4IO 



NATURE 



\_Sept. 9, 1875 



It is remarkable that no one has yet been found to attack this 

 interesting subject, which might easily be performed by excursions 

 during the winter months of a few succeeding years. 



As regards the ornithology of these islands, the subjoined 

 summary of what we really know and do not know is mainly 

 taken from a paper on the Biids of St. Lucia, which I read before 

 the Zoological Society of London in 1871. 



I. The Virgin Islands. — Of these islands wc may, I think, 

 assume that we have a fair acquaintance with the birds of St. 

 Thomas, the most frequently visited of the group, and the halt- 

 ing place of the West Indian mail steamers. Mr. Riise, who 

 was long resident here, collected and forwarded to Europe many 

 specimens, some of which were described by myself,* and 

 others are spoken of by Prof. Newton in a letter published 

 in the "Ibis" for i860, p. 307. Mr. Riise's series of skins 

 is now, I believe, at Copenhagen. Frequent allusions to the 

 birds of St. Thomas are also made by Messrs. Newton in their 

 memoir of the birds of St. Croix, mentioned below. In the 

 ' ' Proceedings" of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 

 for i860, Mr. Cassin has given an account of a collection 

 of birds made in St. Thomas by Mr. Robert Swift, and presented 

 to the Academy ; twenty'Seven species are enumerated. 



Quite at the extreme east of the Virgin Islands, and lying 

 between them and the St. Bartholomew group, is the little 

 islet of Sombrero, "a naked rock about seven-eighths of a mile 

 long, twenty to forty feet above the level of the sea, and from a 

 few rods to about one-third of a mile in width." Although 

 •' there is no vegetation whatever in the island over two feet 

 high," and it would seem a most unlikely place for birds, 

 Mr. A. A. Julien, a correspondent of Mr. Lawrence of New 

 York, succeeded in collecting on it specimens of no less than 

 thirty-five species, the names of which, together with Mr. Julien's 

 notes thereupon, are recorded by Mr. Lawrence in the eighth 

 volume of the "Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of 

 New York." 



The remaining islands of the Virgin group are, I believe, most 

 strictly entitled to their name so far as ornithology is concerned, 

 for no collector on record has ever polluted their virgin soil. 

 Prof. Newton ("Ibis," i860, p. 307) just alludes to some birds 

 from St. John in the possession of Mr. Riise. 



2. St. Croix. — On the birds of this island we have an excellent 

 article by Messrs. A. and E. Newton, published in the first 

 volume of the "Ibis."t This memoir, being founded on the 

 collections and personal observations of the distinguished 

 authors themselves, and having been worked up after a careful 

 examination of their specimens in England, and with minute 

 attention to preceding authorities, forms by far the most 

 complete account we possess oi the ornithology of any one of the 

 Lesser Antilles. It, however, of course requires to be supple- 

 mented by additional observations, many points having been 

 necessarily left undetermined ; and it is much to be regretted 

 that no one seems to have since paid the slightest attention to 

 the subject. 



3. Anguilla, St. Martin, and St. Bartholomew. — Of this 

 group of islands St. Bartholomew alone has, as far as I know, 

 been explored ornithologically, and that within a very recent 

 period. In the Royal Swedish Academy's " Proceedings " for 

 1869 will be found an excellent article by the veteran 

 ornithologist Prot. Sundevall, on the birds of this island, founded 

 on a collection made by Dr, A. Von Goes. The species 

 enumerated are forty-seven in number. 



4. Barbuda. — Of this British island I believe I am correct in 

 saying that nothing whatever is known of its ornithology, or of 

 any other branch of its natural history. 



5. St, Christopher and Nevis, to'wh.\ch.m.3Lyh&^Mtd.ihtSid.]d>.ctni 

 smaller islands St. Eustathius and Saba. — Of these islands also 

 our ornithological knowledge is of the most fragmentary descrip- 

 tion. Mr. T. J, Cottle was, I believe, formerly resident in 

 Nevis, and sent a few birds thence to the British Museum in 

 1839. Amongst these were the specimens of the Humming-birds 

 of that island, which are mentioned by Mr. Gould in his well- 

 known work. Of the remainder of this group of islands w« 

 know absolutely nothing. 



6. Antigua.— Oi this fine British island, I regret to say, no- 

 thing whatever is known as regards its ornithology. Amongst 

 the many thousands of American birds that have come under my 

 notice during the past twenty years, I have never seen a single 

 skin from Antigua. 



