66 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
Tamandua .. Taman dua t. 
tetradactyla 1 
Spiny Rat .. .Neacomys guianae 1 
Hacka .. Tayra barbara 2 
Ocelot..... Leopardus sp. 1 
Mar gay Cat ........... Mar gay tigrina 
Vigens 1 
Red Howling Monkey.. A louatta senic- 
ulus maccon- 
nelli 15 
Beesa Monkey .. Pithecia pithecia 6 
Cebus Monkey .. Cebus ap ell a 
apella 12 
Blunt-nosed Bat ....... Molossus obscurus 43 
While-bellied Bat ......? 1 
Leaf-nosed Bat ........ Phyllostomus sp. 1 
Vampire Bat . Desmodus sp. 6 
It is interesting to consider these mammals 
as a whole, and see what part they play in the 
ecology of this region. As far as we know they 
form about two-sevenths of the entire mammal¬ 
ian faun, and are classified as follows: 
Species 
Individuals 
Aquatic ....... 
. 1 
2 
Terrestrial .... 
. 4 
51 
Arboreal . 
. 8 
39 
Aerial . 
.. 4 
39 
When we add to the arboreal species those 
which spend much of their lives in trees we 
have fifteen species of ninety-five individuals, 
or seventy-five per cent, of the species, and 
sixty per cent, of the individuals, adapted for 
life in the trees of the jungle. As to feeding 
habits: 
8 are vegetarians, 5 are carnivorous, 5 are 
insectivorous, 1 is a blood feeder. 
Six species (peccaries, agutis, red howlers, 
cebus monkeys, beesa monkeys and blunt-nosed 
bats) are social—the remaining fourteen are 
usually solitary. 
The mammals which may be classed as noisy 
are six in number, and it is most significant that 
after enumerating them, I found the list identi¬ 
cal with those which I had already listed as 
social, the solitary ones being markedly silent, 
or else uttering calls at infrequent intervals. 
BIRDS OF PARADISE IN THE WEST 
INDIES* 
By William Beebe 
E VER since I first heard of the introduction 
of one of the forms of the Lesser Bird of 
Paradise, Paradise minor native of New 
Guinea, into the island of Little Tobago, I 
have been extremely anxious to learn definitely 
of the results. This I was able to do in Febru¬ 
ary when visiting Trinidad en route to British 
* Contribution No. 112, Tropical Research Station. 
Guiana, through the kindness of Mr. Henry D. 
Baker, American Consul at Port-of-Spain. Mr. 
Baker takes a very keen and intelligent interest 
in science and natural history and recently paid 
a visit to Little Tobago for the express purpose 
of learning something about these magnificent 
birds. He has very kindly furnished the ac¬ 
companying photographs and has allowed me 
to present the information which he gained. 
The introduction of birds and other forms of 
life into new countries is a very serious under¬ 
taking, and the English sparrow and starling 
in America, the mongoose in the West Indies 
and the rabbit in Australia should be warnings 
against the indiscriminate acclimatization of 
foreign organisms. But it is difficult to imagine 
birds of paradise becoming a pest, and the chief 
reason for concern in this case was the very 
probable chance of the birds failing to survive 
or to breed. 
About eleven years ago Sir William Ingram, 
the well known English publisher, secured 
about seventy-five of the lesser birds of para¬ 
dise, both males and females, and at great 
trouble and expense brought them to Little 
Tobago, where they were liberated. 
For the first year or two the birds dimin¬ 
ished in numbers, owing either to competition 
with native birds or initial difficulty in finding 
food and water. After that time they held their 
own, and during the last five or six years have 
increased largely in numbers, so the experiment 
may be pronounced a decided success. These 
splendid birds have been provided with a new 
lease on life, with the chances of extermination 
greatly reduced. 
From Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, the little 
coastal steamer Belize makes a trip around To¬ 
bago every week, and at a place called Spey 
Side on the latter island, an hour’s row carries 
one to Little Tobago itself. This channel is 
passable only in good weather and is always 
swept by a very strong current. Off Milford, 
the supposed site of the wreck of Robinson 
Crusoe’s ship, the breakers are sometimes enor¬ 
mous. The reef often resembles a terrific naval 
engagement, white waves following the line of 
coral with the speed of a torpedo and then 
breaking into a mass of spray one hundred feet 
or more high, like the geyser explosions of 
depth bombs. So the birds of paradise are well 
protected from invasion in their island home. 
Mr. Baker describes Little Tobago as 
“saddle-shaped” in appearance, the highest 
