Part IV (part 1 of 2)

GEOGRAPHICAL ZOOLOGY:

A SYSTEMATIC SKETCH OF THE CHIEF FAMILIES OF LAND ANIMALS IN THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONS.

{167}INTRODUCTION.

In the preceding part of our work, we have discussed the geographical distribution of animals from the point of view of the geographer; taking the different regions of the earth in succession, and giving as full an account as our space would permit of their chief forms of animal life. Now, we proceed from the standpoint of the systematic zoologist; taking in succession each of the families with which we deal, and giving an account of the distribution, both of the entire family and, as far as practicable, of each of the genera of which it is composed. As in the former part, our mode of treatment led us to speculate on the past changes of the earth's surface; so here we shall endeavour to elucidate the past migrations of animals, and thus, to some extent, account for their actual distribution.

The tabular headings, showing the range of the family in each region, will enable the reader to determine at a glance the general distribution of the group, as soon as he has familiarised himself, by a study of our general and regional maps, with the limits of the regions and sub-regions, and the figures (1 to 4) by which the latter are indicated. Much pains have been taken, to give the number of the known genera and species in each family, correctly; but these numbers must, in most cases, only be looked upon as approximations; because, owing to constant accessions of fresh material on the one hand, and the discovery that many supposed species are only varieties, on the other, such statistics are in a continual state of fluctuation. In the number of genera there is the greatest uncertainty; as will be seen by the two sets of numbers sometimes given, which denote the genera according to different modern authorities.

{168}There is also a considerable difference in the dependence to be placed on the details given in the different classes of animals. In Mammalia and Birds some degree of accuracy has, it is hoped, been attained; the classification of these groups being much advanced, and the materials for their study ample. In Reptiles this is not the case, as there is no recently published work dealing with the whole subject, or with either of the larger orders. An immense number of new species and new genera of snakes and lizards, have been described in the last twenty years; and Dr. Günther--our greatest authority on reptiles in this country--has kindly assisted me in incorporating such of these as are most trustworthy, in a general system; but until entire Orders have been described or catalogued on a uniform plan, nothing more than a general approximation to the truth can be arrived at. Still, so many of the groups are well defined, and have a clearly limited distribution, that some interesting and valuable comparisons may be made.

For Fishes, the valuable "Catalogue" of Dr. Günther was available, and it has rarely been attempted to go beyond it. A large number of new species have since been described, in all parts of the world; but it is impossible to say how many of these are really new, or what genera they actually belong to. The part devoted to this Class is, therefore, practically a summary of Dr. Günther's Catalogue; and it is believed that the discoveries since made will not materially invalidate the conclusions to be drawn from such a large number of species, which have been critically examined and classified on a uniform system by one of our most able naturalists. When a supplement to this catalogue is issued, it will be easier to make the necessary alterations in distribution, than if a mass of untrustworthy materials had been mixed up with it.

For Insects, excellent materials are furnished, in the Catalogue of Mr. Kirby for Butterflies and in that of Drs. Gemminger and Harold for Coleoptera. I have also made use of some recently published memoirs on the Insects of Japan and St. Helena, and a few other recent works; and have, I believe, elaborated a more extensive series of facts to illustrate the distribution of insects, {169}than has been made use of by any previous writer. Several discussions on the bearing of the facts of insect distribution, will also be found under the several Regions, in the preceding part of this work.

Terrestrial Mollusca form a group, as to the treatment of which I have most misgivings; owing to my almost entire ignorance of Malacology, and the great changes recently made in the classification of shells. There is also much uncertainty as to genera and sub-genera, which is very puzzling to one who merely wishes to get at general results. Finding it impossible to incorporate the new matter with the old, or to harmonise the different classifications of modern conchologists, I thought it better to confine myself to the standard works of Martens and Pfeiffer, with such additions of new species as I could make without fear of going far wrong. In some cases I have made use of recent monographs--especially on the shells of Europe, North America, the West Indian Islands, and the Sandwich Islands; and have, I venture to hope, not fallen into much error in the general conclusions at which I have arrived.

{170}CHAPTER XVII.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF MAMMALIA.

Order I.--PRIMATES.

FAMILY 1.--SIMIIDÆ. (4 Genera, 12 Species).

The Simiidæ, or Anthropoid Apes, comprehend those forms of the monkey-tribe which, in general organization, approach nearest to man. They inhabit the tropics of the Old World, and are most abundant near the equator; but they are limited to certain districts, being quite unknown in eastern and southern Africa, and the whole peninsula of Hindostan.

The genus Troglodytes (or Mimetes, as it is sometimes named) comprehends the chimpanzee and gorilla. It is confined to the West African sub-region, being found on the coast about 12° North and South of the equator, from the Gambia to Benguela, and as far inland as the great equatorial forests extend. There are perhaps other species of chimpanzee; since Livingstone met with what he supposed to be a new species in the forest region west of Lake Tanganyika, while Dr. Schweinfurth found one in the country beyond the western watershed of the Nile. The gorilla is confined within narrower limits on and near the equator.

{171}We have to pass over more than 70° of longitude before we again meet with Anthropoid Apes, in the northern part of Sumatra--where a specimen of the orang-utan (Simia satyrus) now in the Calcutta Museum, was obtained by Dr. Abel, and described by him in the Asiatic Researches, vol. xv.--and in Borneo, from which latter island almost all the specimens in European museums have been derived. There are supposed to be two species of Simia in Borneo, a larger and a smaller; but their distinctness is not admitted by all naturalists. Both appear to be confined to the swampy forests near the north, west, and south coasts.

The Gibbons, or long-armed apes, forming the genus Hylobates, (7 species) are found in all the large islands of the Indo-Malayan sub-region, except the Philippines; and also in Sylhet and Assam south of the Brahmaputra river, eastward to Cambodja and South China to the west of Canton, and in the island of Hainan.

The Siamang (Siamanga syndactyla) presents some anatomical peculiarities, and has the second and third toes united to the last joint, but in general form and structure it does not differ from Hylobates. It is the largest of the long-armed apes, and inhabits Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.

FAMILY 2.--SEMNOPITHECIDÆ. (2 Genera, 30 Species.)

The Semnopithecidæ, are long-tailed monkeys without cheek-pouches, and with rather rounded faces, the muzzle not being prominent. They have nearly the same distribution as the last family, but are more widely dispersed in both Africa and Asia, one species just entering the Palæarctic region.

