It is not my iutention, in tbe jiresent connection, to enter into a de- 

 tailed discussion of the components of tbe ornis of the Commander 

 Islands, referring such conclusions to a subsequent number of my 

 "Contributions to tlie History of tlie Commander Islands," but a few- 

 remarks as to their position in relation to the peninsula may not be out 

 of place here. 



From tlie second part of this book, comi)ared with the first table, 

 given below, it is evident that the ornis of the islands is chiefly Kam- 

 tschatkan, since only eleven species have been taken on them which 

 do not belong to the Kamtschatkau fauna. Of these eleven only five 

 species are of American origin, of which three are merely accidental 

 stragglers; three are Aleutian (one extinct), and three are peculiar to 

 the islands. 



The rest of the ornis is Kamtschatkau, although among the regular 

 inhabitants the proportion between land and water birds is consider- 

 ably different from what we find on the Kamtschatkau mainland, which 

 is well wooded while the Commander Islands can hardly show a shrub 

 6 feet high. That an enumeration of the birds actually taken on the 

 islands does not bring this difference out very strikingly is due to the 

 fact that a great many land birds, especially during the migrations, are 

 blown over to the islands across the not more than 100-mile wide strait 

 which separates them from the peninsula. 



In now turning our attention to the fauna of the peninsula itself, we 

 will have to base our conclusions and calculations upon the list given 

 in the second part of this book. Meager as it is, and uncertain as 

 the status of many of the forms enumerated still are, it is thought of 

 sufficient accuracy to allow certain more general conclusions to be made, 

 which may serve as a base for future investigations. 



In order to obtain a correct idea of the ornis of Kamtschatka it will 

 be necessary first to eliminate from the above list certain species which 

 do not properly belong to it. The Commander Islands, though zoolog- 

 ically a part of Kamtschatka, show a certain admixture of Auieii<:an 

 forms on account of their neighborhood to the other Aleutian Islands, 

 besides possessing forms peculiar to themselves. It would, therefore, 



335 



