CLARK: LESSER ANTILLEAN BIRDS. 
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wing; both were males. Dr. Manning tells me that he has taken 
two pure white examples at Black Rock. 
These, like the others of the genus, are bright, active birds, with a 
great variety of notes. They are very noisy, keeping up an inces¬ 
sant jabbering when in a tree. Sometimes they will all suddenly 
become quiet, then give out a number of notes like “ chee, chee” 
sounding then like a Hock of Redwings (Agelaius phoeniceus). 
This only lasts a minute or so, then the jabbering begins again. 
The latter is a characteristic mixture of varied notes, and, if not 
sweet, certainly is not unpleasant. 
This bird has a number of peculiar postures. One will be walk¬ 
ing about, and suddenly stop, smooth down its feathers, point its 
bill straight up in the air, and hold this position a minute or so. 
Often two do this together, facing each other. 
The song is a series of four whistling notes, the first and third 
strongly accented, and the last weak and prolonged. The local 
rendering of the song is: “ We sha'n’t be long” In singing, the bird 
ruffles up all its feathers, throws back its head, spreads its tail, and 
slightly spreads its wings. In Hying, as Ligon noticed, the tail ap¬ 
pears to be held in all sorts of ways; but on alighting it is usually 
brought down, spread out, and keeled, acting as a brake. About 
houses this bird is very tame, but in the country it is shy. 
The nest is large and coarse, and there are usually several in the 
same tree. As a rule it is placed from six to fifteen feet from the 
ground. The eggs are generally three, light green, with black and 
dark brown spots, blotches, and scrawls, like those on the eggs of 
the Redwing (Agelaius phoeniceus). 
Schomburgk says that this species is “said to have been intro¬ 
duced into Demerara, where they are now numerous. As a counter- 
present, Barbados received its crapaux \Bufo agua ] from that col¬ 
ony.” It has also been introduced into St. Croix, St. Kitts, and 
Antigua. 
