74



S. Porter—A West Indian Diary



was no exception. One of my chief reasons for visiting Jamaica was

to find out something more regarding the status of this exceedingly

rare Parrot. In a previous article in the Magazine written after

a short stay in Jamaica in 1929, I stated that I thought the birds

were extinct. I now find that this generalization was formed after

a too hasty conclusion by having made inquiries in parts where the

bird, though formerly found, has now disappeared. This time I was

more fortunate in being able to visit districts ordinarily inaccessible

to the casual traveller visiting Jamaica. By boarding an “ intermediate

liner ”, which is the polite and official designation of a tramp steamer,

I was able to circle the whole island, often stopping at small and obscure

ports in our search for cargoes of rum, spices, dye-woods, etc., etc.

One such place was Falmouth, a tiny tropical town and a place more

unlike its English namesake it would be impossible to imagine, a

reminder of the far off and prosperous days of slavery, with many

decaying mansions and planters’ houses—a mute reminder of the distant

days of affluence. Except for the shipping now and then of casks

of rum and bags of sugar and annotto, nothing disturbs the atmosphere

of laissez-faire which pervades the place. From this tiny seaport

I made a journey of 25 miles or so into an incredibly lovely district

in the mountains. I had an introduction to a lady who was staying

there, a keen entomologist, and meeting there another lady I was in

turn introduced to a third lady, the mistress of a girls’ high school

situated in the most beautiful and romantic spot possible to imagine ;

the virgin forest came down to the very edge of the school grounds,

and from the balconies of the house it was possible to see the far distant

mountains of Cuba. From this lady I learned quite a lot about the

Parrots, that this species, A. agilis, still exists in very small numbers

in a certain nearby and very mountainous district. It is very much

rarer than its congener, the Collared Amazon, and in fact is possibly the

rarest of all the known Amazons, including even the very rare Imperials

and Guildings. In common with A . collaria, it raids the corn plantations

of the natives where it does considerable damage to the growing crops.

This bird seems to move about in certain restricted parts of the island

at different times of the year. During the time I was in Jamaica it

was breeding far away in the deepest recess of the mountain forests.



