268 
CONTENT. 
With an insect-net, however, I have repeatedly cap- 
tured specimens, having first closed the doors and 
jalousies. On the evening referred to, more Bats 
than usual resorted to the house, one and another 
flying in until the family retired to bed ; yet from 
the openness of the rooms, I obtained only the 
present specimen, a little species of Artiheus. 
On my return to Content, however, my attention 
was directed to some Bats, which every evening 
swarmed around a large and fruitful Naseherry tree, 
that overshadowed one corner of the yard. The 
Naseherry, or neesberry, the nispero of the Spanish 
colonists, and, I believe, of the native Indians 
(^Achras sapota), is one of the richest and most agree- 
able of West Indian fruits. In size and appearance 
it resembles a very rough russet apple, firm and 
fleshy, of a rich sugary sweetness ; when young, the 
fruit contains eight or nine cells, diverging from 
the axis, most of which become abortive, from one 
to three being usually found when ripe, each con- 
taining a large flat oval black seed. When green 
the fruit yields by incision, as does also the bark of 
the tree, a viscid milk, which soon acquires, by ex- 
posure to the air, a strong tenacity, and makes an 
effective birdlime. It is much used for the capture 
of the frugivorous birds, such as the Blue Quit, the 
Cashew-bird, the Banana-bird, and others, by the 
negro youths, who call the substance naseherry gum. 
The tree is large, spreading, and handsome, with 
glossy green leaves, having a tendency to crowd 
together in rosettes ; the flowers form bunches, each 
being a deep narrow cup, with white fleshy petals, 
nearly hidden by the calyx. 
