392 Annals of the Carnegie Museum, 



above (comprising species of general distribution in the islands), 

 were it not for the fact that they do not occur on Great Inagua, where 

 their places are taken by allied forms. The Inaguan Fauna possesses 

 only two forms peculiar to itself, Speotyto cunicularia bahamensis 

 and Nesophlox lyrura, and is characterized in general more by the 

 absence of numerous species found in the northern islands than by the 

 presence of a distinctive element of its own. 



It would naturally be supposed that of all the Bahaman group Great 

 Inagua, from its proximity to Cuba, would show the closest corre- 

 spondence in its avifauna to this neighboring island, but such is very 

 far from being the case. For instance, Speotyto cunicularia bahamensis, 

 Nesophlox lyrura, Margarops Juscalus fuscatus, Ccereba bahamensis, 

 and Pyrrhulagra violacea violacea do not even have generic representa- 

 tives in Cuba, and must have reached Great Inagua from some other 

 direction. The Ground Dove of Great Inagua is identical with the 

 form occurring on Mona Island (Chcemepelia passerina exigiia), not 

 with the Cuban bird. Barring the water-birds on the list, whose 

 distribution is possibly dependent on local causes and therefore of 

 no especial significance in the present case, there is in fact only one 

 species characteristic of the Inaguan Fauna, Tyrannus cubensis, which 

 is clearly and exclusively of Cuban origin, and this is not a common 

 bird. Oxyechus vociferus rubidiis and Mimus polyglottos orpheus, 

 although occurring in Cuba, are found also in Haiti, whence they may 

 have reached Great Inagua, in common with other Bahaman forms 

 which have evidently entered the islands by the same route. 



As a matter of fact, it is the northernmost islands of the group, 

 Great Bahama, Abaco, Andros, etc., whose avifauna most nearly 

 resembles that of Cuba, from which it has obviously been largely 

 derived. It is certainly significant that such a characteristic Cuban 

 form as Dcndroica pityophila should occur in the Bahamas (so far as 

 known) only on Great Bahama and Abaco, the two islands farthest 

 distant from Cuba. Again, Centurus nyeanus bahamensis from Great 

 Bahama more cl sely resembles its "original stock" form, the Cuban 

 Centurus superciliaris, than do either Centurus nyeanus blakei of 

 Abaco or C. n. nyeanus of Watlings Island, indicating that the influx 

 took place by way of Great Bahama. The distribution of Geotrygon 

 chrysia, Saiirothera bahamensis (and subspecies), Riccordia ricordii 

 (and subspecies), Tolmarchus bahamensis, Blacicus bahamensis, and 

 Mimocichla plumbea also presents cases which argue more or less 



