To Kill a Mockingbird:  a remarkable novel and a unique bird.

'Your father's right,' she said. 'Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee wrote only one novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. This remarkable novel was about injustice, racism, and human dignity, among other things.  The novel compares two of the main characters to mockingbirds. Boo Radley is a mysterious man who makes gestures of affection to children, although he never appears personally, and an innocent black man, falsely accused of raping a young white woman.  Both can be seen as mockingbirds, a bird that doesn’t do anything wrong.

Mockingbirds belong to a group of new world birds from the family Mimidae. They are characterized by their melodious voice, or song, commonly heard in our backyards.  They are best known for the habit of mimicking the songs of other birds, insects and amphibians, in a loud and rapid succession.

A scientific name is a binomial system of nomenclature that is governed by international codes and is used by biologists worldwide. Scientific names are used to refer to animals and plants all over the world, no matter the language spoken. Usually, their scientific names are derived from their classic Latin or Greek origin.  Many of them originate from some characteristic that distinguishes the species.  This is the case of the Mockingbird, which scientific code or name is Mimus polyglottos, meaning “many-tongued mimic”.  Mimus from Greek, being “mimic” and polyglottos being “many tongued.”

Mockingbirds are species from the new world. Their distribution ranges from Canada to South America, West Indies included. A related species under the genus Nesomimus, which later merged into Mimus, is said to have been very influential in shaping Darwin theories on the origin of life.

In Puerto Rico, the species is very common as it is seen mainly in open fields, cities and our house gardens.  However, it is not a species that is normally observed in forests.  Along with the Great Kingbird (Tyrannous dominicenis), the mockingbird is probably one of the most popular and charismatic birds. Its melodic voice wakes us in the morning with its song.

José L. Chabert Llompart

 Wildlife Biologist

Dr Jekill and Mr. Hide, a birdwatcher story

Dr Jekill and Mr. Hide, a birdwatcher story

“It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it.”
― Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

“Leaving the river bottom, I climbed to the top of the first plain and walked slowly along…suddenly I heard a new song, so rich, loud and clear, I knew it must be the one I was in search of…After a long time, I saw him alight in a low bush and sing…Its song, the most beautiful of any warbler, is so wild and clear and has such a ringing, liquid quality, I feel well repaid for my trip by this one experience…”  Norman Asa Wood, The Plains of Michigan.

The syndrome that the character of Dr. Jekyll suffers from in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, has been commonly associated with the rare mental condition known as "split personality.” In psychiatry, this is referred to as dissociative identity disorder, a condition in which more than one distinct personality inhabits the same body. In this case, there are two opposite personalities within Dr. Jekyll: one good and one evil. The novella's impact was such, that it has become a part of the language; the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" is commonly used to refer to a person highly different in moral character from one situation to the next. 

My tale is about a birdwatcher and his relationship to Puerto Rico, whose life is analogous to the character of the Stevenson novella. A birdwatcher is a person who enjoys observing and studying birds. However, my character is both a criminal and a distinguished citizen as well.

The story goes like this:

Nathan Leopold and Richard A. Loeb, were two wealthy University of Chicago law students.  Leopold was able to speak 27 languages fluently, and was an expert ornithologist, who used to visit the field with other students to bird watch. In fact, he achieved distinction for his studies on the Kirtland’s Warbler, Setophaga kirtlandii, bird so rare that the report that a report of it was apt to be doubted by the ornithologists, crediting the observation rather to some more common bird.     

However, studying law or bird watching was not their only aim; Leopold and Loeb had the ambition of executing the perfect crime. (Last sentence- part of the previous paragraph)

The year was 1924 in Chicago, where the partners kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks. In order to make the body unidentifiable, they poured hydrochloric acid and concealed the body in a culvert at the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks.  As part of their malevolent scheme, they mailed a ransom note to the Franks family, who gave them all the money they demanded. After few months of investigations, the police obtained enough evidence to connect the assassination to both young students, who admitted to being driven by the thrill of the kill and the desire to commit the "perfect crime".

This judicial event was then called the Trial of the Century. The outstanding defense was performed by the renowned criminal lawyer, Clarence Darrow (defense attorney in another notorious trial known as The Monkey Trial). Due to the crime’s severity, the community asked for the maximum penalty: death by execution. After an outstanding defense, Darrow advised the boys to plead guilty in order to avoid a trial by jury.



Following an incredible defense, Darrow convinced the Judge for a life sentence.  During his years in prison, Leopold wrote a book titled Life Plus 99 Years, which told of his experience in jail and how the correctional system should be modified. 

Early in 1958, after 33 years in prison, Leopold was released on parole, and was sent to the small town of Castañer in Puerto Rico to do social work as part of the conditions imposed. In the Island, he behaved as a good citizen, made good friends and a respected reputation.  During this period, he was active in the Natural History Society of Puerto Rico, traveling throughout the Island to observe its birdlife. In 1963, he published the Checklist of Birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.  As a birdwatcher, he made a remarkable contribution to the ornithological history of the Island when he re-discovered the Puerto Rico Plain Pigeon, which was considered extinct for many years. For many, the association between Leopold the bird watcher and the criminal, is unknown.

 

He died at the age of 66 on August 1971. His corneas were donated. Leopold and Loeb have been the inspiration for several works in film, theater, and fiction.

José L. Chabert Llompart

 Wildlife Biologist

 

James Bond fiction or truth.  Agent 007

 By José L. Chabert Llompart

One of our missions is education.  Education is not limited to describing the natural resources the Trust manages, but also share information that in one way or another, gave form to the natural history of our country.

In this edition, I will tell briefly one of those fantastic stories that although true, are not known by many.

The story goes like this:

James Bond, the famous 007 spy agent is a fiction character created by the English author Ian Flemming.  Flemming itself was a birdwatcher born in England. When looking for a name for his spy character he thought about the American Ornithologist named James Bond, author of the field guide Birds of the West Indies, a book published in 1936.  Bond agrees to use his name.

James Bond field guide was the first comprehensive book about the birds that existed in Puerto Rico and other Caribbean Islands.  After more than seventy years, his field guide is not only a collector’s item that will shine any bookshelf, but it is still used by many ornithologists as an excellent reference guide about the birds that live in the Caribbean.

As the story goes, in the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day, the fictional Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, can be seen examining Birds of the West Indies in an initial scene that takes place in Havana, Cuba. The author's name (James Bond) on the front cover is concealed.  In the film, when Bond first meets Jinx (Halle Berry), he introduces himself as an ornithologist.

 

Note. Ornithology is a branch of science that concerns the study of birds. From ancient Greek, Ornis (bird) and logos (explanation).

Photo. Inedited Photo of James Bond, the ornithologist, in an Expedition to Cayman Islands and the two Columbian Islands, San Andrés and Providencia. March 1948. All rights reserved.