Johnston's hands for his use in the systematic account of the plants to be published elsewhere. The number of bird species found in the entire Pearl Islands is remarkably small compared to the adjacent mainland.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — VVETMORE 7
MIGRANT SPECIES
106 of these, Cathartes aura teter, is a migrant from western North of these, Cathartes aura teter, is a migrant from western North America; another, Cathartes aura aura, is the resident form of Panama. The third, curiously enough, appears to be a representative of the form found in north-western South America, which is now called Cathartes aura ruHcollis.
ANNOTATED LIST OF SPECIES
The grey-breasted martin, Progne chalyhca clialyhea, and the blue-headed parrot or casanga, Pionus mensfruus, appear to be migrants from breeding grounds on the mainland, although they are present in numbers for a short season. The yellow-green vireo was present in abundance at San Jose upon our early arrival.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 9
On September 9, 1937, Robert Cushman Murphy shot two of these shells half a mile off the east coast of San Jose. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE WETMORE ISLAND To date I have recorded only what appears to be unusual, as the birds are common there.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND WETMORE II only record to date, which seems strange as the birds are common on
On Pedro Gonzalez Day on March 9 and again on March 11, I found hundreds on the shore and in the water in the small village of Cocal. In many places these birds go to fresh or slightly brackish waters, so it is interesting to find them exclusively and in large numbers in the salty waters of the sea.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND WETMORE I3 through some opening among the trees to see a frigate-bird or two
I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND WETMORE I3 through an opening between the trees to see a frigate bird or two. I March I recorded an adult bird in blue-gray dress and two others in white phase at the mouth of the Rio Marina.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 1 5
Iti panagakar idiay Laud nga Indies (dagiti espesimen a makita manipud iti Kuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Tortola, Sombrero, Barbuda, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Isla Mayer, Grenadinas, Barbados, Isla ti Swan, Isla ti Dakkel a Mais), Mehiko (Nayarit, Rio Coahuyana iti nagbaetan ti Colima ken Michoacan, Guerrero, Tallo nga Is-isla Marias, Tamaulipas, Tlascala, Quintana Roo, Chiapas ken Tengnga nga Amerika (Corinto, Nicaragua; Guanacaste, Costa Rica; Garray Creek, Perme, Bocas del Toro, Changuinola ken Darien, Panama).Ti atiddog -billed bancrofti ket maysa a nagsayaat a tampok para iti panangilasin kadagiti indibidual iti daytoy a puli iti kasasaad ti migrante iti abagatan ti sakup ti panagpaaduna, a sadiay ket sumrek iti teritorio ti dakkel ti billna a bancrofti.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 1
Then comes the "Jamaica Night Heron," the basis of Gmelin's name, which Latham notes he received from Jamaica "where it goes by the name of Clucking Hen. Has a great affinity to the female Night Heron, but is larger." The description is of an immature night heron, but which species it is impossible to determine with certainty. It may be added that in Jamaica the clucking hen of the countrymen is a limpkin and not a night heron.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE I9
20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06 Nyctanassa violacea caliginis Wetmore
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND
In the National Museum there is, however, an adult male from Los Reyes, Michoacan, with a wing of 372 mm., a female from Hacienda Angostura, Rio Verde, San Luis Potosi, with a wing of 365 mm., and a female from Chamelicon, Honduras, with a 365mm wing. However, they were more common along the sea, where they rested on low trees along the edges of low cliffs, or on rocks in more open places. In habits they reminded me a lot of night herons, as they would remain motionless for long periods, resting with their necks drawn when still, or their heads in the air when.
At such times the shortness of the legs in contrast to the length of the neck was very evident.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND WETMORE 2^
Morrison observed turkey vultures regularly, and on May 12th secured a female, which, although fully grown in all respects, was conspicuous as a bird of the year by its dark beak and considerable bulk. Murphy collected three more on November 24, 1945, which give a much better understanding of the occurrence of forms of this bird on the island. A longer tail and a more greyish shade of brown bordering on the wing coverts are telltale signs.
Although immature birds of the North American subspecies are blacker than the adults, none approach the South American birds in depth of color, while the edges of the wing coverts are much lighter.
26 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06 conspicuous and could not have been overlooked, since I had been
The close alliance between the two kites is indicated by their distribution in the same genus in which no others are included. In the adult plumbeous kite this mark always remains, while in the fully grown Mississippi kite it is absent. The Great-billed Hawk, well known in a number of geographic ranges throughout most of tropical America, was fairly common on San Jose Island, where we secured specimens on February 14, March 3 and 6, April 14 and 16, and May i. .
Because they sat in the upper branches of trees, they were usually hidden by leaves, so I usually only noticed them when I heard their strange, whining cries or.
28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND WETMORE 29 The adult in life appears black with a prominent white band across
30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06 FALCO COLUMBARIUS COLUMBARIUS Linnaeus: Eastern Pigeon Hawk
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 3I
32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06 Family Haematopodidae
Morrison collected an immature male on August 13, an early date for the return of this far north migrant. Spotted sandpipers, like migrants from the north, spread in small numbers on the rocky areas adjacent to the headlands along SanJose's shores. Morrison shot a female that was beginning to molt in the spotted breast of the breeding season on April 6.
On February 20th I shot three of a dozen found around some rocky headlands bounded by a sandy beach on the east side of San Jose.
34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06 Family Stercorariidae
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 35
As the times flowed by watching me descend into the treetops. Our series of five males raised from San Jose is decidedly darker than the specimens from Costa Rica, the type locality of the race pallidikrissa. This ground pigeon, in 1944, was of local distribution in San Jose, being confined to fairly open grassy areas on a hill in East Harbor and the small, open section on Bald Hill in the north of the island.
The series from San Jose includes four women who agree with Todd's observations that three women he had examined by him.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND WETMORE 37
38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I06 OREOPELEIA MONTANA MONTANA (Linnaeus) : Ruddy Quail-dove
Sturgis^^ reported this species as seen on Pedro Gonzalez, this being the only previous record for the Pearl Islands. The first of these birds was recorded on San Jose at the beginning of May with the ripening of the fruit of the membrillo near the. Others were taken on June 3, 4, and 17, and two were secured on June 8 from tall trees of the settlement of San Sebastian on Pedro Gonzalez Island.
These specimens, including immature birds and fully feathered adults, appear identical to those from the mainland.
40 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 4I
Murphy further reports that on 22 November he heard the drone of the other nighthawk species, Chordeiles minor, above the clearing at the headquarters. Oberholser, in the reference above, described the breeding nighthawks of this species from Mexico and Central America as two separate subspecies, Chordeiles acutipennis inferior from Baja California, and C. micromeris from the rest of the area. Van Rossem-^ has demonstrated that the supposed characters of the bird of Baja California do not hold, a fact which is evident on comparing specimens.
He unites them under the name of micromeris, a full account of which will be found on page 100 of Oberholser's work. while the account of the inferior occurs on page 109. in litt.), draws my attention to the fact that Oberholser, in a key to the races on page 24, gives his two supposed forms, with the characters clearly indicated which distinguish them from the nearest relative.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 43
44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06 CHLOROSTILBON ASSIMILIS Lawrence: Allied Emerald Hummingbird
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 45
In the dark shadows of the denser growth they were difficult to see, but they had considerable curiosity and often approached me. By March 7, several males began singing early in the morning, repeating a single note suggestive of the song of the black-crested ant of Pedro Gonzalez and the mainland. The series of specimens does not appear to differ from mainland birds.
The first of these little flycatchers I saw in San Jose, on February 27th, was on the lower branches of trees in a fairly open forest on the banks of the Rio Marina.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 49
However, there seems to be differences in their breeding, as I shot a young bird on March 3rd in fledgling dress and by the end of the year. We secured 11 specimens at San Jose and 3 more at Pedro Gonzalez, where I found them in fair numbers on March 9th and 11th. Characterized by their smaller size, these Elaines were less common than the larger species in San Jose, but were still not rare, as we secured 13 specimens.
In February and early March they nested, and on March 6 a mating pair flew through the camp several times, entering once.
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND WETMORE 5I
52 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06 HIRUNDO RUSTICA ERYTHROGASTER Boddaert: Barn Swallow
Although this is a sighting record, I have no hesitation in including it here as a valid event as there was no doubt about the identity of the birds. These vireos were scattered over the forests of San Jose upon my arrival in the first week of February, and continued to be among the most common birds of the island throughout my stay. The song is generally similar to that of the red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus) of eastern North America, but differs so clearly as to be characteristic.
These vireos were perched in the middle and upper branches of the trees, searching for their food in typical relaxed vireo fashion.
54 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND — WETMORE 55 male that assumed the same attitude and pecked insistently at one
I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND – WETMORE 55male that took the same position and persistently pecked at it.
56 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06 Birds from Pedro Gonzalez agree with those from San Jose in these
I BIRDS OF THE ISLAND OF SAN JOSE WETMORE 57 DENDROICA CASTANEA (Wilson): Wood Warbler DENDROICA CASTANEA (Wilson): Wood Warbler Sylviacastatiea Wilson, American Ornithology, vol.2, 1810, p. These waterthrushes were quite common in San Jose during February and March, with some apparently moving north as early as February 11. It was more common to encounter them among the jumbled boulders behind the sandy beaches and rocky outcrops, which is more common. a normal habitat, so that some of the latter probably belonged to the winter resident group.
Four birds with the typical shape were obtained on February 11, March 5 and 8 and April 2.
58 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I06
NO. I BIRDS OF SAN JOSE ISLAND WETMORE 59 THRAUPIS EPISCOPUS DIACONUS (Lesson): Blue Tanager
Pelicans and Cormorants over a School of Fish on the East Side of San Jose Island. February 24, 1944
