152 BAHAMA BIRD-LIFE 



tome of its geologic history. Closer study would reveal the 

 gradual growth of animal and plant life, as the islands 

 themselves have increased in age and become suited to sup- 

 port a flora and fauna. 



Restricting our attention to birds, we find that they are 

 the very earliest forms of life to take possession of these 

 new bits of the earth 's surface ; these little worlds. Long 

 before plants obtain a hold on the water-worn limestone of 

 the just born key, the " Pimlico " (Audubon's Shearwater) 

 and the " Egg-birds" (Sooty, Bridled, and Noddy Terns) 

 come to them. The keys furnish a home in which free from 

 molestation — except by man — they may lay their eggs and 

 rear their young, while the surrounding waters afford an 

 unfailing supply of food. Later, after sedge (Borrichia), 

 sea lavender (Tournefortia), hay cedar (Suriana), sea 

 grape (Goccolobis), prickly pear (Opuntia), and other 

 pioneer forms of vegetation have covered the rocks with a 

 dense, scrubby growth, they become suitable for the occu- 

 pation of White-crowned Pigeons, Ground Doves, Honey 

 Creepers, Vireos (Vireo crassirostris) and Bahama Mock- 

 ingbirds. Thus we advance from stage to stage until we 

 reach the pine forests of the older islands with their Tana- 

 gers (Spindalis), Warblers, Woodpeckers, and Flycatchers. 



There have now been recorded from the Bahamas two 

 hundred and four species and subspecies of birds (Riley, 

 " The Bahaman Islands," Macmillan Co.) Of this number, 

 about one hundred and eight nest in the islands and most of 

 these are resident there throughout the year. The approxi- 

 mately ninety-sis non-breeding birds are, with few excep- 

 tions, migrants from eastern North America. Many of them 

 winter in the Bahamas, while others use them as stepping- 

 stones to and from more southern winter homes. In no in- 

 stance, unless they breed in the same latitude ou the main- 

 land, have these migratory birds become permanently res- 

 ident in the islands. 



Of the one hundred and eight breeding species, no less 



