682 



NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



For a list of land animals without 

 ecological comments, see Wallace's 

 Island Life. 



The island has been the seat of a 

 marine biological station associated 

 with Harvard University. At the pres- 

 ent time the station is not open. 



EEFERENCES 



Phila- 



Heilprin, A. Bermuda Islands. 



delphia, 1889. 

 Wallace, A. R. Island Life. London, 



1902. 

 Verrill, A. E., and others. Natural 



History of the Bermudas, including 



marine and land forms. Geography 



and geology. Trans. Conn. Acad. 



Sci. Arts., Vols. X, XI, XII. 1899- 



1907. 



2. BAHAMAS 



The group consists of 29 islands and 

 many rocks southeast of Florida. They 

 were apparently originally covered with 

 scrub and low forest. 



EEFERENCE 



G. B. Shattuck. Bahama Islands, Geo- 

 graphic Society of Baltimore, New 

 York, 1905. 



3. CUBA 

 By Brother Leon 



Colegio de La Salle. Vedado. Habana 



Cuba has an area of 44,164 sq. mi., 

 and lies within the geographical range of 

 74° 7' to 84° 57' of longitude, 19° 48' 

 and 23° 17' of latitude. Its capital, 

 Havana, is reached in four days from 

 New York, in two days from New Or- 

 leans, and from Key West in some hours. 

 The system of railroads extends from 

 one end of the Island to the other, with 

 many branches and roads with motor 

 car service north and south ; thus natural 

 areas can be reached easily. 



Cuba is rather a subtropical than a 

 hot country. The average tempera- 

 ture in Havana is 26°C. (27° in San- 

 tiago de Cuba), 28° in August, 22° 

 in January. It is rarely over 32°, 

 rarely below 10°. There is a dry season 

 from November to April; the rainy sea- 



son takes place mainly in May-June and 

 September-October; often July and a 

 part of August are less rainy, or nearly 

 dry. 



Climatic data for Havana, Cuba, 1922 



January. . . 

 February. . 

 March. .". . . 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September. 



October 



November. 

 December. 



Year. 



>4 

 < 

 g 



inches 



1.35 

 1.00 

 3.70 

 0.00 

 9.45 

 3.84 

 1.68 

 4.91 

 11.58 

 9.56 

 1.12 

 1.31 



Average 4. 125 



Total 49.50 



The Flora of the Island, subtropical 

 in general character, is fairly well known, 

 thanks to the many explorations made 

 under the direction of Dr. N. L. Britton, 

 Director of the New York Botanical 

 Garden and to the intense collecting 

 work made during the last decade by the 

 eminent Swedish botanist Dr. E. L. 

 Ekman, to whom we are obliged for much 

 useful information. But considerable 

 field work is still needed to obtain a 

 satisfactory knowledge of the present 

 and extinct fauna of the Island. This 

 has been proved recently by the fact 

 that many new species of insects have 

 been discovered, in only a few families, 

 by Stephen Bruner and Charles Ballou 

 during the recent exploration of Pico 

 Turquino region. 



GEOLOGIC FORMATION 



The condition of Cuba during the 

 different geologic ages is a very com- 

 plicated matter; besides, the literature 

 published on the subject is very scanty; 