The Eastern genus Presbytes or Semnopithecus (29 species), is spread over almost the whole of the Oriental region wherever the forests are extensive. They extend along the Himalayas to beyond Simla, where a species has been observed at an altitude of 11,000 {172}feet, playing among fir-trees laden with snow wreaths. On the west side of India they are not found to the north of 14° N. latitude. On the east they extend into Arakan, and to Borneo and Java, but not apparently into Siam or Cambodja. Along the eastern extension of the Himalayas they again occur in East Thibet; a remarkable species with a large upturned nose (S. roxellana) having been discovered by Père David at Moupin (about Lat. 32° N.) in the highest forests, where the winters are severe and last for several months, and where the vegetation, and the other forms of animal life, are wholly those of the Palæarctic region. It is very curious that this species should somewhat resemble the young state of the proboscis monkey (S. nasalis), which inhabits one of the most uniform, damp, and hot climates on the globe--the river-swamps of Borneo.

Colobus, the African genus (11 species), is very closely allied to the preceding, differing chiefly in the thumb being absent or rudimentary. They are confined to the tropical regions--Abyssinia on the east, and from the Gambia to Angola and the island of Fernando Po, on the west.

FAMILY 3.--CYNOPITHECIDÆ. (7 Genera, 67 Species).

This family comprehends all the monkeys with cheek pouches, and the baboons. Some of these have very long tails, some none; some are dog-faced, others tolerably round-faced; but there are so many transitions from one to the other, and such a general agreement in structure, that they are now considered to form a very natural family. Their range is more extensive than any other family of Quadrumana, since they not only occur in every part of the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, but enter the Palæarctic region in the east and west, and the Australian region as far as the islands of Timor and Batchian. The African genera {173}are Myiopithecus, Cercopithecus, Cercocebus, Theropithecus, and Cynocephalus; the Oriental genera, Macacus, and Cynopithecus.

Myiopithecus (1 species), consisting of the talapoin monkey of West Africa, differs from the other African monkeys in the structure of the last molar tooth; in the large ears, short face, and wide internasal septum; in this respect, as well as in its grace and gentleness, resembling some of the American monkeys.

Cercopithecus (24 species), contains all the more graceful and prettily coloured monkeys of tropical Africa, and comprises the guenons, the white-nosed, and the green monkeys. They range from the Gambia to the Congo, and from Abyssinia to the Zambesi.

Cercocebus (5 species), the mangabeys, of West Africa, are very closely allied to the eastern genus Macacus.

Theropithecus (2 species), including the gelada of Abyssinia and an allied species, resemble in form the baboons, but have the nostrils placed as in the last genus.

Cynocephalus (10 species), the baboons, are found in all parts of Africa. They consist of animals which vary much in appearance, but which agree in having an elongated dog-like muzzle with terminal nostrils, and being of terrestrial habits. Some of the baboons are of very large size, the mandrill (C. maimon) being only inferior to the orang and gorilla.

Macacus (25 species), is the commonest form of eastern monkey, and is found in every part of the Oriental region, as well as in North Africa, Gibraltar, Thibet, North China, and Japan; and one of the commonest species, M. cynomolgus, has extended its range from Java eastward to the extremity of Timor. The tail varies greatly in length, and in the Gibraltar monkey (M. innus) is quite absent. A remarkable species clothed with very thick fur, has lately been discovered in the snowy mountains of eastern Thibet.

Cynopithecus (? 2 sp.).--This genus consists of a black baboon-like Ape, inhabiting Celebes, Batchian, and the Philippine Islands; but perhaps introduced by man into the latter islands and into Batchian. It is doubtful if there is more than one species. The tail of this animal is a fleshy tubercle, the nostrils as in Macacus, but the muzzle is very prominent; and the {174}development of the maxillary bones into strong lateral ridges corresponds to the structure of the most typical baboons. This species extends further east than any other quadrumanous animal.

FAMILY 4.--CEBIDÆ. (10 Genera, 78 Species.)

The Cebidæ, which comprehend all the larger American Monkeys, differ from those of the Old World by having an additional molar tooth in each jaw, and a broad nasal septum; while they have neither cheek-pouches nor ischial callosities, and the thumb is never completely opposable. Some have prehensile tails, especially adapting them for an arboreal life. They are divided into four sub-families,--Cebinæ, Mycetinæ, Pitheciinæ, and Nyctipithecinæ. The Cebidæ are strictly confined to the forest regions of tropical America, from the southern part of Mexico to about the parallel of 30° South Latitude. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Sub-family, Cebinæ.--Cebus (18 sp.), is the largest genus of American monkeys, and ranges from Costa Rica to Paraguay. They are commonly called sapajous. Lagothrix (5 sp.), the woolly monkeys, are rather larger and less active than the preceding; they are confined to the forests of the Upper Amazon Valley, and along the slopes of the Andes to Venezuela and Bolivia. Ateles (14 sp.), the spider monkeys, have very long limbs and tail. They range over the whole area of the family, and occur on the west side of the Equatorial Andes and on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Eriodes (3 sp.), are somewhat intermediate between the last two genera, and are confined to the eastern parts of Brazil south of the equator. The three last mentioned genera have very powerful prehensile tails, the end being bare beneath; whereas the species of Cebus have the tail {175}completely covered with hair, although prehensile, and therefore not so perfect a grasping organ.

Sub-family, Mycetinæ, consists of but a single genus, Mycetes (10 sp.), the howling monkeys, characterized by having a hollow bony vessel in the throat formed by an enlargement of the hyoid bone, which enables them to produce a wonderful howling noise. They are large, heavy animals, with a powerful and perfect prehensile tail. They range from East Guatemala to Paraguay. (Plate XIV., vol. ii., p. 24.)

Sub-family, Pitheciinæ, the sakis, have a non-prehensile bushy tail. Pithecia (7 sp.), has the tail of moderate length; while Brachiurus (5 sp.) has it very short. Both appear to be restricted to the great equatorial forests of South America.

Sub-family, Nyctipithecinæ, are small and elegant monkeys, with long, hairy, non-prehensile tails. Nyctipithecus (5 sp.), the night-monkeys or douroucoulis, have large eyes, nocturnal habits, and are somewhat lemurine in their appearance. They range from Nicaragua to the Amazon and eastern Peru. Saimiris or Chrysothrix (3 sp.), the squirrel-monkeys, are beautiful and active little creatures, found in most of the tropical forests from Costa Rica to Brazil and Bolivia. Callithrix (11 sp.), are somewhat intermediate between the last two genera, and are found all over South America from Panama to the southern limits of the great forests.

