82



S. Porter—A West Indian Diary



First of all I tried a mixture of crushed biscuit, banana and paw-paw.

The only available thing for feeding the birds was a fountain pen

filler but this was utterly inadequate. We then tried a small spoon

but the birds refused to accept this ; at last I tried to feed them by

giving them the food out of my mouth, but this too was a failure. I was

not terribly worried for the birds were excessively fat and could at the

worst, fast for a day or so until some suitable means were found.


They were covered with a damp towel so that none of the food

got on their feathers. At first the young birds uttered loud querulous

cries which I was afraid would keep the crew awake all night. Eventually

they quietened down and I hardly ever heard them utter these crie&

after the first four or five days. They were all extremely lively except

just after they had been fed when they all huddled up together and slept.

It was surprising to see the assiduous way in which the birds preened

not only themselves, but their companions. As mentioned before,

the young birds exactly resembled the adults in plumage, also the bill

was the same colour, a bright yellow, but was soft and fleshy. The birds

squatted on their “ heels ” and there seemed to be a small pad similar

to that mentioned by Beebe, which he noticed in nestling Toucans.


The nestling birds seemed to feel the heat of the lowlands very-

much and I always kept them in the shade or in a darkened room. In

spite of this I lost one of the best while in Port-au-Prince where the

heat was terrific.


The Collared Amazon nests in holes in the highest forest trees,,

far out of the reach of any enemies except the native boys, who mark,

down the trees and watch the progress of the young birds with a view to>

taking them to rear and sell eventually in Kingston. The price seems

to be about 10s. to £1. Two or three eggs seem to be the usual

clutch.



{To be continued)



