of any, adult males being almost 

 uniformly black. So black, indeed, did they appear, 

 that we noticed the difference at once ; and as a matter 

 of fact, it turned out that this was the only new species 

 we found on Blanquilla. We afterwards had the pleasure 

 of naming it in honour of Sir Frederic Johnstone. Like 

 the dove and the warbler, they were remarkably tame 

 and confiding ; nearly as much so as a London sparrow. 



As, previous to our visit, no account of the birds found 

 on Blanquilla had been published, and nothing was known 

 of them ; it may be interesting, before making any more 

 remarks, to append a list of those we found there. For 

 the sake of brevity I have not included any sea-birds : — 



(1) Curagao ground-dove (Colunibigallina per pallida) ^ 

 exceedingly common and extremely tame. 



(2) Zenaida dove {Zenaida sp. ?). Two examples seen, 

 but neither secured. 



(3) Great blue heron {Ardea herodias). A winter visitor 

 here, and only seen on our January visit. 



(4) Night-heron (Nycticorax violaceus). Was nesting 

 here in April. 