* Ann. N.H. ser. 3, vol. iv. p. 225 ; and P.Z.S. i860, p. 314. 

 t " Ibis. 1859, pp. 59, 138, 252, and 365. 



7. Montserrat. — Exactly the same as the foregoing is the case 

 with the British island of Montserrat. 



8. Guadelotipe, Deseadea, and Marie-galante. — An excellent 

 French naturalist, Dr. I'Herminier, was for many years resident 

 as physician in the island of Guadeloupe. Unfortunately, Dr. 

 I'Herminier never carried into execution the plan which I believe 

 he contemplated, of publishing an account o*" the birds of that 

 island. He sent, however, a certain number of specimens to 

 Paris and to the late Baron 1 de la Fresnave, to whom we are 

 indebted for the only article ever published on the birds of 

 Guadeloupe or of the adjacent islands. 



9. Dominica. — Dominica is one of the few of the Caribbean 

 islands that has had the advantage of a visit from an active 

 English ornithologist. Although Mr. C. E. Taylor only passed 

 a fortnight in this island in 1863, and had many other matters to 

 attend to, he nevertheless contrived to preserve specimens of 

 many birds of very great interest, of which he has given us an 

 account in one of his articles on the birds of the West Indies, 

 published in the " Ibis " for 1864. It cannot be supposed, 

 however, that the birds of this wild and beautiful island can 

 have been exhausted in so short a space of time, even by the 

 energetic efforts of our well-known fellow-labourer. 



10. Martinique. — This island is one of the few belonging to 

 the Lesser Antilles in which birdskins are occasionally collected 

 by the residents, and find their way into the hands of the 

 Parisian dealers. There are also a certain number of specimens 

 from Martinique in the Musee d'Histoire Naturelle in the Jardin 

 des Plantes, which I have had an opportunity of examining j 

 but, beyond the vague notices given by Vieillot in his " Oiseaux 

 de I'Amerique du Nord," I am not aware of any publications 

 relating specially to the ornithology of this island. Mr. E. C. 

 Taylor passed a fortnight in Martinique in 1863, and has recorded 

 his notes upon the species of birds which he met with in the 

 excellent article which I have mentioned above ; but these were 

 only lew in number. The International Exhibition in 1862 

 contained, in the department devoted to the products of the 

 French colonies, a small series of the birds of Martinique, 

 exhibited by M. Belanger, director of the Botanical Garden 

 of St. Pierre in that island.* This is all the published in- 

 formation I have been able to find concerning the birds of 

 Martinique, t 



11. St. Lucia. — Of this island I gave an account of what is 

 known of the birds in a paper published in the Zoological 

 Society's "Proceedings" for 1871, based upon a collection 

 kindly forwarded to me by the Rev. J. E. Semper. Mr. 

 Semper subsequently communicated some interesting notes on 

 the habits of the species. 



12. St. Vincent. — St. Vincent was formerly the residence of 

 an energetic and most observant naturalist, the Rev. Lansdowne 

 Guilding, F.L.S., well known to the first founders of the 

 Zoological Society of London, who, however, unfortunately died 

 at an early age in this island without having carried out his plans 

 for a fauna of the West Indies. 



Mr. Guilding paid most attention to the invertebrate animals ; 

 but his collections contained a certain number of birds, amongst 

 which was a new Parrot, described after his decease by Mr, 

 Vigors as Psittacus Guildingii, and probably a native of St. 

 Vincent. 



13. Grenada and the Grenadines. — Of the special ornithology 

 of this group nothing is known. 



14. Barbados. — The sole authority upon the birds of Barbados 

 is Sir R. Schomburgk's well-known work on that island. 

 This contains (p. 681) a list of the birds met with, accompanied 

 by some few remarks. It does not, however, appear that birds 

 attracted much of the author's attention ; and more copious 

 notes would be highly desirable. 



15. Tobago, I believe, belongs zoologically to Trinidad, Sir 

 W. Jardine has given us an account of its ornithology from Mr, 

 Kirk's collections, 



VL— THE AUSTRALIAN REGION, 



Of the Australian Region I will speak in the following sub- 

 divisions : — 



1, Australia and Tasmania, 



2, Papua and the Papuan Islands, 



3, The Solomon Islands. 



* See an article on Ornithology in the International Exhibhion, " Ibis,' 

 1862, p. 288. 



" t On animals formerly living in Martinique but now extinct, see Guyon, 

 "Comp. Rend."Ixiii, p. 589(1866). 



