ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
105 
BLACK-EARED GALAPAGOS MOCKINGBIRD. NESOMIMUS 
MELANOTIS (GOULD) IN THE IMMATURE PLUMAGE WITH 
SPOTTED BREAST. 
So tame were these birds that they sang within arm’s length. 
was equally unable to surmount. It then turned 
and swam against the current toward the row¬ 
boat from which I had launched it. I tried this 
experiment several times with similar results. 
The creature floated high and showed no oscilla¬ 
tion due to breathing, and with the average 
longevity of these animals it could have covered 
almost any number of miles 
if forced to do so, either 
across or against any ordi¬ 
nary current. 
The song-bird of the 
Galapagos is a mocking¬ 
bird, peculiar to these 
islands. Its character illus¬ 
trates the effect of man’s 
absence, and no sooner had 
we landed than several flew 
out on the sand to examine 
us, wholly without fear. 
Every now and then they 
would fly up to a thorny 
twig and give vent to deli¬ 
cious outbursts of typical 
mocker medley, sweet and 
harsh notes intermingled. 
Those living in the Zoo¬ 
logical Park were caught 
without trouble. For a 
crumb they would alight on 
our nets or guns, and pay 
with another song. The little 
doves, with their dull, wine- 
colored bodies and whitish 
wings, were less familiar. 
They had perhaps learned a 
little wisdom since the time 
of Dampier, when they 
would alight on the hats and 
arms of the sailors and in 
return were knocked down 
by scores. Both the mock¬ 
ingbirds and the doves which 
I brought home are feeding 
well and are apparently 
happy in their aviary. 
The hawks were so tame 
that we could sometimes 
touch them with a hand or 
a stick, and the one which 
we brought home alive was 
knocked over by my artist, 
who, while painting at his 
easel, was so bothered by the 
bird that he threw a stick at 
it in sheer exasperation, stunned it, and it is 
now in perfect condition. 
Gulls, Penguins and Cormorants were the 
three remaining species which we captured 
and brought to the Zoological Park alive. 
Three downy, nestling Fork-tailed Galapagos 
Gulls (Creagrus furcatus ) were picked up at 
A FIFTY POUND GALAPAGOS LAND TORTOISE. 
The tortoise easily swam against the current in twenty fathoms of water. 
