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THE-CO.IB.R Volume X lqay-June 190B Number THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ORNIS OF GUADALOUPE ISLAND By JOHN E. THAYER and OUTRAM BANGS N the spring of 1906 Mr. W. W. Brown, Jr., accompanied by Mr. H. W. Mars- den and Ignacio Oroso, made a collecting trip of two months--May 1 to June 28--in Guadaloupe Island, gathering material for the Thayer Museum at Lancaster, Massachusetts. We had planned to have Mr. Brown arrive in Guadaloupe much earlier in the season than he did, but owing to the new marine law by which the Mexican Gov- ernment prohibits all but vessels flying its own flag from visiting the island, his trip thither was long delayed. There are very few Mexican vessels to be had at any price, and to be on time to keep a prearranged appointment is apparently one of the least of the troubles of a Mexican skipper. When the party arrived at Guadaloupe May 1, the breeding season of the rock wren, the kinglet, the house finch and the junco was passed, and the only eggs secured were those of the petrel and the flicker. Since its ornis was first made known in 1875, through the work done there by Palmer, Guadaloupe has many times been visited by good ornithologists, Bryant, Anthony, Streator and Beck all having made collections there. Much has already been published concerning it, probably the best description of the island and ac- count of its birds being that of W. E. Bryant (Bull. Cal. Acad. Science, No. 6, 1887). We, however, feel that, even at the risk of what may seem useless repeti- tion, a short description of the island is necessary, in order to make clear the dis- tribution of the birds found there by Brown and Marsden. Furthermore as this is taken from Brown's carefully prepared notes, without it we could scarcely show the changes that are taking place and the present condition of the biota of the island, facts certainly worth recording, especially when it is generally known with what alarming rapidity the destruction of that highly interesting endemic biota, due to the introduction of goats and cats, is taking place. Already many