Birds of Vancouver Island. 417 



coast, however, that any great addition to our avifauna may be 

 expected. I have divided this synopsis into two portions : — 1st, 

 a list of birds known to exist in the Island ; and, 2ndly, a list 

 of species known to inhabitants of the neighbouring mainland of 

 Washington territory and British Columbia, which species being 

 reasonably considered to be in all likelihood also members of the 

 Vancouver-Island fauna, ought to be looked for. Most of the 

 domestic fowls of England and the United States are, of late 

 years, to be found in the farm-yards of the southern portion 

 of the island. The Californian Quail {Lophortyx californicus) 

 has been set free in the district near Metchosin, with a view to 

 add to the game-birds of the island, but, so far as I can learn, 

 it is not prospering very well. I may also mention, in con- 

 nexion with this subject, that the English Rabbit {Lepus cuni- 

 culus) has also been introduced into the same district, and will 

 most likely increase rapidly. 



I have prefaced my list of the known birds of Vancouver 

 Island by a table showing at a glance the tribal, generic, and 

 and specific distribution of the avifauna ; and this table saves me 

 the necessity of introducing further systematic details. From 

 this it will appear that the known avifauna of Vancouver Island 

 comprehends 153 species, extending over six orders, thirty-eight 

 primary tribes, and one hundred and eighteen genera. The 

 statistics of the species, genera, and tribes in these orders may 

 be stated as follows : — 



38 118 153 



The species are arranged according to Prof. Spencer F. Baird's 



well-known'Birds of North America;' and a reference to that work 



saves all necessity of swelling the limits of this list (which is only 



intended as a guide to future collectors) by inserting descrip- 



