5 ° 
BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 
singular, as well as pleasing, to see and hear on one of these lonely 
and almost desert keys, this graceful bird, mounted on the topmost 
spray of some dwarf shrub, singing with as much fervor and satisfac- 
tion as if surrounded by listeners, instead of having for sole auditor 
his faithful mate. The pairs seem to keep together after the period 
of incubation has passed, as all I met with, as early as February, 
were mated, and the inhabitants stated that they did not lay before 
May ; and the sexual organs of all those dissected by me showed no 
appearance of excitement. In its habits it differs very much from 
our common species, delighting as much in solitude as the latter 
does in the society of mankind. Its food, during my visit, consisted 
almost entirely of the fruit of the prickly pear, with the addition of 
an occasional insect. I presume that the insectivorous part of its 
diet is proportionally greater when it inhabits the larger islands, but 
on the barren keys, on which I procured my specimens, insects are 
almost unknown, at least if I am to judge from the number seen 
by myself. The stomachs of all those procured by me contained 
a quantity of the seeds of the prickly pear, and a few remains of 
insects ; and the feathers near the bill of all of them were stained red 
by the juice of the fruit.” 
None were observed on the island of New Providence by our 
party, although there is no reason why they should not be found 
there, and the inhabitants claim that they are occasionally met with 
in the vicinity of Nassau, but only on rare occasions. 
