the Birds of Barbados. 479 



by the name of the " Scotland District/^ owing to its hilly 

 and peaked charactei', and cfFers a most striking contrast 

 to the gentle slopes and terraces of the coral-covered area, 

 which is the part of the island generally seen by the casual 

 visitor to its shores. 



The strata which form the basement series of Barbados 

 are extremely contorted and have been greatly disturbed; 

 they consist of a variety of rocks, siliceous sandstones, cal- 

 careous sandstones, clays containing selenite, clays impreg- 

 nated with mineral oil, and at some points veins of bituminous 

 coal. Their precise age has not been accurately determined, 

 but they are probably late Eocene or Miocene, and point to 

 correlation with those of Trinidad, and consequently at one 

 period of time to a connection with the South-American 

 continent. It can hardly be doubted that these basement- 

 rocks, or " Scotland Series,^' were formed either as estuarine 

 or shallow-sea deposits, and in close contiguity to some great 

 land-area. Resting unconformably on the "Scotland Series " 

 are vast deposits of oceanic ooze, built up, in some cases 

 almost entirely, from the tests of Rhizopods. The modern 

 coral cap of the is hand has been built up step by step upon 

 these thalassic oozes as they emerged at intervals from the 

 ocean. It would therefore appear that between the period 

 of the deposition of the rocks that form the basement-series 

 of the island there must have been a submergence of not less 

 than a thousand fathoms to have brought them into harmony 

 with the surrounding floor of the ocean, and to have admitted 

 of the deposition of the beds of deep-sea ooze which now 

 rest upon them. The modern coral-coated island of Bar- 

 bados dates back no further in time than the period when 

 the elevatory process brought the deep-sea deposits sufficiently 

 near the surface to admit of the reef-builders commencing 

 work. The deep water that surrounds Barbados is proof 

 that it has had no continental connection since it emerged as 

 a coral-reef from the ocean. I believe that the examination 

 of the flora and fauna of Barbados will show their com- 

 paratively recent origin. So far as I can judge, the mammals, 

 reptiles, and land-molluscs owe their introduction either to 



