CURACAO AGAIN. 139 



birds, with a white streak in each wing. Cabell got a long shot and 

 struck one, but failed to get it. They were very shy, and we got 

 no more shots at them. We also saw a number of doves or pigeons 

 of a smaller size, intermediate between this and the ground dove. 

 They were all flying at a distance and we got no shots. Later I 

 shot a sparrow-hawk, a female, marked like ours, above reddish 

 brown with black bars, its head bluish gray above with traces of 

 rusty on the scalp ; below whitish, streaked with brown, its thighs 

 whitish, cere and feet yellow, eyes brown, beak horn-blue, black at 

 the tip [Tinmmculus sjjcirverms hrevlj^ennis). 



When we reached the tamarind-trees near the old convent, we 

 found them in bloom and perfectly sw^arming with humming-birds. 

 In a few minutes we got twenty-four ; but as there were but two 

 species among them, we killed no more. They were the ruby and 

 topaz [Chrysolamjns moscliltus) and the small emerald green [Chlo- 

 rostilhon atala). We started back shortly after eight, and on the 

 way we flushed some more partridges, but failed to get any. We 

 found in a scrubby cactus the nest of one of the little dark-colored 

 finches. It was almost spherical, with a hole in one side, and con- 

 tained three eggs much like those of our field-sparrow. The ruby 

 and topaz humming-birds that we killed were in very poor plumage, 

 their bodies covered with undeveloped pin-feathers. We reached 

 the hotel about half past nine, and after breakfast worked for sev- 

 eral hours skinning our birds. In the afternoon we went for a 

 long drive, this time in a northerly direction and beyond the monas- 

 tery. Everything looked beautiful. The roads were well kept and 

 ran between high hedges of the club cactus. Notwithstanding the 

 mountains, there is a good deal of level land. In all of the little 

 valleys there are small embankments, or dams, built across at inter- 

 vals, — just as we make ice-ponds, — to catch any rain that may 

 fall, and let the water soak in instead of runnino- off. I saw auan- 

 tities of the lizards that I saw when here before. It was cloudy 

 in the morning, and rained after breakfast, but held up before we 

 went out for our drive, so we found it very cool and pleasant. 



