2[)2 ^ Holiday in the West Indies. 
A Holiday in the West Indies. 
By A. SUTCLIFFE. 
continued from page 262. 
I look(;d in vain for our old iriend tlie Nonpareil 
Bunting. Its range does not extend so far South, and neither 
this beautiful favourite nor his cousin the Indigo were in 
evidence. The roads are fenced with barbed wire, fixed on 
posts at convenient intervals, and when you leave the immedi- 
ate vicinity of the Towns, numerous finches can be seen 
perching on the wire and posts. The Grey Finch (Spermo- 
phila grisea) is very common, and I have seen upwards of 
100 in a flock. They are very fair songsters. Their song 
reminds one very much of our Brown Linnet's, it is quite as 
continuous and is very sweet. They are met with all over 
the Island and appear to be quite as numerous there as the 
House Sparrow here. Black-headed Lined Finches (iS'. ocellata) 
were fairly common. They were however in small parties of 
three or four. That pretty little bird the Fire Red Finch 
(S. minuta) could be frequently seen, and the same applies 
to the Gutteral Finch (S. gutturalis). You can however only 
indentify the males, as their mates appear all alike at even 
a short distance, and it has been a very difficult matter to 
definitely indentify some of the hens even when caged, where 
they can be closely observed. At this season (January), Siskins 
were very scarce, and I must confess that I only saw one 
Hooded, and 1 cannot remember having seen a single Colum- 
bian, although at certain seasons they are said to be fairly 
numerous. On the other hand Red-legged Sugar Birds, Black 
and Yellow Creepers (Certhiola luteola) and Purple Sugar 
l^)iiHls, were to be met with whenever you left the beaten 
track. It is very difficult to imagine a more beautiful sight 
than a Hock of Red-legged Sugar Birds (Yellow -winged Sugar 
Birds) feeding in the bright sunshine, I am convinced they 
feed more on insects than we give them credit for doing, as 
you can see them fly from a branch and snap up passing 
insects, or searching the under side of leaves. I must confess 
there were many birds I could not identify and I am making 
no attempt to describe or try to identify the Humming birds. 
These little gems will work practically undei' one's nose, and 
