THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 349 



In 1886 the naturalists of the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer Alhotross, 

 which stopped at Abaco, New Providence, Elenthera, Cat Island, Watlings 

 Island, Bum Cay, Green Cay, Concepcion Island, and Booby Eock, succeeded 

 in making a large collection of birds which have formed the basis for 

 several papers by Mr. Eidgway and others. In one of these contributions ' 

 Mr. Eidgway gave a complete list of this collection. 



Andros was visited in 1890 by Mr. and Mrs. John I. jSTorthrop, mainly 

 with a view of studying the botany, but making at the same time a good collec- 

 tion of birds. One of the results of their trip was the discovery of the beautiful 

 species of oriole named by Dr. J. A. Allen after its discoverer. Mr. Northrop's 

 published observations ' is one of the few papers dealing with the habits of 

 the Bahama birds and characteristics of their environment. 



Mr. J. Lewis Bonhote has spent considerable time in the Islands, residing 

 mostly at Nassau, but making one or two excursions to the northern islands 

 and Andros.' His various papers on the migration of birds, as their flights 

 have been noted from the various Bahama lighthouses, are full of interest, and 

 are the first instances of anything of the kind being attempted in the islands." 

 Mr. Bonhote was accompanied on one of his trips to i^ndros in search of flamin- 

 goes by Messrs. F. M. C'hapman and L. A. Fuertes, who have published the 

 accounts of their experiences elsewhere. 



Capt. D. P. Ingraham has done extensive collecting upon the Bahamas but 

 has published nothing upon the birds, that I am aware of. 



While from the above it will be noticed that considerable attention has 

 been paid to the Bahamas in recent years, our knowledge of the avifauna is 

 far from complete. Great Bahama Island has been visited but once liy a 

 naturalist, to my knowledge, and then only for a short while, though from its 

 proximity to Florida some interesting facts should be brought to light. Great 

 Abaco also has never been thoroughly explored, though it is one of the wildest 

 islands of the group and is covered with a pine forest of large trees with a 

 heavy undergrowth of a large Pteris fern. Scarcely anything is known of 

 the life-histories of the endemic species or of their ecology, and the relation- 

 ships of the various species of Geothhjpis are yet to be worked out. Wliy 



^ The Auk, 1889, pp. 333-339. 

 * The Auk, 1891, pp. 64-80. 



^ The Ibis, 1889, pp. 506-520; and 1903, pp. 273-315. The Avicultural Magazine, 

 Vol. VIII and IX. 



" The Auk, 1901-1903. 



