Islands of the Coast of Yucatan, §c. 93 



element in these islands is that the birds have reached them 

 at no distant date by flight. When we consider that the 

 trade-wind blows almost continuously over Cuba and Jamaica 

 in the direction of Yucatan and this coast for several months 

 in the year, it is hardly a matter of wonder that some West- 

 Indian birds do stray so far west. 



We should, however, expect to find more of them on the 

 mainland. That this is not the case may be due to the 

 imperfect way in which nearly the whole of this coast has 

 been explored. No collections whatever have been made 

 from any point between Belize and Cape Catoche, and the 

 coast of British Honduras has only been touched in a very 

 imperfect way. 



I anticipate therefore that as our knowledge of the imme- 

 diate mainland becomes more advanced, the peculiarities of 

 these islands as regards their West-Indian element will 

 diminish, if not altogether disappear. 



I have hitherto treated of these coast-islands as a whole, 

 but on examining them in detail they split up naturally into 

 three groups. Leaving Meco out of the question, Holbox 

 and Mugeres may be classed together, Cozumel by itself, and 

 the Bay Islands of Ruatan and Bonacca by themselves. 



Holbox and Mugeres. — The bird-fauna of these islands 

 closely resembles that of the mainland. Of the 70 recorded 

 specimens, 26 are migrants, 1 has a very wide range, and 43 

 form the more localized resident fauna. Of these 43 species, 

 the following 6 are more or less associated exclusively with 

 the West Indies :— (1) Certhiola caboti (also found on Co- 

 zumel), a peculiar species, but very closely allied to C. baha- 

 mensis ; (2) Phonipara intermedia (also found on Cozumel), 

 very close to P. olivacea of the West Indies and to P. pusitla 

 of the mainland ; (3) Elainea martinica (also found on 

 several other islands), a common species of the Lesser An- 

 tilles, but very closely allied to E. paguna of the mainland ; 

 (4) Tyrannus magnirostris, identical with the Cuban bird. 

 The remaining two are (byZenaida amabilis and (6) Engy- 

 ptila jamaicensis, both also found on the mainland. Of the 

 37 mainland forms, Phcenicothraupis insularis and Chloro- 



