BABRANQUILLA. 



43 



two in front, two behind ; its tail-feathers narrow and weak. Its 

 head and upper parts were dusky, with buff edgings to the feathers ; 

 there was a dark brown ring across the breast, with a whitish band 

 below ; the throat was buff, with a rusty blotch in the centre. Be- 

 neath it was buffy, the flanks spotted with brown. There was a 

 white streak below the eye, and a white band at the back of the 

 neck. This was a rufous-throated puff'-bird (Bucco ruficollis). 



I then shot a crotophaga, probably smaller than our crow-black- 

 bird, but with a much longer tail, a curious high-arched bill ; toes, 

 two in front and two behind ; hackle-like feathers on its neck, and 

 of a uniform glossy blue-black {Crotophaga sulcirostris f). A lit- 

 tle farther on Cabell shot a handsome flycatcher, much like our 

 great-crested, but larger, with a broad and large beak. Below it 

 was sulphur-yellow ; above, rufous ; its crown blackish, with a con- 

 cealed light yellow patch, a white streak from its nostrils back 

 over the eye and entirely around the head. This was probably the 

 pitangua flycatcher {Megarliynclms jntangica), I saAV several flocks 

 of parrakeets, — one of which lit near us, — and I started to creep 

 up on them ; but they took alarm, and flew before I was within 

 range. They circled, and came back near Cabell ; and he managed 

 to get one. It was about the size of a robin, but with a long, 

 pointed tail. Its beak and feet were light brown ; its eyes, brownish 

 yellow. Its general coloration above was grass-green, with a trace 

 of blue in the primaries and secondaries ; below, it was greenish 

 yellow ; its upper breast, throat, and face were light greenish brown ; 

 its forehead of a bluish gray {Comirus ceruginosiis). 



I killed an oriole about the size of our Baltimore oriole ; its beak, 

 wings, tail, and spot at the base of beak and under chin black ; the 

 rest of its plumage a clear yellow (Icterus xanthornus) ; a small, 

 thick-beaked finch of a uniform glistening blue-black ( Volatmia 

 sjyleiidens) ; a ground dove like those that we killed in Curagao 

 .{Colimihigallina i^asserina) and a second one, somewhat larger, 

 and of a rufous color {C, riifij^eniiis). Around a calabash-tree we 

 saw a couple of humming-birds, and Cabell managed to shoot one. 



