THE-C9nL?R 



Volume X May-J\ine 1908 Nvitnber 3 



THE PRESENT STATE OP THE ORNIS OF GUADAI^^UPE ISEAND 

 By JOHN E. THAYER and OUTRx\M BANGS 



IN the spring of 1906 Mr. W. W. Brown, Jr., accompanied by Mr. H. W. Mars- 

 den and Ignacio Oroso, made a collecting trip of two months — May 1 to June 



28 — in Guadaloupe Island, gathering material for the Thayer Museum at 

 lyancaster, Massachusetts. 



We had planned to have Mr. Brown arrive in Guadaloupe much earlier in the 

 season than he did, but owing to the new marine law by which the Mexican Gov: 

 ernment prohibits all but vessels flying its own flag from visiting the island, his 

 trip thither was long delayed. There are very few Mexican vessels to be had at 

 any price, and to be on time to keep a prearranged appointment is apparently one 

 of the least of the troubles of a Mexican skipper. When the party arrived at 

 Guadaloupe May 1, the breeding season of the rock wren, the kinglet, the house 

 finch and the junco was passed, and the only eggs secured were those of the petrel 

 and the flicker. 



Since its ornis was first made known in 1875, through the work done there by 

 Palmer, Guadaloupe has many times been visited by good ornithologists, Bryant, 

 Anthony, Streator and Beck all having made collections there. Much has already 

 been published concerning it, probably the best description of the island and ac- 

 count of its birds being that of W. E. Bryant (Bull. Cal. Acad. Science, No. 6, 

 1887). We, however, feel that, even at the risk of what may seem useless repeti- 

 tion, a short description of the island is necessary, in order to make clear the dis- 

 tribution of the birds found there by Brown and Marsden. Furthermore as this is 

 taken from Brown's carefully prepared notes, without it we could scarcely show 

 the changes that are taking place and the present condition of the biota of the 

 island, facts certainly worth recording, especially when it is generally known 

 with what alarming rapidity the destruction of that highly interesting endemic 

 biota, due to the introduction of goats and cats, is taking place. Already many 