FAMILY 5.--HAPALIDÆ. (2 Genera, 32 Species.)

The Hapalidæ, or marmosets, are very small monkeys, which differ from the true Cebidæ in the absence of one premolar tooth, while they possess the additional molar tooth; so that while they have the same number of teeth (thirty-two) as the Old World monkeys, they differ from them even more than do the {176}Cebidæ. The thumb is not at all opposable, and all the fingers are armed with sharp claws. The hallux, or thumb-like great toe, is very small; the tail is long and not prehensile. The two genera Hapale (9 sp.), and Midas (24 sp.), are of doubtful value, though some naturalists have still further sub-divided them. They are confined to the tropical forests of South America, and are most abundant in the districts near the equator.

Sub-order--LEMUROIDEA.

FAMILY 6.--LEMURIDÆ. (11 Genera, 53 Species.)

The Lemuridæ, comprehending all the animals usually termed Lemurs and many of their allies, are divided by Professor Mivart--who has carefully studied the group--into four sub-families and eleven genera, as follows:--

Sub-family Indrisinæ, consisting of the genus Indris (5 sp.), is confined to Madagascar.

Sub-family Lemurinæ, contains five genera, viz.:--Lemur, (15 sp.); Hapalemur (2 sp.); Microcebus (4 sp.); Chirogaleus (5 sp.); and Lepilemur (2 sp.);--all confined to Madagascar.

Sub-family Nycticebinæ, contains four genera, viz.:--Nycticebus (3 sp.)--small, short-tailed, nocturnal animals, called slow-lemurs,--range from East Bengal to South China, and to Borneo and Java; Loris (1 sp.)--a very small, tail-less, nocturnal lemur, which inhabits Madras, Malabar, and Ceylon; Perodicticus (1 sp.)--the potto--a small lemur with almost rudimentary forefinger, found at Sierra Leone (Plate V., vol. i., p. 264); Arctocebus (1 sp.)--the angwantibo,--another extraordinary form in which the forefinger is quite absent and the first toe armed with a long claw,--inhabits Old Calabar.

{177}Sub-family Galaginæ, contains only the genus Galago (14 sp.), which is confined to the African continent, ranging from Senegal and Fernando Po to Zanzibar and Natal.

FAMILY 7.--TARSIIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The curious Tarsius spectrum, which constitutes this family, inhabits Sumatra, Banca, and Borneo, and is also found in some parts of Celebes, which would bring it into the Australian region; but this island is altogether so anomalous that we can only consider its productions to have somewhat more affinity with the Australian than the Oriental region, but hardly to belong to either. The Tarsier is a small, long-tailed, nocturnal animal, of curious structure and appearance; and it forms the only link of connection with the next family, which it resembles in the extraordinary development of the toes, one of which is much larger and more slender than the rest. (Plate VIII., vol. i. p. 337.)

FAMILY 8.--CHIROMYIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Aye-aye, (Chiromys), the sole representative of this family, is confined to the island of Madagascar. It was for a long time very imperfectly known, and was supposed to belong to the Rodentia; but it has now been ascertained to be an exceedingly specialized form of the Lemuroid type, and must be considered to be one of the most extraordinary of the mammalia now inhabiting the globe. (Plate VI., vol. i., p. 278.)

{178}Fossil Quadrumana.

Not much progress has yet been made in tracing back the various forms of Apes and Monkeys to their earliest appearance on the globe; but there have been some interesting recent discoveries, which lead us to hope that the field is not yet exhausted. The following is a summary of what is known as to the early forms of each family:--

Simiidæ.--Two or three species of this family have been found in the Upper Miocene deposits of France and Switzerland. Pliopithecus, of which a species has been found at each locality, was allied to the gibbons (Hylobates), and perhaps to Semnopithecus. A more remarkable form, named Dryopithecus, as large as a man, and having peculiarities of structure which are thought by Gervais and Lartet to indicate a nearer approach to the human form than any existing Ape, has been found in strata of the same age in France.

Semnopithecidæ.--Species of Semnopithecus have been found in the Upper Miocene of Greece, and others in the Siwalik Hills of N. W. India, also of Upper Miocene age. An allied form also occurs in the Miocene of Wurtemburg. Mesopithecus from Greece is somewhat intermediate between Semnopithecus and Macacus.

Remains supposed to be of Semnopithecus, have also occurred in the Pliocene of Montpellier.

Cynopithecidæ.--Macacus has occurred in Pliocene deposits at Grays, Essex; and also in the South of France along with Cercopithecus.

Cebidæ.--In the caves of Brazil remains of the genera Cebus, Mycetes, Callithrix, and Hapale, have been found; as well as an extinct form of larger size--Protopithecus.

Lemuroidea.--A true lemur has recently been discovered in the Eocene of France; and it is supposed to be most nearly allied to the peculiar West African genera, Perodicticus and Arctocebus.

Cænopithecus, from the Swiss Jura, is supposed to have affinities both for the Lemuridæ and the American Cebidæ.

In the lower Eocene of North America remains have been {179}discovered, which are believed to belong to this sub-order: but they form two distinct families,--Lemuravidæ and Limnotheridæ. Other remains from the Miocene are believed to be intermediate between these and the Cebidæ,--a most interesting and suggestive affinity, if well founded. For the genera of these American Lemuroidea, see vol. i., p. 133.

General Remarks on the Distribution of Primates.

