A finite number of colonies, each subject to a simple birth-death and immigration process is studied under the condition of migration between the colonies.
Kolmogorov's backward equations for the process are solved for some special cases, and a sequence of functions uniformly converging to the p.g.f. of the process is given for the general case. Further, a set of algebraic equations for the extinction probabilities are studied for the process without immigration, and a necessary and sufficient condition that the extinction probability be one is obtained.
