^^'oRTHI^•^.To^' : Ornithology of Bahama Islands. 395 



that ocean currents play in the distribution of plant and animal 

 life is one that cannot be overlooked, and the facts in the present case 

 strongly suggest such an explanation. Whether a similar study of 

 other forms of life would accord with such a theory as is here proposed, 

 however, is an important question. 



Previous writers, in discussing the origin of the Bahaman avifauna, 

 have drawn their conclusions almost entirely from a consideration 

 of the endemic species, attaching no especial significance to the local 

 distribution (within the group) of either these or various other forms 

 of more extensive range. But that a study of such facts as these may 

 furnish a more definite clue to the relationships of the avifauna at 

 large, and to the respective sources of its component elements, is a 

 proposition scarcely to be questioned in view of the circumstances 

 of the present case. There is still much to learn regarding the de- 

 tailed distribution of certain species, and our knowledge of the avi- 

 fauna of many islands in the group is as yet incomplete. Whether 

 or not the provisional conclusions herein set forth will require material 

 modifications further field-work alone can decide. 



In conclusion it is a pleasure for the writer to acknowledge his 

 indebtedness to the authorities of sundry institutions whose collections 

 of Bahaman birds have been consulted in the preparation of the present 

 report. Thanks are due especially to Messrs. Outram Bangs of the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Frank M. Chapman and Waldron 

 DeWitt Miller of the American Museum of Natural History, Charles 

 B. Cory, Wilfred H. Osgood, and Arthur W'. Henn of the Field Museum 

 of Natural History, Robert Ridgway, Charles W'. Richmond, and 

 Joseph H. Riley of the U. S. National Museum, and Harry C. Ober- 

 holser of the Biological Survey, for assistance of this kind and for 

 numerous other courtesies. 



Narrative of the Expedition.^ 



By \V. W. Worthingtox. 



I left Shelter Island Heights, N. Y., for the purpose of making an 

 ornithological reconnoissance of the Bahama Islands, on November 21, 

 1908, going by way of Greenport directly to New York City, where 

 I boarded the Clyde Line steamer "Iroquois," bound for Jacksonville, 

 Florida. The voyage was uneventful, save for our being detained 

 for thirty hours off the bar at Jacksonville by a heavy fog, so that 

 we did not reach our destination until November 25. The following 



Kf. Plate LXXXI\'. 



