38 
COL. H. W. EEILDEN OX THE DESERTED DOMICILE 
the midst of a forest with foliage so dense that one could scarce see 
the sky through it.'" I made particular enquiries from my guides as 
to the manner in which the birds departed and left their burrows. 
The old negro said, that when they left their burrows at night, they 
called out ; when they returned in the morning they made no noise, 
but plumped down through the trees on to their stomachs, at some 
distance from their holes, and crawled to them, so that this beaten- 
down track was quite sufficient to show an occupied hole. After 
searching for a couple of hours my guides begged me to desist, as 
my continuing to do so was useless, for, they said, if there was 
a bird on the mountain, our dogs, that aro trained to hunting 
the Agouti, would certainly havo detected the rank smell of 
a Diablotin. “ See how the dogs go to the holes, and take 
no notice. I tell you, the ‘ Manacou ’ has destroyed them, there is 
not one left. Years ago the ‘ Manacou ’ never came here ; now they 
are common to the tops of the mountains ; besides, wo have not 
seen a feather. There is no good looking more.” I felt that this was 
true, so I descended the mountain, and returned to the “ ajupa.” 
Being joined there by the 'Commodore and Dr. Borne, we brewed 
ourselves a good cup of tea, and had something to eat. Our 
followers had an ample breakfast, and greatly refreshed thereby, 
we dashed down the steep descent, swinging ourselves, in some 
places, rather recklessly from branch to branch, but the Commodore 
was pressed for time. Saying adieu to Dr. and Mrs. Bornet at 
their house door, we hurried down to the shore, and were on board 
the ‘Active’ by 1.30 p.m. An hour after, the squadron was 
under sail for Antigua, and I on my way to Boseau to catch 
the return mail to Barbados. Thus ended our reconnaissance of 
the haunts of the 1 Diablotin ’ in Dominica, and I am afraid 
we must also add, the deserted ones. 
*1 am informed by Sir Edward Newton that the congener of the 
Diablotin in Jamaica, CE. jamaicensis (Bancroft), selects similar situations 
for its breeding places in that island. Prom information I gathered during 
recent visits to Jamaica, I am led to believe that the “ Mongoose,” intro- 
duced of late 3 r ears for the purpose of keeping down Rats, has invaded the 
breeding haunts of the Jamaica Petrel ; this, if a fact, will certainly involve 
the extirpation of the species. 
f If is with great regret I have to record that Dr. Borne died at Prince 
Rupert’s Bay very shortly after our visit. He was a young man of excellent 
promise, and highly respected. 
