TRANSACXI0N3 OF THJi SJiCTlOXS. 10l> 



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 Kevis, to which may be added the adjacent smaller islands 

 St. Eustatkins and Saba. — Of these islands also our ornithological knoAvledge is of the 

 most fragmentary description. 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 men- 

 tioned by Mr. Gould in his well-known work. Of the remainder of this group of 

 islands we know absolutely nothing. 



C. Antigua. — Of this tine British island, I regret to say, nothing whatever is 

 known as regards its ornithology. Amongst the many thousands of American 

 birds that have come imder my notice during the past twenty years, I have never 

 seen a single skin from Antigua. 



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

 island of Montserrat. 



8. Guadeloupe, Deseadea, and Marie-i/alante. — An excellent French naturalist, 

 Dr. I'Hermiuier, was for many years resident as physician in the island of Guade- 

 loupe. Unfortimately, Dr. ITIermiuier never carried into execution the plan which 

 I believe he contemplated, of publishing an account of the birds of that island. 

 lie sent, however, a certain number of specimens to Paris and to the late Baron de 

 Lafresnaye, to whom we are indebted for the only article ever published on the 

 birds of Guadeloupe (132), 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 INIr. E. C. 

 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 accoimt in one of his articles on the 

 birds of the West Indies, published in 'The Ibis' for 1864 (126). It cannot be 

 supposed, however, that the birds of this wild and beaxitiful island can have been 

 exhausted in so short a space of time, even by the energetic efforts of our well- 

 known fellow-labom'er. 



10. Martiiiiqite. — 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 speci- 

 mens from Martinique in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in the Jardin des Plantes, 

 which I have had an opportunity of examining ; but, beyond the vague notices 

 given by Vieillot in his ' Oiseaux de I'Am^rique Septentrionale,' I am not aware 

 of any publication 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 article which I have 

 mentioned above ; but these were only few 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. PieiTe in that island * (133). 

 This is all the published information I have been able to find concerning the 

 bu'ds of Martinique f. 



11. aS"^. 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 JRev. J. E. Semper (134). Mr. Semj)er 

 subsequently commimicated some interesting notes on the habits of the species 

 (135). 



12. St. Vincent. — St. Vincent was formerly the residence of an energetic and 

 most observant naturalist, the Rev. Lansdown 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 ; 



* See article on Ornithology iu the Internatioual Exhibition, ' Ibis,' 1862, p. 288. 

 + On animals formerly living in Martinique but now extinct, see Gnyon, ' Conipt. Kend.' 

 ixiii. p. 589 (1866). 



