File:The American Museum journal (c1900-(1918)) (17538936123).jpg

Title: The American Museum journal
Identifier: americanmuseumjo06amer (find matches)
Year: c1900-(1918) (c190s)
Authors: American Museum of Natural History
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: New York : American Museum of Natural History
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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16 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL TWO NEW BIRD GROUPS. HE most recent additions to the splendid series of groups of North American birds which the Museum owes to the generosity of a number of contributors to a fund designed especially for exhibits of this nature represent the White- crowned Pigeon and the Ani. The White-crowned Pigeon is a West Indian species which visits the Florida Keys in great numbers to nest in the smaller islets. In the Bahamas it is also migratory, appearing in May and frequenting the same localities year after year. This Pigeon belongs Xo the same genus (Cohimba) as our dovecote Pigeon, and it is quite probable that in the warmer parts of the world it could be domesticated. The flesh of this handsome bird is most palatable, and laige numbers are annually killed for food in both the Florida Keys and Bahamas. Unfortunately, this great destruction of life occurs during the nesting season, but the fact that the birds are present only at that time has prevented, in the Bahamas, at least, the passage of laws prohibiting their killing. The Ani is a species of Cuckoo common throughout the greater part of tropical America and occasionally reaching southern Florida. This bird is exhibited because of its remark- able nesting habits. It does not mate in pairs, as do most birds, but the four to a dozen or more birds composing a flock live together throughout the year, building a common nest in which all the females lay their eggs. Twenty-one eggs have been found in a single nest, but the number laid by each individual is unknown. All the members of this singular family seem to take part in the duties of incubation and care of the young. The nesting season ex- tends over several months, and fresh eggs may be found in a nest which contains young birds. It appears to be the universal custom of Anis to line their nests with fresh green leaves. Little has been written about the nesting habits of the White-crowned Pigeon or Ani, and so far as we are aware the groups above-mentioned are unique.

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