The most striking fact presented by this order, from our present point of view, is the strict limitation of well-marked families to definite areas. The Cebidæ and Hapalidæ would alone serve to mark out tropical America as the nucleus of one of the great zoological divisions of the earth. In the Eastern Hemisphere, the corresponding fact is the entire absence of the order from the Australian region, with the exception of one or two outlying forms, which have evidently transgressed the normal limits of their group. The separation of the Ethiopian and Oriental regions is, in this order, mainly indicated by the distribution of the genera, no one of which is common to the two regions. The two highest families, the Simiidæ and the Semnopithecidæ, are pretty equally distributed about two equatorial foci, one situated in West Africa, the other in the Malay archipelago,--in Borneo or the Peninsula of Malacca;--while the third family, Cynopithecidæ, ranges over the whole of both regions, and somewhat overpasses their limits. The Lemuroid group, on the other hand, offers us one of the most singular phenomena in geographical distribution. It consists of three families, the species of which are grouped into six sub-families and 13 genera. One of these families and two of the sub-families, comprising 7 genera, and no less than 30 out of the total of 50 species, are confined to the one island of Madagascar. Of the remainder, 3 genera, comprising 15 species, are spread over tropical Africa; while three other genera with 5 species, inhabit certain restricted portions of India and the Malay islands. These curious facts point unmistakably to the former existence of a large tract of land in what is now the Indian Ocean, connecting Madagascar on the one hand with Ceylon, and with the Malay countries on the {180}other. About this same time (but perhaps not contemporaneously) Madagascar must have been connected with some portion of Southern Africa, and the whole of the country would possess no other Primates but Lemuroidea. After the Madagascar territory (very much larger than the existing island) had been separated, a connection appears to have been long maintained (probably by a northerly route) between the more equatorial portions of Asia and Africa; till those higher forms had become developed, which were afterwards differentiated into Simia, Presbytes, and Cynopithecus, on the one hand, and into Troglodytes, Colobus, and Cynocephalus, on the other. In accordance with the principle of competition so well expounded by Mr. Darwin, we can understand how, in the vast Asiatic and African area north of the Equator, with a great variety of physical conditions and the influence of a host of competing forms of life, higher types were developed than in the less extensive and long-isolated countries south of the Equator. In Madagascar, where these less complex conditions prevailed in a considerable land-area, the lowly organized Lemuroids have diverged into many specialized forms of their own peculiar type; while on the continents they have, to a great extent, become exterminated, or have maintained their existence in a few cases, in islands or in mountain ranges. In Africa the nocturnal and arboreal Galagos are adapted to a special mode of life, in which they probably have few competitors.

How and when the ancestors of the Cebidæ and Hapalidæ entered the South American continent, it is less easy to conceive. The only rays of light we yet have on the subject are, the supposed affinities of the fossil Cænopithecus of the Swiss, and the Lemuravidæ of the North American Eocene, with both Cebidæ and Lemuroids, and the fact that in Miocene or Eocene times a mild climate prevailed up to the Arctic circle. The discovery of an undoubted Lemuroid in the Eocene of Europe, indicates that the great Northern Continent was probably the birthplace of this low type of mammal, and the source whence Africa and Southern Asia were peopled with them, as it was, at a later period, with the higher forms of monkeys and apes.

{181}Order II.--CHIROPTERA.

FAMILY 9.--PTEROPIDÆ. (9 Genera, 65 Species.)

The Pteropidæ, or fruit-eating Bats, sometimes called flying-foxes, are pretty evenly distributed over the tropical regions of the Old World and Australia. They range over all Africa and the whole of the Oriental Region, and northward, to Amoy in China and to the South of Japan. They are also found in the more fertile parts of Australia and Tasmania, and in the Pacific Islands as far east as the Marianne and Samoa Islands; but not in the Sandwich Islands or New Zealand.

The genera of bats are exceedingly numerous, but they are in a very unsettled state, and the synonymy is exceedingly confused. The details of their distribution cannot therefore be usefully entered into here. The Pteropidæ differ so much from all other bats, that they are considered to form a distinct suborder of Chiroptera, and by some naturalists even a distinct order of Mammalia.

No fossil Pteropidæ have been discovered.

FAMILY 10.--PHYLLOSTOMIDÆ. (31 Genera, 60 Species.)

The Phyllostomidæ, or simple leaf-nosed Bats, are confined to the Neotropical region, from Mexico and the Antilles to the {182}southern limits of the forest region east of the Andes, and to about lat. 33° S. in Chili. None are found in the Nearctic region, with the exception of one species in California (Macrotus Californicus), closely allied to Mexican and West Indian forms. The celebrated blood-sucking vampyre bats of South America belong to this group. Two genera, Desmodus and Diphylla, form Dr. Peters' family Desmodidæ. Mr. Dobson, in his recently published arrangement, divides the family into five groups:--Mormopes, Vampyri, Glossophagæ, Stenodermata, and Desmodontes.

Numerous remains of extinct species of this family have been found in the bone-caves of Brazil.

FAMILY 11.--RHINOLOPHIDÆ. (7 Genera, 70 Species.)

The Rhinolophidæ, or Horse-shoe Bats (so-called from a curiously-shaped membranous appendance to the nose), range over all the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, the southern part of the Palæarctic region, Australia and Tasmania. They are most abundant and varied in the Oriental region, where twelve genera are found; while only five inhabit the Australian and Ethiopian regions respectively. Europe has only one genus and four species, mostly found in the southern parts, and none going further north than the latitude of England, where two species occur. Two others are found in Japan, at the opposite extremity of the Palæarctic region.

The genera Nycteris and Megaderma, which range over the Ethiopian and Oriental regions to the Moluccas, are considered by Dr. Peters to form a distinct family, Megadermidæ; and Mr. Dobson in his recent arrangement (published after our first {183}volume was printed) adopts the same family under the name of Nycteridæ. The curious Indian genus Rhinopoma, which, following Dr. J. E. Gray, we have classed in this family, is considered by Mr. Dobson to belong to the Noctilionidæ.

Fossil Rhinolophidæ.--Remains of a species of Rhinolophus still living in England, have been found in Kent's Cavern, near Torquay.

FAMILY 12.--VESPERTILIONIDÆ (18 Genera, 200 Species.)

The small bats constituting the family Vespertilionidæ, have no nose-membrane, but an internal earlet or tragus, and often very large ears. They range over almost the whole globe, being apparently only limited by the necessity of procuring insect food. In America they are found as far north as Hudson's Bay and the Columbia river; and in Europe they approach, if they do not pass the Arctic circle. Such remote islands as the Azores, Bermudas, Fiji Islands, Sandwich Islands, and New Zealand, all possess species of this group of bats, some of which probably inhabit every island in warm or temperate parts of the globe.

The genus Taphozous, which, in our Tables of Distribution in vol. i. we have included in this family, is placed by Mr. Dobson in his family Emballonuridæ, which is equivalent to our next family, Noctilionidæ.

Fossil Vespertilionidæ.--Several living European bats of this family--Scotophilus murinus, Plecotus auritus, Vespertilio noctula, and V. pipestrellus--have been found fossil in bone-caves in various parts of Europe.

Extinct species of Vespertilio have occurred in the Lower Miocene at Mayence, in the Upper Miocene of the South of France, and in the Upper Eocene of the Paris basin.

{184}FAMILY 13.--NOCTILIONIDÆ. (14 Genera, 50 Species.)

