226 TIMEHRI. 
The note of the Quadrille bird, Cyphorhinus musicus ? 
is really most singular, and when heard for the first time, 
it is hard for one to realize that he listens to a bird and 
not to some wandering urchin trying to whistle a strange 
air. In my opinion the whistle of this little songster is 
even more remarkable than the metallic '‘ Cling! Clong i 
of the bell-bird, which does not sound like a bell at all and 
loses much of its strangeness if heard at close quarters. 
High mountain ranges, deserts, and differences of 
climate, as is well-known, often exercise a great influence 
on the Fauna of a Country, forming, according to Buffon, 
* natural barriers,’ effe€tually retarding the migration 
of species. Very narrow stretches of sea also szem 
to operate in the same direétion, and in the Antilles 
the distribution of certain species of birds is somewhat 
curious. 7 
Judging from the propinquity of their Coasts, anyone 
would suppose that the Fauna of the Islands of Jamaica 
and Haiti would be exaétly similar, but it is not the case. 
Neither the black nor the red-headed Carrion Vultures 
Catharista atrata and Rhinogryphus aura, which form 
such a conspicuous feature in the bird-life of Jamaica are 
met with in Haiti. On the other hand Haiti is the home 
of amammal, Solenodon paradoxus, unknown in Jamaica, 
and which singularly enough has its nearest living allies 
in the Tenrecs of Madagascar.* | 
That a mammal should be confined to one of a group 
of Islands separated only by a narrow sea is not so sur- 
prising, but that a bird endowed with excellent powers 
of flight. should for the same reason be prevented from 
migrating is very extraordinary. 
* A second species of Solenodon has been found in Cuba. 
