and fully feathered. The contour plumage is soft and short, “bone
brown” on the under parts and somewhat darker above; the wings and
tail are glossy, purplish black, much like those of the adult; the
bill is smaller and less specialized than that of the adult. On
account of the extended breeding season, it is difficult to give
any definite dates for the molts. I have seen a young male, taken
March 7, that was just completing the molt of the wings and tail,
but the body plumage was still juvenal; from this I infer that
the juvenal plumage may be worn for the whole of the first year.
Maynard (1896) took some birds that had just completed molting on
March 8; also some that had just begun to molt on April 24. I have
seen young birds molting into adult plumage in December.
_Food._--P. H. Gosse (1847) says of the food of the ani in Jamaica:
The food of our Blackbird, though consisting mainly of
insects, is not confined to them. We usually find the
stomach distended with caterpillars, moths, grasshoppers,
beetles, and other insects, to such a degree that we
wonder how the mass could have been forced in. But I
have found these contents mixed up with, and stained by
the berries of the snake-withe; and in July I have found
the stomach crammed with the berries of the fiddle-wood,
(_Cytharaxylon_) which had stained the whole inner surface
a bright crimson. Flocks of these birds were at that time
feeding on the glowing clusters profusely ripe upon the
trees. Stationary insects are the staple food; to obtain
which, they hop about grassy places, and are often seen to
jump, or to run eagerly at their prey; on which occasions
the long tail, continuing the given motion after the body
has stopped, is thrown forward in an odd manner, sometimes
nearly turning the bird head over heels. * * *
One day I noticed a cow lying down, around which were four
or five Blackbirds, hopping on or off her neck, and eagerly
picking the insects from her body; which service seemed in
no wise unpleasing to her. I have also seen them leaping
up on cows when grazing; and, on another occasion, jumping
to and from a horse’s back; and my lad Sam has repeatedly
observed them clinging to a cow’s tail, and picking insects
from it, as far down as the terminal tuft. * * *
But stationary insects are not the only prey of the
Crotophaga; in December, I have seen little groups of
them engaged in the evenings, leaping up from the pasture
about a yard into the air, doubtless after flying insects,
which they seemed to catch. * * * I have seen one with a
dragon-fly in its beak, which it had just caught, but it
may have been while resting. At another time I saw that
a Blackbird had actually made prey of one of our little
nimble lizards (_Anolis_).
Maynard (1896) says that “anis live largely on locusts, especially
a large species, which is quite common on the Bahamas, and which
has a peculiar, rather disagreeable odor, which is imparted to the
birds.” W. E. Clyde Todd (1916) says that, on the Isle of Pines,
“it is fond of following in the wake of brush-fires, picking up
the roasted lizards, snails, and insects.” Dr. Wetmore (1916)
reports that the stomachs of 41 birds from Puerto Rico contained
91.3 percent animal matter, mostly harmful insects and arachnids,
including mole crickets, other crickets, locusts, sugar-cane
root-borers, leaf beetles, other beetles, squashbugs, other bugs,
caterpillars, and spiders; the other 8.7 percent was vegetable
matter, mostly seeds and fruits of 7 species of wild plants. He
also says elsewhere (1927): “On May 20 near Yauco three anis were
seen in a tree in which several mazambiques had nests. The anis
were very near these nests, and the blackbirds, together with a
pair of gray kingbirds, were much excited, but appeared to be
unable to drive out the intruders. It was certain that the anis
were bent on robbing the nests, and one was shot in the act of
gulping down something which was later found to be an egg. No other
instances of this evil habit were observed.”
_Behavior._--Gosse (1847) writes:
Though its usual mode of progression on the ground is
by hopping, or rather bounding, the feet being lifted
together, the Blackbird is seen occasionally to _run_ in
a headlong manner for a short distance, moving the feet
alternately. He is fond of sitting in the morning sun
on a low tree with the wings expanded; remaining there
perfectly still for a considerable time. In the heat of the
day, in July and August, many may be seen in the lowland
plains, sitting on the fences and logwood hedges with the
beaks wide open, as if gasping for air; they then forget
their usual loquacity and wariness. Often two or three
will sit in the centre of a thick bush, overhung with a
matted drapery of convolvolus, whence they utter their
singular cry in a calling tone, as if they were playing at
hide-and-seek, and requiring their fellows to come and find
them.