The Noctilionidæ, or short-headed Bats, are found in every region, but are very unequally distributed. Their head-quarters is the Neotropical region, where most of the genera occur, and where they range from Mexico to Buenos Ayres and Chili, while in North America there is only one species in California. They are unknown in Australia; but one species occurs in New Zealand, and another in Norfolk Island. Several species of Dysopes (or Molossus) inhabit the Oriental region; one or two species being widely distributed over the continent, while two others inhabit the Indo-Malayan Islands. A species of this same genus occurs in South Africa, and another in Madagascar and in the Island of Bourbon; while one inhabits Southern Europe and North Africa, and another is found at Amoy in China. It will be seen therefore, that these are really South American bats, which have a few allies widely scattered over the various regions of the globe. Their affinities are, according to Mr. Tomes, with the Phyllostomidæ, a purely South American family. The species which forms the connecting link is the Mystacina tuberculata, a New Zealand bat, which may, with almost equal propriety be placed in either family, and which affords an interesting illustration of the many points of resemblance between the Australian and Neotropical regions.

Dr. Peters has separated this family into three,--Mormopidæ, which is wholly Neotropical, and is especially abundant in the West Indian Islands; Molossidæ, chiefly consisting of the genus Molossus; and Noctilionidæ, comprising the remainder of the family, and wholly Neotropical. Mr. Dobson, however, classes the Mormopes with the Phyllostomidæ, and reduces the {185}Molossi to the rank of a sub-family. In our first volume we have classed Rhinopoma with the Rhinolophidæ, and Taphozous with the Vespertilionidæ; but according to Mr. Dobson both these genera belong to the present family.

Remarks on the Distribution of the Order Chiroptera.

Although the bats, from their great powers of flight, are not amenable to the limitations which determine the distribution of other terrestrial mammals, yet certain great facts of distribution come out in a very striking manner. The speciality of the Neotropical region is well shown, not only by its exclusive possession of one large family (Phyllostomidæ), but almost equally so by the total absence of two others (Pteropidæ and Rhinolophidæ). The Nearctic region is also unusually well marked, by the total absence of a family (Rhinolophidæ) which is tolerably well represented in the Palæarctic. The Pteropidæ well characterize the tropical regions of the Old World and Australia; while the Vespertilionidæ are more characteristic of the Palæarctic and Nearctic regions, which together possess about 60 species of this family.

The bats are a very difficult study, and it is quite uncertain how many distinct species are really known. Schinz, in his Synopsis Mammalium (1844) describes 330, while the list given by Mr. Andrew Murray in his Geographical Distribution of Mammalia (1866), contains 400 species. A small number of new species have been since described, but others have been sunk as synonyms, so that we can perhaps hardly obtain a nearer approximation to the truth than the last number. In Europe there are 35 species, and only 17 in North America.

Fossil Chiroptera.--The fossil remains of bats that have yet been discovered, being chiefly allied to forms still existing in the same countries, throw no light on the origin or affinities of this remarkable and isolated order of Mammalia; but as species very similar to those now living were in existence so far back as Miocene or even Eocene times, we may be sure the group is one of immense antiquity, and that there has been ample time for the amount of variation and extinction required to bring about {186}the limitation of types, and the peculiarities of distribution we now find to exist.

Order III.--INSECTIVORA.

FAMILY 14.--GALEOPITHECIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The singular and isolated genus Galeopithecus, or flying lemur, has been usually placed among the Lemuroidea, but it is now considered to come best at the head of the Insectivora. Its food however, seems to be purely vegetable, and the very small, blind, and naked young, closely attached to the wrinkled skin of the mother's breast, perhaps indicates some affinity with the Marsupials. This animal seems, in fact, to be a lateral offshoot of some low form, which has survived during the process of development of the Insectivora, the Lemuroidea, and the Marsupials, from an ancestral type. Only two species are known, one found in Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo, but not in Java; the other in the Philippine islands (Plate VIII. vol. i. p. 337).

FAMILY 15.--MACROSCELIDIDÆ. (3 Genera, 10 Species.)

The Macroscelides, or elephant shrews, are extraordinary little animals, with trunk-like snout and kangaroo-like hind-legs. They are almost confined to South Africa, whence they extend up the east coast as far as the Zambezi and Mozambique. A {187}single outlying species of Macroscelides inhabits Barbary and Algeria; while the two genera Petrodromus, and Rhyncocyon, each represented by a single species, have only been found at Mozambique.

FAMILY 16.--TUPAIIDÆ. (3 Genera, 10 species.)

The Tupaiidæ are squirrel-like shrews, having bushy tails, and often climbing up trees, but also feeding on the ground and among low bushes. The typical Tupaia (7 species), are called ground squirrels by the Malays. They are most abundant in the Malay islands and Indo-Chinese countries, but one species is found in the Khasia Mountains, and one in the Eastern Ghauts near Madras. The small shorter-tailed Hylomys (2 species) is found from Tenasserim to Java and Borneo; while the elegant little Ptilocerus (1 species) with its long pencilled tail, is confined to Borneo; (Plate VIII. vol. i. p. 337). The family is therefore especially Malayan, with outlying species in northern and continental India.

Extinct Species.--Oxygomphus, found in the Tertiary deposits of Germany, is believed to belong to this family; as is Omomys, from the Pliocene of the United States.

FAMILY 17.--ERINACEIDÆ. (2 Genera, 15 Species.)

The Hedgehogs, comprised in the genus Erinaceus (14 species), are widely distributed over the Palæarctic, and a part of the {188}Oriental regions; but they only occur in the Ethiopian region in South Africa and in the Deserts of the north, which more properly belong to the Palæarctic region. They are absent from the Malayan, and also from the Indo-Chinese sub-regions; except that they extend from the north of China to Amoy and Formosa and into the temperate highlands of the Western Himalayas. The curious Gymnura (1 species) is found in Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay peninsula.

Extinct Species.--The common hedgehog has been found fossil in several Post-tertiary deposits, while extinct species occur in the lower Miocene of Auvergne and in some other parts of Europe. Many of these remains are classed in different genera from the living species;--(Amphechinus, Tetracus, Galerix.)

FAMILY 18.--CENTETIDÆ. (6 Genera, 10 Species.)

