S. Porter—A West Indian Diary



57



doubt also on insects. Some years ago I was familiar with a sub¬

species of this bird on the island of Dominica where it was very common

and took the same place amongst the avifauna that the Sparrow does

in England. Speaking about Sparrows reminds me that the Bahamas

are one of the few places where the English Sparrow does not appear

to have established itself. It had certainly been introduced, but why it

should fail to find a foothold is rather a mystery, possibly the hurricanes

are too much for it.


The Bahama Bullfinch would make a delightful cage-bird and would

no doubt readily breed, but I don’t know whether it has been imported;

I rather think the sub-species from Jamaica has been. G-osse speaks

of this bird ( Pyrrhulagra violacea ruficollis) and calls it the Cotton-

tree Sparrow in his Birds of Jamaica and says that he kept it in captivity

and also the Tanager which he calls the “ Cashew Bird ”.


In common with other parts of the world, most birds on the Bahamas

are found around the old plantations of the natives. Outside Nassau

there are few gardens or fields, as we know them, as there is very

little soil lying on the coral rock. The method of cultivation seems to

be to scrape the soil into holes on the rocky surface and there plant, if

the hole is large enough, perhaps a banana plant or a fruit tree, or if it

is too small for these, a maize plant is put in, hence the plantations

consist of an odd plant here and there growing amidst a tangle of weeds.

This type of land attracts numerous birds, the most conspicuous of which

is the variously named Ani, Savanah Cuckoo, Rain-bird ( Crotophaga

ani), etc. This strange relation of the cuckoo is found on most of the

West Indian Islands where it is always the first bird seen by the newcomer

to the islands. It is totally unlike any other bird I know of both in

appearance and habits. About 14 or 15 inches in length it is a glossy

iridescent black in colour and it has a peculiar boat-shaped tail which

never seems to be quite properly fastened to the body. It has a very

distinctive lazy flopping flight but it never seems to fly far, usually

off the ground into some nearby bush or tree. The bird is at home in

the meadows or savanahs where the cattle graze and is seen in small

flock or family parties of about six or seven. When disturbed the birds

take off one after another and fly in single file until they alight one

above the other on some sloping branch.



