The total number of land-birds which are permanent residents in the West India islands is, as nearly as can be ascertained from existing materials, 203. There are, in addition to this number, according to Prof. Baird, 88 migrants from North America, which either spend the winter in some of the islands or pass on to Central or South America. These migrants belong to 55 genera, and it is an interesting fact that so many as 40 of these genera have no resident representatives in the islands. This is important, as showing that this northern migration is probably a recent and superficial phenomenon, and has not produced any (or a very slight) permanent effect on the fauna. The migratory genera which have permanent residents, and almost always representative species, in the islands, are in most cases characteristic rather of the Neotropical than of the Nearctic fauna, as the following list will show; _Turdus_, _Dendroeca_, _Vireo_, _Polioptila_, _Agelæus_, _Icterus_, _Contopus_, _Myiarchus_, _Tyrannus_, _Antrostomus_, _Chordeiles_, _Coccyzus_, _Columba_. By far the larger part of these birds visit Cuba only; 81 species being recorded as occurring in that island, while only 31 have been found in Jamacia, 12 in Porto Rico and St. Croix, and 2 in Tobago and Trinidad. Setting aside these migratory birds, as having no bearing on the origin of the true Antillean fauna, we will discuss the residents somewhat in detail.
The resident land-birds (203 in number) belong to 95 genera and 26 families. Of these families 15 are cosmopolitan or nearly so--Turdidæ, Sylviidæ, Corvidæ, Hirundinidæ, Fringillidæ, Picidæ, Cuculidæ, Caprimulgidæ, Cypselidæ, Trogonidæ, Psittacidæ, Columbidæ, Tetraonidæ, Falconidæ, and Strigidæ; 5 are American only--Vireonidæ, Mniotiltidæ, Icteridæ, Tyrannidæ, Trochilidæ; 4 are Netropical only or almost { 65}exclusively--Coerebidæ, Tanagridæ, Cotingidæ, Conuridæ; 1 is Antillean only--Todidæ; while 1--Ampelidæ--is confined (in the western hemisphere) to North America, and almost to the Nearctic region. Of the 95 genera, no less than 31, or almost exactly one-third, are peculiar; while of the 203 resident species, 177 are peculiar, the other 26 being all inhabitants of South or Central America. Considering how closely the islands approach the continent in several places--Florida, Yucatan, and Venezuela--this amount of speciality in such locomotive creatures as birds, is probably unexampled in any other part of the globe. The most interesting of these peculiar genera are the following: 4 of Turdidæ, or thrushes--1 confined to the large islands, 1 to the whole archipelago, while 2 are limited to the Lesser Antilles; 2 genera of Tanagridæ, confined to the larger islands; 2 of Trogonidæ, also confined to the larger islands; 5 of hummingbirds, 3 confined to the Greater, 1 to the Lesser Antilles; 2 of cuckoos, one represented in all the large islands, the other in Jamaica only; 2 of owls, one peculiar to Jamaica, the other represented in St. Croix, St. Thomas, Portorico, and Cuba; and lastly, _Todus_, constituting a peculiar family, and having representative species in each of the larger islands, is especially interesting because it belongs to a group of families which are wholly Neotropical--the Momotidæ, Galbulidæ, and Todidæ. The presence of this peculiar form, with 2 trogons; 10 species of parrots, all but one peculiar; 16 peculiar humming-birds belonging to 8 genera; a genus of Cotingidæ; 10 peculiar tanagers belonging to 3 genera; 9 Coerebidæ of 3 genera; together with species of such exclusively Netropical genera as _Coereba_, _Certhiola_, _Sycalis_, _Phonipara_, _Elainea_, _Pitangus_, _Campephilus_, _Chloronerpes_, _Nyctibius_, _Stenopsis_, _Lampornis_, _Calypte_, _Ara_, _Chrysotis_, _Zenaida_, _Leptoptila_, and _Geotrygon_, sufficiently demonstrate the predominant affinities of this fauna; although there are many cases in which it is difficult to say, whether the ancestors of the peculiar genera or species may not have been derived from the Nearctic rather than from the Neotropical region.