360 BULLETIN: MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 



A short time after the fire, the Musee L'Herminier was built. In 

 1876 Ober visited the island and remarked, (cf. LawTence, Proc. 

 U. S.N. M., 1878, 1, p. 452):— 



" Few birds are, as yet, in the museum but there are very excellent 

 and complete collections of Crustacea, etc., and many fine specimens 

 of aboriginal implements." 



I found the bird collection had so increased that it was larger than 

 all of the other collections. Three well-mounted specimens of Aestre- 

 lata diabolica were included in it. Unfortunately most of the speci- 

 mens were without data or records of their receipt. 



I have omitted all reference to the birds noted at St. Croix except 

 when they have direct bearing on the Guadeloupean birds. The 

 West Indian avian fauna is rapidly being destroyed and for that 

 reason it seems advisable to include here a complete record of the 

 birds collected rather than to give simply an account of the more 

 important studies, such as those relating to Aestrclata haesitaia, Cich- 

 Iherminia herminieri, and Cocrcba dominicana. Clark (Proc. Bost. 

 soc. nat. hist., 1905, 32, p. 203-312) has already summarized the 

 general conditions of bird distribution in the Lesser Antilles. 



Topography. 



Guadeloupe consists physiographically of two distinct parts: — 

 Guadeloupe proper, a rugged mass of volcanic formation and 

 Grande Terre, a flat limestone island separated from the former 

 by a sluggish tidal water-way, La Riviere Salee. The adjacent 

 islands of Desirade and Marie Galante are similar in structure to 

 Grande Terre while the small archipelago called Les Saintes is vol- 

 canic like Guadeloupe proper. Guadeloupe and Grande Terre taken 

 together are about forty miles in their greatest length and the same 

 in their greatest width. 



The whole surface of Guadeloupe is broken up into peaks and is 

 cut by deep valleys making walking for any distance very difficult. 

 Many of the hills reach to four thousand feet or over. The Soufriere 

 for instance, is 4863 feet high. Its summit is wreathed with rain 

 clouds throughout most of the year. The slopes on the mountainous 

 core of this island exhibit many contrasts. There are at least four 

 distinct life-zones: — 



(1) Lowland savannahs. Great areas of grass- and scrub-land skirt 