Several observers have noted that anis roost at night huddled close
together on a branch, like domestic fowls, and that they often
bunch together in this way during a rain. Dr. Wetmore (1927) writes:
These strange birds are found in flocks that contain from
half a dozen to twenty or more individuals, ranging mainly
in pasture-lands, but going also into the cane-fields and
orange groves to feed. In pastures they remain near the
cattle, keeping ahead of them with long hops, in order to
get the insects that the cattle scare up. Any intruder is
greeted with a querulous call, and the whole flock flies in
a straggling line across the fields to perch in a bush or
low tree, where they crowd together and peer out curiously,
their long tails and arched beaks giving them an odd
appearance. In the early morning, when the grass is wet,
they frequently sit in the sun with the wings extended in
order to dry them or to absorb heat. The wings are small
for the size of the bird, and the flight, accomplished
by a series of steady wing beats alternating with short
sails, is not strong. In a heavy wind the birds are almost
helpless, and they seldom rise high from the ground at any
time. When on the wing, the back appears concave from the
fact that the head and tail are held on a higher level.
C. J. Maynard (1896) says:
In flight they most nearly resemble a Canada or Florida
Jay, alternately flopping and sailing, moving in a straight
forward flight from tree to tree with great rapidity,
uttering their mournful notes as they quickly disappear in
the distance. * * *
A careful study of the Anis convinced me of the fact that a
number of females are led by two or three males, and these
males take great care of their charges. They utter cries of
alarm when they perceive an intruder, and drive the females
before them into a place of safety. I have even seen males
fly against females or young birds which did not attempt to
escape soon enough, and knock them off the limb on which
they sat and then accompany them to a distant thicket.
I am inclined to think that the Ani is polygamous and this
habit of the males taking care of a number of females would
appear to confirm this idea.
Mr. Taylor (Scott, 1892) gives a somewhat different impression,
thus:
The Blackbirds at their best have a very lean and shabby
appearance, and are slow and awkward in their movements.
I have watched an individual make several ineffectual
attempts to alight on the frond of a cocoanut palm; but
even among the branches of other trees their actions
appear awkward. Their flight is slow and gliding, somewhat
labored, and of little duration, the birds often appearing
to fall short of the point originally aimed at. Yet they
will chase the large yellow butterflies, and I was shown
a large green locust that one of these birds was seen to
capture in flight and afterwards drop. In the progress of
a flock from place to place they do not usually fly all
together, but move away in straggling groups or couples.
One or more individuals first start off with their wailing
call, followed soon after by two or three; after a little
delay then two more go; another pause, then one, then
three, and so on. If a tree has very dense foliage they
alight (with much awkward scrambling) on the tops or
extremities of the highest branches, where they may gain a
clear and uninterrupted view, and this is usually the case
when they are traversing very open country.
_Voice._--The note of the ani has been called a wailing or a
whining whistle; it has been said to resemble the notes of the
wood duck. Dr. Wetmore (1927) says: “The ordinary call-notes are
a low _kur-r-rk_ and a querulous _quee ick, quee ick_, varied by
low chuckling notes. When the birds are at all wild, they serve to
alarm the entire country, as they begin to call on the slightest
provocation.” It has also been expressed as _que-yuch, que-yuch,
que-yuch_ by Gosse (1847) and similarly by others.
_Field marks._--The ani is such a peculiar and unique bird that it
could hardly be mistaken for anything else. It is the only long,
slender, black bird, with a long tail, short wings, and a huge
bill, that is to be found within its range, so far as I know. Its
shape and its manner of flight are quite different from those of
the grackles; its concave back in flight, referred to above, is
distinctive. Gosse (1847) says: “The appearance of the bird in its
sliding flights is unusual; the body is slender, the head large,
and the beak enormous; and as in flying it assumes a perfectly
straight form, with the long tail in the same line, without
flapping the wings, it takes the aspect, on a side view, rather of
a fish than of a bird.”
Where our two small species of anis come together in Panama, they
are likely to be confused, but the voices of the two are quite
distinct; the call of the groove-billed is softer and higher in
pitch, while that of the smooth-billed is more raucous and whining.