The Centetidæ are small animals, many of them having a spiny covering, whence the species of Centetes have been called Madagascar hedgehogs. The genera Centetes (2 species), Hemicentetes (1 species), Ericulus (1 species), Echinops (3 species), and the recently described Oryzorictes (1 species), are all exclusively inhabitants of Madagascar, and are almost or quite tail-less. The remaining genus, Solenodon, is a more slender and active animal, with a long, rat-like tail, shrew-like head, and coarse fur; and the two known species are among the very few indigenous mammals of the West Indian islands, one being found in Cuba (Plate XVII., vol. ii., p. 67), the other in Hayti. Although presenting many points of difference in detail, the essential characters of this curious animal are, according to Professors Peters and Mivart, identical with the rest of the Centetidæ. We have thus a most remarkable and well-established case of discontinuous distribution, two portions of the same family {189}being now separated from each other by an extensive continent, as well as by a deep ocean.

Extinct Species.--Remains found in the Lower Miocene of the South of France are believed to belong to the genus Echinops, or one closely allied to it.

FAMILY 19.--POTAMOGALIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The genus Potamogale was founded on a curious, small, otter-like animal from West Africa, first found by M. Du Chaillu at the Gaboon, and afterwards by the Portuguese at Angola. Its affinities are with several groups of Insectivora, but it is sufficiently peculiar to require the establishment of a distinct family for its reception. (Plate V., vol. i., p. 264.)

FAMILY 20.--CHRYSOCHLORIDÆ. (2 Genera, 3 Species.)

The Chrysochloridæ, or golden moles, of the Cape of Good Hope have been separated by Professor Mivart into two genera, Chrysochloris and Chalcochloris. They are remarkable mole-like animals, having beautiful silky fur, with a metallic lustre and changeable golden tints. They are peculiar to the Cape district, but one species extends as far north as the Mozambique territory. Their dentition is altogether peculiar, so as to completely separate them from the true moles.

{190}FAMILY 21.--TALPIDÆ. (8 Genera, 19 Species.)

The Moles comprise many extraordinary forms of small mammalia especially characteristic of the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, only sending out a few species of Talpa along the Himalayas as far as Assam, and even to Tenasserim, if there is no mistake about this locality; while one species is found in Formosa, the northern part of which is almost as much Palæarctic as Oriental. The genus Talpa (7 species), spreads over the whole Palæarctic region from Great Britain to Japan; Scaptochirus (1 species) is a recent discovery in North China; Condylura (1 species), the star-nosed mole, inhabits Eastern North America from Nova Scotia to Pennsylvania; Scapanus (2 species) ranges across from New York to St. Francisco; Scalops (3 species), the shrew-moles, range from Mexico to the great lakes on the east side of America, but on the west only to the north of Oregon. An allied genus, Myogale (2 species), has a curious discontinuous distribution in Europe, one species being found in South-East Russia, the other in the Pyrenees (Plate II., vol. i., p. 218). Another allied genus, Nectogale (1 species), has recently been described by Professor Milne-Edwards from Thibet. Urotrichus is a shrew-like mole which inhabits Japan, and a second species has been discovered in the mountains of British Columbia; an allied form, Uropsilus, inhabits East Thibet. Anurosorex and Scaptonyx, are new genera from North China.

Extinct Species.--The common mole has been found fossil in bone-caves and diluvial deposits, and several extinct species of mole-like animals occur in the Miocene deposits of the South of France and of Germany. These have been described under the generic names Dimylus, Geotrypus, Hyporissus, Galeospalax; while Palæospalax has been found in the Pliocene forest-beds of Norfolk {191}and Ostend. Species of Myogale also occur from the Miocene downwards.

FAMILY 22.--SORICIDÆ. (1 Genus, 11 Sub-genera, 65 Species.)

The Shrews have a wide distribution, being found throughout every region except the Australian and Neotropical; although, as a species is found in Timor and in some of the Moluccas, they just enter this part of the former region, while one found in Guatemala brings them into the latter. A number of species have recently been described from India and the Malay Islands, so that the Oriental region is now the richest in shrews, having 28 species; the Nearctic comes next with 24; while the Ethiopian has 11, and the Palæarctic 10 species. The sub-genera are Crossopus, Amphisorex, Neosorex, Crocidura, Diplomesodon, Pinulia, Pachyura, Blarina, Feroculus, Anausorex.

Extinct Species.--Several species of Sorex have been found fossil in the Miocene of the South of France, as well as the extinct genera Mysarachne and Plesiosorex; and some existing species have occurred in Bone Caves and Diluvial deposits.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Insectivora.

The most prominent features in the distribution of the Insectivora are,--their complete absence from South America and Australia; the presence of Solenodon in two of the West Indian islands while the five allied genera are found only in Madagascar; and the absence of hedgehogs from North America. If we consider that there are only 135 known species of the order, 65 of which belong to the one genus Sorex; while the remaining 26 genera contain only 70 species, which have to be classed in 8 distinct families, and present such divergent and highly specialized forms as Galeopithecus, Erinaceus, Solenodon, and Condylura, it becomes evident that we have here the detached fragments of a much more {192}extensive group of animals, now almost extinct. Many of the forms continue to exist only in islands, removed from the severe competition of a varied mammalian population, as in Madagascar and the Antilles; while others appear to have escaped extermination either by their peculiar habits--as the various forms of Moles; by special protection--as in the Hedgehogs; or by a resemblance in form, coloration, and habits to dominant groups in their own district--as the Tupaias of Malay which resemble squirrels, and the Elephant-shrews of Africa which resemble the jerboas. The numerous cases of isolated and discontinuous distribution among the Insectivora, offer no difficulty from this point of view; since they are the necessary results of an extensive and widely-spread group of animals slowly becoming extinct, and continuing to exist only where special conditions have enabled them to maintain themselves in the struggle with more highly organized forms.

The fossil Insectivora do not throw much light on the early history of the order, since even as far back as the Miocene period they consist almost wholly of forms which can be referred to existing families. In North America they go back to the Eocene period, if certain doubtful remains have been rightly placed. The occurrence of fossil Centetidæ in Europe, supports the view we have maintained in preceding chapters, that the existing distribution of this family between Madagascar and the Antilles, proves no direct connection between those islands, but only shows us that the family once had an extensive range.

Order IV--CARNIVORA.

FAMILY 23.--FELIDÆ. (3 Genera, 14 Sub-genera, 66 Species.)

The Cats are very widely distributed over the earth--with the exception of the Australian region and the island sub-region {193}of Madagascar and the Antilles--universally; ranging from the torrid zone to the Arctic regions and the Straits of Magellan. They are so uniform in their organization that many naturalists group them all under one genus, Felis; but it is now more usual to class at least the lynxes as a separate genus, while the hunting leopard, or cheetah, forms another. Dr. J. E. Gray divides these again, and makes 17 generic groups; but as this subdivision is not generally adopted, and does not bring out any special features of geographical distribution, I shall not further notice it.

