30 
COL. II. W. FEILDEN ON THE DESERTED DOMICILE 
of the Island of Dominica (London, 1791), and he briefly alludes 
(pp. 30 — 32) to the Diablotin in the following passage : — 
“The diablotin, so called by the Erencli, from its uncommonly ugly 
appearance, is nearly the size of a duck, and is web-footed. It has a big 
round head, crooked bill like a hawk, and large full eyes like an owl. Its 
head, part of the neck, chief feathers of the wings and tail, are black ; the 
other parts of its body are covered with a milk-white fine down ; and its whole 
appearance is perfectly singular. They feed on fish, flying in great flocks to 
the seaside in the night-time ; and in their flight make a disagreeable loud 
noise like owls : which bird they also resemble, by their dislike of making 
their appearance in the day-time, when they are hid in holes in the 
mountains, where they are easily caught. This is done by stopping up some 
of the holes, which lead to their hiding places, and placing empty bags over 
the rest, which communicate under-ground with those stopped : the birds 
at their usual time of going forth to seek their food in the night-time, 
finding their passage impeded, make to the holes covered with the bags ; into 
which entering, they are immediately caught ; and great numbers of them 
taken in that manner in a short time. The flesh of the diablotin is much 
admired by the French who used formerly to export great quantities of them 
salted, to Martinique and other French islands ; but the traffic was put a stop 
to by the Legislature of Dominica, who, by an Act made for apprehending 
runaway negroes, prohibited the taking of those birds : as before that time, 
the runaways being numerous in the woods, furnished great quantities of 
them, for which they had in return, from some ill-disposed white people, 
muskets, powder, and balls; which they made use of in murdering the 
English inhabitants on the plantations.” 
Mr. Frederick A. Ober, who visited Dominica in 1S76, under 
the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute, especially with the view 
of elucidating its ornithology, has in his charmingly written work, 
‘Camps in the Caribbees’ (pp. 140 — 142, et 149), referred to his 
researches in the old home of the Diablotin as follows : — 
“ In the afternoon we were painfully scaling the precipitous sides of one of 
the two peaks which form the double summit of Morne Diablotin. We 
were now in the region especially appropriated as his home by the Diablotin 
or ‘Little Devil;’ and anxiously we searched, as we scrambled over the 
loose rock, for some trace of the hole in which he lived. 
“ Wherever I had been in the island I had heard of the diablotin, and 
my curiosity was excited to such a degree that I determined to clear away 
the mystery which surrounded it. For thirty years it had remained unseen. 
Many treated as a myth this story of a bird living in the mountains (for 
it is a bird) so long a period without appearing to human vision. But 
sufficient proof existed, in my opinion, to warrant a search for it. The older 