The grooves in the bill of the former are not easily seen, except
under favorable circumstances, but the culmen of the bill in the
smooth-billed is much higher and sharper than in the groove-billed.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--South America and the West Indies; casual in winter
in eastern Central America and casual or accidental in Florida,
Louisiana, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
The normal range of the smooth-billed ani extends =north= to
western Cuba (Los Indios and Nueva Gerona); the Bahama Islands
(Little Abaco and Nassau); Haiti (Jacmel); the Dominican Republic
(Sesua and Ciudad Trujillo); Puerto Rico (Aguidillo and Rio
Piedras); and the Virgin Islands (Cuelebra, Vieques, and St.
Croix). =East= to the Virgin Islands (St. Croix); the Lesser
Antilles (Grenada and Trinidad); British Guiana (Georgetown);
Surinam (Paramaribo); and eastern Brazil (Ilha Mexiana, Maranhao,
Bahia, Sapetiba, Canatgallo, Rio de Janeiro, and Iguape). =South=
to southeastern Brazil (Iguape); and northern Argentina (Posadas,
the Chaco District, and San Jose). =West= to northwestern Argentina
(San Jose, Concepcion, and Salta); Peru (Huanuco and Iquitos);
northwestern Colombia (the Cauca River Valley); Panama (Gatun,
Perme, and Obaldia); Jamaica (Port Henderson, Spanish Town, Grand
Cayman, and Little Cayman); and western Cuba (Los Indios).
This species occurs in other parts of Central America only in
winter, when it has been recorded from Costa Rica (Rio Coto);
Nicaragua (Great and Little Corn Islands); Honduras (Ruatan
Island); and Quintana Roo, Mexico (Cozumel Island).
_Casual records._--The following are among the several records
the species has for Florida: Flamingo, a specimen taken in June
1916; Pass-a-Grille, a specimen collected on February 25, 1929;
Dry Tortugas, three seen June 18 and 19, 1935; and Miami Beach, a
small flock seen on February 24, 1937. Undated specimens also are
available for Brevard County, Tortugas, Pepper Hammock near the
head of the Banana River, and Charlotte Harbor.
A specimen was collected on July 18, 1893, at Diamond, and several
have been reported from the vicinity of Buras, St. Bernard Parish,
La. A specimen was collected previous to 1866 at Edenton, N. C.,
while individuals were reported from Piney Creek in the western
part of that State on July 17, 1932, June 1, 1933, and June 25,
1934. There also is an old record of the occurrence of this species
on Pettys Island in the Delaware River, opposite Kensington, Pa.
_Egg dates._--Bahamas: 2 records, June 14.
Brazil: 3 records, October 1 to November 18.
British Guiana: 3 records, January 14 to July 2.
Cuba: 4 records, February 22 to August 20.
Jamaica: 7 records, May 29 to July 30.
Puerto Rico: 2 records, July 25 and August 13.
CROTOPHAGA SULCIROSTRIS SULCIROSTRIS Swainson
GROOVE-BILLED ANI
PLATES 1, 2
HABITS
This Central and South American species was added to our fauna by
George B. Sennett (1879), who secured a fine male on May 19, 1878,
near Lomita, Tex., while it was “flying about the low bushes in
open chaparral. It was very shy, flying in and about the bushes,
and was shot on the wing.” The only one I have ever seen did not
seem at all shy. I was sitting down, quietly watching some Texas
sparrows that were hopping around on the ground near me, in some
thick brush bordering a resaca near Brownsville, Tex., when one of
these curious birds appeared. It seemed more curious than shy, as
it moved about slowly in the bushes, looking me over; it remained
in my vicinity for some time and I could have shot it easily. It is
said to show a preference for thick underbrush in the vicinity of
water, or for lightly wooded swamps.
In his proposed work on the birds of the Caribbean lowlands,
Alexander F. Skutch devotes two long and very interesting chapters
to the home life of the groove-billed ani. He has kindly placed
at my disposal his unpublished manuscript and allowed me to quote
freely from it. As to its haunts, he writes: “The variety of the
habitat of the anis is enormous and their only restriction seems to
be that they do not tolerate the forest and are never seen there.