The genus Felis (56 species) has the same general range as the whole family, except that it does not go so far north; the Amoor river in Eastern Asia, and 55° N. Lat. in America, marking its limits. Lyncus (10 species) is a more northern group, ranging to the polar regions in Europe and Asia, and to Lat. 66° N. in America, but not going further south than Northern Mexico and the European shores of the Mediterranean, except the caracal, which may be another genus, and which extends to Central India, Persia, North Africa and even the Cape of Good Hope. The lynxes are thus almost wholly peculiar to the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions. Cynælurus (1 species) the hunting leopard, ranges from Southern and Western India through Persia, Syria, Northern and Central Africa, to the Cape of Good Hope.

Extinct Felidæ.--More than twenty extinct species of true Felidæ have been described, ranging in time from the epoch of prehistoric man back to the Miocene or even the Eocene period. They occur in the south of England, in Central and South Europe, in North-West India, in Nebraska in North America, and in the caves of Brazil. Most of them are referred to the genus Felis, and closely resemble the existing lions, tigers, and other large cats. Another group however forms the genus Machairodus, a highly specialized form with serrated teeth. Five species have been described from Europe, Northern India, and both North and South America; and it is remarkable that they exhibit at least as wide a range, both in space and time, as the more numerous species referred to Felis. One of them undoubtedly coexisted {194}with man in England, while another, as well as the allied Dinictis, has been found in the Mauvaises Terres of Nebraska, associated with Anchitherium and other extinct and equally remarkable forms, which are certainly Miocene if not, as some geologists think, belonging to the Eocene period. These facts clearly indicate that we have as yet made little approach to discovering the epoch when Felidæ originated, since the oldest forms yet discovered are typical and highly specialized representatives of a group which is itself the most specialized of the Carnivora. Another genus, Pseudælurus, is common to the Miocene deposits of Europe and North America.

FAMILY 24.--CRYPTOPROCTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Cryptoprocta ferox, a small and graceful cat-like animal, peculiar to Madagascar, was formerly classed among the Viverridæ, but is now considered by Professor Flower to constitute a distinct family between the Cats and the Civets.

FAMILY 25.--VIVERRIDÆ. (8-33 Genera, 100 Species.)

The Viverridæ comprise a number of small and moderate-sized carnivorous animals, popularly known as civets, genets, and ichneumons, highly characteristic of the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, several of the genera being common to both. A species of Genetta, and one of Herpestes, inhabit South Europe; while Viverra extends to the Moluccas, but is doubtfully indigenous. The extreme geographical limits of the family are marked by {195}Genetta in France and Spain, Viverra in Shanghae and Batchian Island, and Herpestes in Java and the Cape of Good Hope.

The following are the genera with their distribution as given by Dr. J. E. Gray in his latest British Museum Catalogue:

Sub-family VIVERRINÆ.--Viverra (3 species), North and tropical Africa, the whole Oriental region to the Moluccas; Viverricula (1 species) India to Java; Genetta (5 species), South Europe, Palestine, Arabia, and all Africa; Fossa (1 species), Madagascar; Linsang (2 species), Malacca to Java; Poiana (1 species), West Africa; Galidia (3 species), Madagascar; Hemigalea (1 species), Malacca and Borneo; Arctictis (1 species) Nepal to Sumatra and Java; Nandinia (1 species), West Africa; Paradoxurus (9 species), the whole Oriental region; Paguma (3 species), Nepal to China, Sumatra, and Borneo; Arctogale (1 species), Tenasserim to Java.

Sub-family HERPESTINÆ.--Cynogale (1 species), Borneo; Galidictis (2 species), Madagascar; Herpestes (22 species), South Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions; Athylax (3 species), Tropical and South Africa; Galogale (13 species), all Africa, North India, to Cambodja; Galerella (1 species), East Africa; Calictis (1 species), Ceylon (?); Ariella (1 species), South Africa; Ichneumia (4 species), Central, East, and South Africa; Bdeogale (3 species), West and East Africa; Urva (1 species), Himalayas to Aracan; Tæniogale (1 species), Central India; Onychogale (1 species), Ceylon; Helogale (2 species) East and South Africa; Cynictis (3 species), South Africa.

Sub-family RHINOGALIDÆ.--Rhinogale (1 species), East Africa; Mungos (3 species), all Africa; Crossarchus (1 species), Tropical Africa; Eupleres (1 species), Madagascar; Suricata (1 species), South Africa.

Fossil Viverridæ.--Several species of Viverra and Genetta have been found in the Upper Miocene of France, and many extinct genera have also been discovered. The most remarkable of these was Ictitherium, from the Upper Miocene of Greece, which has also been found in Hungary, Bessarabia, and France. Some of the species were larger than any living forms of Viverridæ, and approached the hyænas. Other extinct genera are Thalassictis {196}and Soricictis from the Upper Miocene, the former as large as a panther; Tylodon, of small size, from the Upper Eocene; and Palæonyctis from the Lower Eocene, also small and showing a very great antiquity for this family, if really belonging to it.

FAMILY 26.--PROTELIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The curious Proteles or Aard-wolf, a highly-modified form of hyæna, approaching the ichneumons, and feeding on white ants and carrion, is peculiar to South Africa.

FAMILY 27.--HYÆNIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

The Hyænas are characteristically Ethiopian, to which region two of the species are confined. The third, Hyæna striata, ranges over all the open country of India to the foot of the Himalayas, and through Persia, Asia Minor, and North Africa. Its fossil remains have been found in France.

Extinct Species.--The cave hyæna (H. spelæa) occurs abundantly in the caverns of this country and of Central Europe, and is supposed to be most nearly allied to the H. crocuta of South Africa. Another species is found in some parts of France. The earliest known true hyænas occur in the Pliocene formation in France, in the Red Crag (Older Pliocene) of England, and in the Upper Miocene of the Siwalik hills. In the Miocene period in Europe, quite distinct genera are found, such as Hyænictis and Lycæna from the Upper Miocene of Greece; {197}Ictitherium, supposed to be intermediate between Viverridæ and Hyænidæ; and Thalassictis, uniting the weasels and hyænas.

FAMILY 28.--CANIDÆ. (3 Genera, 17 Sub-Genera, 54 Species.)

