Ornithophily on the Canary Islands

(1) On the Canary Islands and Madeira typical bird-flowers occur in at least twelve species of six genera, although true flower-birds are absent. This inconsistency is in part elucidated by field observations on exotic and wild plants of Tenerife. —(2) In the Botanical Garden of Orotava it could be observed that various ornithophilous plants, which were introduced there, were visited by indigenous birds for nectar and in one case (Orthostemon) for food tissue. Of the three bird species involved, an endemic race of Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) and resident Blackcaps (Sylvia atricapilla) exploit, and pollinate, flowers legitimously, while the Wild Canary (Serinus canaria) is predominan…