Fauna oj ( anada and Florida. 51 



forms peculiar to an island have no means of reaching the nearest 

 continuous land, but in the present instance, as will be shown 

 later, the proximity of Cuba and the Bahamas to Florida, favored 

 by the direction of the Gulf Stream and the prevalence of hurri- 

 canes blowing from the Antilles to the Peninsula, have enabled 

 a multitude of West Indian plants, insects, birds, and even land- 

 shells to reach southern Florida, though the breadth of the strait 

 is an effective bar to the passage of terrestrial mammals and 

 reptiles. 



Wallace boldly tells us, without attempt at qualification, that 

 ''between frigid Canada and sub-tropical Florida there are less 

 marked differences in the animal productions than between 

 Florida and Cuba." Frigid Canada, in eastern North America, 

 is the home of the Eskimo, polar bear, musk oxen, reindeer, 

 lemmings, marmots, beavers, muskrats, porcupines, wolverines, 

 sables, shrews, star-nosed moles, and several other mammals, 

 comprising in all 20 genera, not one of which occurs in southern 

 Florida.* Florida, on the other hand, is inhabited by opossums, 

 harvest mice, rice-field mice, cotton rats, wood rats, pocket go- 

 phers, gray foxes, spotted skunks, big-eared bats, and other forms, 

 representing 13 genera and 5 families of mammals that do not 

 occur in frigid Canadaf. In the case of birds, eastern Canada 

 has 26 genera that do not reach Florida, among which may be 

 mentioned ptarmigans, grouse, rough-legged hawks, golden 

 eagles, great gray owls, snowy owls, Acadian owls, hawk owls, 

 three-toed woodpeckers, Canada jays, pine bullfinches, cross- 

 bills, linnets, snow buntings, titlarks, -winter wrens, kinglets, 

 and stone chats, J while Florida has at least 37 genera that do 



* The following 20 genera of mammals inhabit eastern Canada, but none 

 of them reach southern Florida: Rangifer, Alee, Ovibos, Tarniax, Sper- 

 iiio/flil/HK, Arctomys, Castor, Fiber, Arvicola, Evotomys, Phenacomys, Myo<l<', 

 ( 'mi leu lux, Zajtiix, Erethizon, Thalarctos, Gulo, Mtistela, Condylura, iScapanus, 

 Sores. 



t The following 13 genera of mammals inhabit Florida, but none of 

 them reach " frigid Canada : " Diddplm, Reithrodontomys, Oryzomys, Sig- 

 nindnn, Xi'ntotnn, GcoHtifx, Urocyon, Procyou, Spilogale, Corynorhinus, Nyctice- 

 jiix, XyrtiitointiN, (Hojrft'i-tis. The 5 families are: Didelphidse, Geomyidw, 

 r,-oci/(>ni(/;i\ Knitnill'nini-!d.;r, Pliylfttxtoimitidit'. 



i The following 2(> genera of birds breed in eastern Canada, but none 

 of them in Florida: Dendrogaputf, I><>nas<(, Lagopus, ArcMbuteo, A<jn!l<i, 

 Scotia jitt'.i;, \i/ct<il<i, Xijcli'd, Hnrni<i, J'iroides, Sphyrapicus, Perisoreus, Doli- 

 choittf.i', I'titH-ohi, Ln.c'nt, Actnttliix, I'/i'clro/^x'/Hi.r, ( 'tcarius, Zonotrichia, 

 Jtntco, Pawrdla, Anthiis, Auorthura, Cirlhia, /trgiiln.*, X't.rlcola. 



