148 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVIII 
The cavity was neatly made and chips of soft palm fibre at the bottom formed quite 
a comfortable bed for a woodpecker. 
Todus multicolor. Cuban Tody. Common in the scrub, and ridiculously tame and 
friendly. One is usually first made aware of their presence by their curious clattering 
note, which seems much too loud for such a tiny body. By keeping quite still I have 
often had them hop up almost within arm’s reach, apparently through sheer curiosity. 
The coloring is bold and beautiful. 
Tolmarchus caudifasciatus. Cuban Kingbird. Very common. During March these 
birds seemed to be always in small groups of five or six individuals, and I saw no evi- 
dence of nesting up to the time I left last April. On June 8, 1914, I found a nest with 
small young, in the upright forks of a large cactus, and I have observed many old 
nests probably of this species in similar situations. Apparently May is the month for 
fresh eggs and I have just missed it in recent years. 
Icterus hypomelas. Cuban Oriole. Fairly common in more open places, particu- 
Fig. 41. Between the Trails: U. S. Naval Station, Guantanamo 
Bay, Cuba 
larly among palms, where it builds its nest. It also frequents trees about houses and 
gardens like some of our northern species. On the 25th of March, 1915, I located a 
nest by watching a pair of the birds. The structure was entirely invisible from the 
ground, being attached to the under side of a dead and pendant palm frond. It is com- 
posed entirely of fine fibres of the same material, neatly and substantially woven in the 
usual icterine manner. On the above date the nest was empty but apparently ready for 
eggs, so I returned six days later expecting a set- No birds were about but there was 
one egg, which, to my surprise, was quite unlike that of any oriole familiar to me, being 
decidedly Molothrus - like in type. Although I had seen no cowbirds at any time, I sus- 
pected that it might have been deposited by one of these vagrants, but upon subsequent 
enquiry Dr. Richmond informed me that there was no cowbird in Cuba. It is experi- 
ences like this that make egg collecting a difficult matter in foreign countries. 
Melopyrrha nigra. Cuban Bullfinch. This bird, which is not a true bullfinch, Dr. 
Richmond tells me, is found only in Cuba, though there is an allied species in Grand 
