small as the bird at such a season would retire to quiet secluded areas, seldom visited by dogs or humans. Owing to the rarity of the species, observer personally saw little of its habits and economy but gathered some reasonably re- liable data from others and puts it hereunder, but does not vouch for the complete accuracy of it. This may be gauged from the following. By local accounts the bird was more plentiful about the northern swamps (St. Joseph) but when observer visited the areas on several occasions not a single specimen was seen nor did signs point to its presence in numbers and on questioning owners of the swamps they admitted seeing only 2 or 3 specimens a year in recent years, though in the past numbers were plentiful. The amount of damage reported and visible seemed to bear out the conclusions that the birds were present in small numbers and rapidly decreasing. Observer saw more birds and signs of the species in the dryer but intensive garden cultivation areas of the higher central portion of the island (where yams and sweet potatoes were much cultivated) than in swamp areas, either in the north or south, the northern swamps showing a slightly greater population than the southern. The above fact seemed to point to the possibility of the big cyclone in the early thirties being somewhat responsible for the decrease in numbers, as the southern swamp areas suffered salt water inundation to a greater degree than the northern. Questioning of locals seemed to reveal that rapid decrease had taken place long before that. I have no doubt great numbers of nests and eggs were flooded and destroyed by the cyclone and possibly numbers of young also perished, and to a less extent adults