Sir W. Jardine on the Ornithology of the Island of Tobago. 115 



ornithology of this island is of a mixed character, and though 

 leaning most to the forms of South America, it wants both some 

 of those splendidly plumaged genera which give to that division 

 of the world a character, and which arc cut off from it as it were 

 by Trinidad ; but it at the same time presents a few forms of the 

 northern continent, some of which do not ever, so far as we know, 

 reach the mainland opposite. Before entering into a detailed 

 list of the species sent from this island, the following short notice 

 of its physical characters, extracted from a report drawn up from 

 materials furnished by Mr* Kirk and Dr. Hope of the island, and 

 submitted to his Excellency the Governor- General in 1843, may 

 be of use in contributing to our knowledge of the distribution of 

 the birds that have been met with there. 



" Tobago is about twenty -three miles in length, and averages 

 four and a half in breadth, not exceeding in its widest part seven 

 miles. An elevated ridge, called the ■ Main ridge/ rises Very 

 abruptly on the north-east, and runs longitudinally from north- 

 east to south-west, exhibiting an undulating but nearly uniform 

 appearance for about two-thirds of its whole length, while the ge- 

 neral surface of the island is very uneven, presenting the appear- 

 ance of a congregated mass of hemispheroidal hills of various 

 heights and dimensions. This mass of hills may be divided into 

 three classes, the highest Of which ranges from 1800 to 2000 feet, 

 the middle 500, and the third about 250 above the sea level. In 

 general the hills of the middle and third classes appear to be 

 united at the base, forming rich alluvial ravines of various ex- 

 tent. The highest class of hills is united by ridges approximating 

 their summits, and constituting the high lands of the country, 

 mostly covered by forests of noble trees containing much valuable 

 timber. Such is the general surface of the island, to which one 

 exception only of any note occurs in the instance of the • Sandy 

 Point district/ an extensive plain situate on the south-western 

 extremity, having a soil of a loamy nature resting upon clay or 

 coral very productive in favourable seasons. 



" Several rivers and streams take their rise from the higher 

 parts of the island, but from its limited extent their courses can- 

 not be of any great length, though some of them are broken by 

 falls of considerable magnitude. One of the branches of the 

 Queen's river has its source from a small lake about 300 feet be- 

 low the highest point of the main ridge, whence indeed nearly all 

 the streams descend, and the south side of the island is so diver- 

 sified with ridges and hollows, and so beautifully watered, that 

 nearly every Valley contributes its quota to the main stream. 



" The climate of the island, so far as its agriculture is con- 

 cerned, is as favourable as that of any island lying within the 

 tropics, but owing to the elevation there is a considerable range 



