CLARK: LESSER ANTILLEAN BIRDS. 
221 
The Mongoose. 
The mongoose (Herpestes) has been introduced into Barbados, 
St. Vincent, and Grenada. It is now thoroughly at home every¬ 
where, is very abundant, and is found in all situations, even in the 
depths of the high woods on the two last-mentioned islands, although 
it does not occur on any of the Grenadines. Since its advent the 
ground doves (Columbigallina) have become much fewer on these 
islands, while Geotrygon montana appears to have entirely gone 
from St. Vincent, and to have become very rare on Grenada. Other 
birds are also affected, though to a less degree. 
The West Indian Avifauna. 
There are about 300 species of birds peculiar to the West Indies, 
of which about 200 occur in the Greater Antilles only, and 90 in the 
Lesser only. The remainder are species of more or less wide dis¬ 
tribution. Of genera there are 41 confined to the West Indies. 
Pyrrhulagra and Margarops are of rather general distribution, while 
of the remainder, 28 are Greater Antillean (one of these, Mimocichla, 
having a representative in the Lesser Antilles on Dominica) and 11 
Lesser Antillean (although two of these, Sericotes and Bellona, occur 
on St. Thomas, and the latter also on Porto Rico). These Lesser 
Antillean genera are : Eulampis, Sericotes, Bellona, Gmelinius 1 Mel- 
anospiza, Leucopeza, Catharopeza, Cinclocerthia, Rhamphocinclus, 
Allenia, Cinchlerminia. 
In the Greater Antilles the resident species appear to have been 
derived mainly from Central America, with many accessions from 
North America, especially in the Bahamas and Cuba. The Baha¬ 
mas, owing to their oceanic character, have an avifauna of compara¬ 
tively recent origin, consisting largely of derivatives from North 
American stock, but apparently related more closely to the Greater 
Antilles, particularly to Cuba. The single peculiar genus, Callicheli- 
don, is of rather uncertain status. 
Jamaica appears to be the most important faunally of the Greater 
Antilles, and contains the largest number of peculiarly West Indian 
1 Gmelinius Boucard (type G. bicolor), Gen. Hummingbirds, p. 108, 1892. 
