THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 355 



characters or in retaining the characteristics of the " original stock " in the 

 same manner as an island habitat has acted for the Bahama species, so that 

 to-day we find the apparent anomaly of a species in lower California finding its 

 nearest relative in the Bahama Islands. 



39. Careba bahamensis (Eeichenbach) . — One of a group of four closely- 

 related species: Cosreba cdboti (Baird) of Cozumel Island, Yucatan, Coereba 

 sharpei (Cory) of the Caymans, and Cwreba tricolor (Eidgway) of Old Provi- 

 dence, an island situated about one hundred and fifty miles off the coast of 

 Nicaragua. Strange to say, although this genus is found throughout the West 

 Indies and on the American continent from Mexico to Peru, it is not found in 

 Cuba.' C. bahamensis (Eeichenbach) finds its nearest relative in 0. caboti 



'(Baird). 



40. Icterus northropi Allen. — One of a small group of orioles inhabiting 

 Mexico, Central America, the Greater and Lesser Antilles. In color it more 

 closely resembles Icterus wagleri Sclater of Mexico, Icterus oberi Lawrence 

 of Montserrat, and Icterus laudabilis Sclater of St. Lucia than it does Icterus 

 hypomelas (Bonaparte) of Cuba, Icterus portoricensis (Bryant) of Porto Eico, 

 and Icterus dominicensis (Linne) of Haiti. Icterus prothemelas (Strickland) 

 of Central America is very much like the Bahama species in color and the 

 " original stock " of all these species probably came from there, making 

 7. northropi Allen of fortuitous origin in the Islands. 



41. Spindalis zena (Linne). 



42. Spindalis zena townsendi (Eidgway). — ^Belong to a genus peculiar to 

 the Greater Antilles with the single exception of Spindalis benedicti of Cozu- 

 mel Island, Yucatan, to which the Bahama forms are more closely related 

 than to those of the West Indies. 



43. Pyrrhulagra violacea (Linne). — Closely related forms occur in both 

 Jamaica and Haiti. The genus does not occur in Cuba or Grand Cayman, 

 where its place is taken in Cuba by Melopyrrha nigra (Linne), and in Grand 

 Cayman by Melopyrrha taylori Hartert, but nearly all of the other West India 

 Islands have more or less closely related forms, and one form even reaches the 

 mainland of South America, indicating the probable derivation of the " original 

 stock." The Bahama species belongs to a section of the genus confined to the 

 islands of Jamaica, Haiti, Porto Eico and St. Kitts, and has probably reached 

 the Bahamas by way of Haiti. 



