54



S. Porter—A West Indian Diary



stopped yet. The massacre of bird-life in the Bahamas was greatly

accentuated by the slaves after they were given their freedom, when

they slaughtered, and still do, every feathered creature for food, until

to-day the bird-life is but a mere remnant of its former numbers.

And the Parrots of which Columbus says flocks darkened the skies,

are now reduced to a few individuals living on one single island of the

many hundreds which make up this group ; a similar fate has happened

to the vast flocks of Flamingos ( Phoenicopterus ruber) which also lived

on the Bahamas.


I was told that the dearth of small birds on New Providence was

due firstly to hurricanes, and secondly to the natives who nearly all

possess catapults and kill almost every small bird. The first explana¬

tion is hardly likely, for the hurricanes have always occurred in these

islands and yet the birds were there originally in their thousands.

Certainly small birds are conspicuous by their absence.


The following are a few of the birds observed during a very short

stay at Nassau.


The bird one sees as one nears the islands is a gull which superficially

looks like our familiar Black-headed Gull but on close acquaintanceship

with it one sees that it differs considerably in having the whole of the

back and wings a darkish grey. This is the American Laughing Gull

(Larus atricilla). It is first observed miles from the islands far out

at sea when it comes to follow in the wake of the steamers for scraps

thrown overboard. It flies around the docks and harbour on the look¬

out for an odd scrap of fish or meat, but I never saw one perch on quays

or sea-walls for doubtless the birds have learned the kind of reception

they would get from the hands of the black population. This bird

is if anything a shade smaller than the Black-headed Gull and is much

more light and graceful in flight.


In and around Nassau one sees a great many Kingbirds or as we

know them in this country, Tyrants. Whether these are the real

Pitangus bahamensis, I do not know, for I was told that owing to

most of the indigenous species being exterminated many exotic species 1

have been introduced both from North and South America. The

Kingbirds in their habits resemble Flycatchers, always being seen on

the topmost branches of trees, on telegraph wires or any other point