They are birds of open country but seem nearly indifferent to its
type. In the inhabited districts of the humid coastal regions they
are one of the most conspicuous species. Their favorite haunts are
bushy pastures, orchards, the lighter second growth, and even lawns
and clearings about the native huts. Marshland is as acceptable
to them as a well-drained hillside, and they are numerous in such
extensive stands of sawgrass as that surrounding the Toloa Lagoon
in Honduras, although it is probable that they do not venture far
from some outstanding hummock or ridge which supports a few low
bushes in which they can roost and nest. In the semidesert regions
of the interior, where their associates of the coast lands, if
present at all, are as a rule rare and restricted to the moist
thickets along the rivers, they are among the most numerous of
birds, and live among scattered cacti and acacias as successfully
as amid the rankest vegetation of the districts watered by 12 feet
of rainfall in the year. In altitude they range upward to 5,000
feet, but are not nearly so numerous in the elevated districts as
in the lowlands.”
_Nesting._--Dr. Charles W. Richmond, drawing on his experience with
it near Bluefields, Nicaragua, sent some elaborate notes on the
groove-billed ani to Major Bendire (1895), from which I quote as
follows:
It appears to breed at various times during the year, as
I have found fresh eggs July 6, 1892, and young birds,
recently from the nest, November 29, the breeding season
spreading over seven months of the year at least, as it
begins nesting earlier than the date of taking my first
eggs. Nests are frequently built in the heart of a thick,
thorny orange or lemon tree, and this appears to be a
favorite situation. In this case the nest is from 4 to 7
feet from the ground, and, besides being difficult to get
at, is somewhat protected from invasion by the wasps which
almost invariably take up their abode in the same tree.
In going through a small lemon grove I found an old nest
of this species. In the cavity there were no eggs, but on
poking the nest to pieces six badly decayed eggs rolled out.
One nest containing three eggs in the proper place and two
others at the bottom, under the lining of green leaves, was
located in a bamboo about 12 feet from the ground. The eggs
were fresh, and more would probably have been deposited;
the leaves forming the lining were still green. The parent
birds were away at the time. Another nest was situated in
some vines which had over-run an old tree stub, and was
about 15 feet from the ground.
It may be that where numerous eggs are deposited in one
nest only those eggs that are deposited in the proper
place and directly influenced by the incubating bird are
hatched, while those placed among the sticks forming the
bulky exterior are left unhatched. It would be interesting
to watch the progress of a large nestful of eggs and note
results. The nests found by me were all composed of dead
black twigs, rather loosely put together, very bulky and
conspicuous structures, lined with green leaves, or, if old
nests, with leaves that had the appearance of having been
picked green.
One of Dr. Richmond’s nests is described by Major Bendire (1895) as
“a rather loose structure, about 10 inches in diameter and 4 inches
in height. The inner cup measures 4 inches in diameter by 2½ inches
in depth.”
According to George K. Cherrie (1892) Señor Don Anastasio Alfaro
says of the nests he collected in Costa Rica:
The structure is voluminous, composed chiefly of coarse
dead twigs, but presents one peculiarity not observed in
any other bird, namely the nest being lined with fresh
green leaves. My three specimens were all placed in low
trees, and neither was found at a greater height than three
meters. One had been built above an old nest of one of the
larger Tyrannidae.
It will not be without interest, I think, to insert my
observations relative to one of these nests. On the 20th
of May I noticed a Zopilotillo with a dry stick in its
bill, which was immediately carried to a point in the
hedge-row where it was deposited with three others. After
assuring myself that the bird was building its nest there,
I retired, with the intention of returning at a more
opportune moment. And when one week later I returned to
the same spot, what was my surprise to see not only the
nest completed and containing six eggs, but more than this:
in the thorns and leaves about it were scattered seven
more eggs! As a consequence, if that collection was not
the work of the Zopilotillos collectively, the poor owner
would have had to deposit three eggs daily! In the finding
of some of the eggs scattered in the leaves was revealed
one of the architect’s peculiarities. A hole had been left
in the centre of the nest and only recently filled with
leaves whose fresh green color testified that they had been
cut and placed there later than the others forming the
carpeting to the bottom of this common incubator.
Alden H. Miller (1932) writes of his experience with the nesting
habits of the groove-billed ani in El Salvador:
Several nests were watched from the time there was one
egg until there were nine, or in one case eleven, eggs.
