INTRODUCTION, 



In preparing the present work, the writer has examined a large 

 series of birds from nearly all of the islands of the West Indies, 

 the combined collections representing many thousands of speci- 

 mens. The writer has personally made five trips to different parts 

 of the West Indies, and, aside from such collections as were made 

 under his personal supervision, a number of collectors were sent to 

 the more important islands for the purpose of obtaining as com- 

 plete a series as possible. 



Several of the collectors were absent from six to eighteen 

 months, and it is fair to assume that their collections contained 

 nearly all of the resident species of the islands which they visited. 

 The collections made by Mr. W. B. Richardson in Grand Cayman 

 and some of the Lesser Antilles proved especially interesting, being 

 very rich in novelties, his combined collections containing no less 

 than seventeen species new to science. 



Most of the matter contained in the present work appeared in 

 the "Auk" for 1886, 1887, and 1888; but since that time a large 

 number of species have been added to the West Indian avi-fauna, 

 which were either new to science or had not previously been re- 

 corded from that locality ; descriptions of these are given in the 

 Appendix, unless included in their proper order in the body of the 

 work. A number of alterations and corrections have been made in 

 the original plates, and several new illustrations have been added. 



The following species have been recorded since the " Birds of 

 the West Indies " was first published in the " Auk " : — 



Mimocichla ravida Cory. Grand Cayman. 

 Margarops montanus rufus Cory. Dominico. 

 Margarops montanus albiventris (Lawr.). Grenada. 

 Rhamphocinclus sanctae-luciae Cory. St. Lucia. 

 Polioptila caerulea cssiogaster Ridgw. Bahamas. 

 Thryothorus guadeloupensis Cory. Grand Terre, Guadeloupe. 

 Dendroica vittellina Cory. Grand Cayman. 

 Dendroica aurocapilla Ridgw. Grand Cayman. 

 Geothlypis coryi Ridgw. Eleuthera I., Bahamas. 

 Geothlypis tanneri Ridgw. Abaco I., Bahamas. 

 Certhiola sharpei Cory. Grand Cayman. 



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