261 
on the Birds of St. Croix. 
luminees f and we have accordingly considered the two names 
as equivalents. This bird is very local in St. Croix, only fre¬ 
quenting, as far as we know, the large Lagoon on the south 
side of the island, before mentioned; but it is there pretty 
numerous, and breeds. 
“ This species is very noisy, especially in the evening; and 
when a gun is fired in their haunts, they may be heard on every 
side. They are very shy, and not easily shot, as, on approach¬ 
ing, they are seen running across the shallow water or hopping 
from root to root of the Mangroves, looking like so many rats, 
to take refuge among the thickest of the bushes, not even showing 
themselves again as long as danger is apparent. The only adult 
specimen I obtained was shot by Mr. 0. Salvin, July 21st, 1858, 
when I visited the lagoon with him. As we walked up to the spot, 
I saw two of these birds on a muddy flat some way from the water; 
but before I could put the caps on my gun, they both disappeared 
in the bushes, leaving behind them, however, a young one which 
could not have been long hatched. This I immediately caught; 
and remaining perfectly still for ten minutes or so, one of the old 
birds reappeared, to fall a victim to its maternal anxiety. The iris 
of this example was reddish hazel; the upper part of the upper 
mandible and tip of the lower brown, the base of both reddish; 
the legs liver-colour, redder on the front of the tibiae, the claws 
umber. Its stomach contained a portion of a crab, and a few 
shells. The young bird was completely clothed in black down 
with a greenish gloss; the bill with the under mandible and 
distal half of the upper, as well as an elongated patch over each 
nostril, bright scarlet; the rest livid black.”—E. N. 
t 46. Green Heron. Butorides virescens, Bp. Ardea vi- 
rescens, L.; Wils. pi. 61. fig. 1; Aud. pi. 333. Herodias vi¬ 
rescens , Bp. ( olim ). “ Green Gaulin.” 
This pretty little Heron is very common, and, as before men¬ 
tioned, is one of the birds especially tyrannized over by the 
Chicheree (Tyrannus dominicensis , Bp.). Of a mild and inoffen¬ 
sive disposition, it merely protests against the system of bullying 
to which it is subjected, by a few loud and hoarse croaks, and, 
after evading one or two of its enemy’s stoops, drops helplessly 
into the nearest covert, which is often so dense that one wonders 
VOL. i. 
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