The eggs were deposited regularly at one day intervals
and there was no certain indication in any of the sets,
of two females contributing to the same nest as has been
claimed by other observers. My findings, however, do not
prove conclusively that community nests may not exist, at
least occasionally. Incubation is uniform within a set
and, correspondingly, birds were found to be incubating
regularly only after the sets were completed. In the set
of thirteen the eggs were resting in three layers in the
necessarily ample cup of the nest.
Nest sites were from two feet to twenty-five feet above
ground in almost any kind of bush or tree. Usually they
were located between six and twelve feet above ground in
thorny tangles or close twiggery. One nest was found,
however, in an open crotch of a fan of a royal palm. Adult
birds are not much in evidence around nests which are being
built or around sets of incomplete eggs. When flushed from
sets of complete eggs, they may approach within five feet
of the intruder and utter their feeble, squeaking notes of
protest.
A. J. van Rossem (1938) found several nests, on July 29, 1925,
“in the mimosa scrub in the marsh along the north shore of Lake
Olomega,” in El Salvador. “These nests were all in similar
situations, that is, they were rather conspicuously placed in
mimosa bushes and more than six feet above the mud or water.”
Mr. Skutch devoted considerable time to studying the communal
nesting habits of the groove-billed ani. He found them to be among
the latest birds to breed, remaining together in small flocks from
February to May while the other birds of the region were raising
their broods. During June he watched the construction of a communal
nest, on which three pairs worked in perfect harmony, operating in
pairs and not as a unit. One of the pair remained on the nest while
its mate brought in the material. There was not the least jealousy
between the pairs, and “two or more pairs often perched quietly
in the same bush. Each pair preferred to work alone at the nest,
and if a second pair flew into the nesting tree, the first often
quietly withdrew. This was not always their conduct, and sometimes
one of the second pair (probably the female) took a place on the
nest beside one of the first pair, while their two mates perched
near by, or else brought them sticks.
“The normal set of eggs for each female is three, or more commonly
four. Nests belonging to a single pair generally contain this
number, and the nests belonging to two pairs, which I encountered,
contained a maximum of eight. Once I found a nest with 12 eggs,
which covered the bottom two layers deep, and six birds were
interested in them. * * * Of ten nests which I found in Honduras
and Guatemala and was able to watch for an adequate period, four
were the property of single pairs, five of two pairs together, and
one belonged to three pairs in common.”
All the birds of both sexes took turns in incubating the eggs,
but their shifts on the nest had no regular order and no fixed
duration. “Just as the parents cooperate in incubating the eggs,
they all join in the care of the nestlings. I have watched
three nests, each belonging to two pairs, during the time they
contained young. Two of them, I made quite sure, were attended
by four adults, but at the other I could not convince myself
that there were more than three attendants. Possibly some
calamity had befallen the fourth bird, or possibly also I failed
to recognize it, since the anis at this nest were unmarked and
indistinguishable.”
_Eggs._--The groove-billed ani lays 4 to 13 eggs, the smaller
numbers being apparently commoner. The eggs vary in shape from oval
to elliptical-oval, or rarely to elliptical-ovate or rounded-ovate.
The ground color, when visible, varies from “glaucous-blue” to
“Nile blue” or “pale Nile blue”; when first laid, the ground
color is completely covered with a thin layer of dull white,
chalky deposit, which eventually becomes somewhat discolored; as
incubation progresses this chalky covering becomes more or less
scratched, by contact with the twigs in the nest or by the action
of the bird’s feet in turning the eggs, or in relining the nest,
so that ultimately much or nearly all of the blue ground color is
visible; even then the shell is not glossy. The measurements of 51
eggs average 30.93 by 24.06 millimeters; the eggs showing the four
extremes measure =35= by 25, 32 by =26=, and =27.68= by =21.84=
millimeters.
_Young._--Mr. Skutch determined, by close observation of marked
birds and by noting which individual of a marked pair laid the
eggs, that both sexes share in the duties of incubation. They were
very impatient sitters, constantly changing about; 30 minutes was
the longest time that he saw one incubate, during the early stages,
and they sometimes left the nest unguarded for 10 or 20 minutes,
while they enjoyed each other’s company; during the last two days
of incubation they lengthened their periods on the eggs to from 30
minutes to an hour. He describes the hatching process in detail: