Extinct birds : $b An attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical timesRothschild, Lionel Walter Rothschild, Baron
Science
Extinct birds : $b An attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times
Rothschild, Lionel Walter Rothschild, Baron
Birds; Extinct birds
"It is a night-bird, living in burrows in the marly clefts of the mountains
at the east and north-east end of the island. The burrows form a gallery 6
to 10 feet long, terminating in a chamber sufficiently commodious to
accommodate the pair; from this they sally forth at night, flying over the
sea in search of food (fishes), returning before dawn. It is often seen on
moonlight nights and at sunrise running about the neighbourhood of its
domicile, and sometimes crossing the road, regardless of the labourers
going to their work. I know nothing of its nidification." {158}
The type of "_Pterodroma caribbaea_" is preserved in the Dublin Museum, and
three specimens are in the British Museum. This bird is one of the rarest
in collections, and all modern collectors have failed to obtain specimens.
Quite recently (1906) Mr. B. Hyatt Verrill published a pamphlet entitled
"Additions to the Avifauna of Dominica." In this unpaginated essay he said
under the heading "_Aestrelata jamaicensis_": "Not uncommon (on Dominica),
but seldom seen during the day. Breeds at La Bime, Pointe Guignarde, and
Lance Bateaux, as well as at Morne Rouge and Scott's Head. In many of the
above localities the musky odour of these birds is very pronounced when
passing the cliffs, wherein they breed, on a calm evening. At dusk they may
often be seen flying about the cliffs in company with myriads of bats that
spend the day in the fissures and crevices. They are very difficult to
procure, and although shot at repeatedly only two specimens have been
obtained."
From all former evidence we might have well considered this species to be
extinct, but if Mr. Verrill's statement is correct it would be far from
exterminated. I do not, however, know if the Dominica specimens have been
compared with Jamaica examples, and if Mr. Verrill's determination
(apparently made on Dominica) is therefore correct.
Habitat: Jamaica. {159}
AESTRELATA HASITATA (KUHL).
_Procellaria hasitata_ (sic) Kuhl, Beitr. z. Zool. Temminck, Pl. Col.
416 (1826); Gould, B Australia VII, pl. 47 (1845).
_Procellaria diabolica_ Lafresnaye, Rev. Zool. 1844, p. 168.
_Procellaria meridionalis_ Lawrence, Ann. Lyceum N.Y. IV, p. 475
(1848-- ), V, pl. 15, p. 220 (1852).
_Procellaria rubritarsi_ Newton, Zoologist 1852, p. 3692 (ex Gould's
MS., descr. nulla).
_Aestrelata haesitata_ Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. XLII, p. 768 (1856),
Elliot, B. N. America II. pl. 60, fig. 1 (1868); Rothsch. & Hart, New
Edition of "Naumann" XII, p. 20 (1903).
_Aestrelata diabolica_ Bonap., Consp. Av. II, p. 189 (1855).
_Oestrelata haesitata_ Newton, Ibis 1870, p. 277; Dresser, B. Europe
VIII, p. 545, pl. 618 (1880); Stevens, B. of Norfolk, III, p. 361, pl.
4 (1890); Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXV, p. 403 (1896).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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