Life in the Bahama Islands. 353 



Larus atricilla, Black-headed or Laughing Gull; habitat: 

 Atlantic coast of America, South to Lower Amazon, N. 

 casually to Maine ; common at Joe's, Fish, and other keys. 



Sterna Mrundo, Common Tern ; ' habitat : East North 

 America ; common on several of the Abaco keys. 



Sterna antillarum, Least Tern ; habitat : warm temperate 

 America, Central America, and West Indies ; common on 

 Abaco keys. 



Sterna fuliginosa, Sooty Tern; its range extends over the 

 warmer sea coasts of the globe ; in America, N. to Carolina, 

 casually to New England ; extremely abundant at Fish key. 



Sterna ancesthetica, Bridled Tern ; its general range coin- 

 cides with that of the last species, but in North America it 

 is found in Florida only ; procured at Lower Fish Keys, 

 but it was not nearly so abundant as S. fuliginosa. 



Among the birds, specimens of which were obtained but 

 not yet identified, are a Grossbeak, two Warblers, a Parrot, 

 a Dove, and two species of Humming-bird. 



Green Turtle Key is densely covered with vegetation which 

 is, however, in marked contrast with that of the adjacent 

 large island of Abaco, by the absence of very large or forest 

 trees. On Abaco may be found the pine, Pinus Cubensis (?) 

 resembling Pinus Tceda, also the red cedar, Juniperus Vir- 

 giniana ; cedar prevails near the numerous swamps in the 

 north-eastern part of the island; the pine may reach a 

 height of 80 feet. 



Among other common trees are the mastic, "dogwood," 

 white torch, bullet, and "poison wood" (probably Rhus 

 toxicodendron.) 



In the lowest part of the island, the mangrove (Rhizophora 

 Mangle) forms dense thickets. 



Ferns, bromeliads and orchids flourish abundantly, both 

 on Green Turtle Key and on Abaco. 



The small keys are devoid of trees proper, but shrubs, 

 vines, coarse grasses, etc., abound. Among these are turtle 

 grass (Gomphrena), morning glories (Convolvuli) , a pea vine 

 with rope like stems (Carnavalia.) 



A plant imported by florists, the " West Indian Lily " 

 {Pancratium), grows along the sandy margins of many of 

 the islands. 