The Canidæ, comprising the animals commonly known as dogs, wolves, and foxes, have an almost universal range over the earth, being only absent from the island sub-regions of Madagascar, the Antilles, Austro-Malaya, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. With the exception of two remarkable forms--the hyæna dog (Lycaon picta), and the great-eared fox (Megalotis Lalandei), both from South Africa--all the species are usually placed in the genus Canis, the distribution of which will be the same as that of the family. Dr. J. E. Gray, in his arrangement of the family (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1868), subdivides it into fifteen genera, the names and general distribution of which are as follows:--

Icticyon (1 species), Brazil; Cuon (4 species), Siberia to Java; Lupus (5 species), North America, Europe, India to Ceylon; Dieba (1 species), North and West Africa; Simenia (1 species), Abyssinia; Chrysocyon (2 species), North and South America; Canis (4 species), India, Australia (indigenous?) Lycalopex (2 species), South America; Pseudalopex (5 species), South America and Falkland Islands; Thous (2 species), South America to Chili; Vulpes (17 species), all the great continents, except South America and Australia; Fennecus (4 species), all Africa; Leucocyon (1 species), Arctic regions; Urocyon (2 species), North America; Nyctereutes (1 species), Japan, Amoorland to Canton (Plate III., vol. i. p. 226). These are all sub-genera according to Professor Carus, except Icticyon. The same author makes Lycaon a sub-genus, while Dr. Gray makes it a sub-family!

Extinct Species.--The dog, wolf, and fox, are found fossil in {198}caverns in many parts of Europe, and several extinct species have been found in Tertiary deposits in Europe, North India, and South America. Two species have been found so far back as the Eocene of France, but the fragments discovered are not sufficient to determine the characters with any certainty. In North America, several species of Canis occur in the Pliocene of Nebraska and La Plata. The genus Galecynus, of the Pliocene of Oeninghen, and Palæocyon, of the Brazilian caves, are supposed to belong to the Canidæ. Amphicyon abounded in the Miocene period, both in Europe and North America; and some of the species were as large as a tiger. Other extinct genera are, Cynodictis, Cyotherium, and Galethylax, from the Eocene of France; Pseudocyon, Simocyon, and Hemicyon, from the Miocene; but all these show transition characters to Viverridæ or Ursidæ, and do not perhaps belong to the present family.

FAMILY 29.--MUSTELIDÆ. (21-28 Genera, 92 Species.)

The Mustelidæ constitute one of those groups which range over the whole of the great continental areas. They may be divided into three sub-families--one, the Mustelinæ, containing the weasels, gluttons, and allied forms; a second, the Lutrinæ, containing the otters; and a third, often considered a distinct family, the Melininæ, containing the badgers, ratels, skunks, and their allies.

In the first group (Mustelinæ) the genera Martes and Putorius (13 species), range over all the Palæarctic region, and a considerable part of the Oriental, extending through India to Ceylon, and to Java and Borneo. Two species of Martes (= Mustela of Baird) occur in the United States. The weasels, forming the genus Mustela (20 species), have a still wider range, extending into tropical Africa and the Cordilleras of Peru, but {199}not going south of the Himalayas in India. The North American species are placed in the genus Putorius by Professor Baird. An allied genus, Gymnopus (4 species), is confined to the third and fourth Oriental sub-regions. Gulo (1 species), the glutton, is an arctic animal keeping to the cold regions of Europe and Asia, and coming as far south as the great lakes in North America. Galictis (2 species), the grisons, are confined to the Neotropical region.

The Otters (Lutrinæ) range over the whole area occupied by the family. They have been subdivided into a number of groups, such as Barangia (1 species), found only in Sumatra; Lontra, containing 3 South American species; Lutra (7 species), ranging over the whole of the Palæarctic and Oriental regions; Nutria (1 species), a sea-otter confined to the west coast of America from California to Chiloe; Lutronectes (1 species), from Japan only; Aonyx (5 species), found in West and South Africa, and the third and fourth Oriental sub-regions. Hydrogale (1 species), confined to South Africa; Latax (2 species), Florida and California to Canada and British Columbia; Pteronura (1 species), Brazil and Surinam; and Enhydris (1 species), the peculiar sea-otter of California, Kamschatka and Japan. The last two are the only groups of otters, besides Lutra, admitted by Professor Carus as genera.

The Badgers and allies (Melininæ) have also a wide range, but with one exception are absent from South America. They comprise the following genera: Arctonyx (1 species), Nepal to Aracan; Meles (4 species), North Europe to Japan, and China as far south as Hongkong (Plate I., vol. i., p. 195); Taxidea (2 species), Central and Western North America to 58° N. Lat.; Mydaus (1 species), mountains of Java and Sumatra; Melivora (3 species), Tropical and South Africa and India to foot of Himalayas; Mephitis (12 species), America from Canada and British Columbia to the Straits of Magellan (Plate XX., vol. ii., p. 136). Ictonyx (2 species), Tropical Africa to the Cape; Helictis (4 species), Nepal to Java, Formosa and Shanghai (Plate VII., vol. i. p. 331).

Fossil Mustelidæ.--Species of otter, weasel, badger, and glutton, occur in European bone caves and other Post-tertiary deposits; and in North America Galictis, now found only in the Neotropical region, and, with Mephitis, occurring in Brazilian caves.

{200}Species of Mustela have been found in the Pliocene of France and of South America; and Lutra in the Pliocene of North America.

In the Miocene deposits of Europe several species of Mustela and Lutra have been found; with the extinct genera Taxodon, Potamotherium, and Palæomephitis; as well as Promephitis in Greece.

In the Upper Miocene of the Siwalik Hills species of Lutra and Mellivora are found, as well as the extinct genera Enhydrion and Ursitaxus.

The family appears to have been unknown in North America during the Miocene period.

FAMILY 30.--PROCYONIDÆ. (4 Genera, 8 Species.)

The Procyonidæ are a small, but very curious and interesting family of bear-like quadrupeds, ranging from British Columbia and Canada on the north, to Paraguay and the limits of the tropical forests on the south.

The Racoons, forming the genus Procyon, are common all over North America; a well-marked variety or distinct species inhabiting the west coast, and another, most parts of South America. The genus Nasua, or the coatis (5 species?), extends from Mexico and Guatemala to Paraguay. The curious arboreal prehensile-tailed kinkagou (Cercoleptes candivolvus) is also found in Mexico and Guatemala, and in all the great forests of Peru and North Brazil. Bassaris (2 species), a small weasel-like animal with a banded tail, has been usually classed with the Viverridæ or Mustelidæ, but is now found to agree closely in all important points of internal structure with this family. It is found in California, Texas, and the highlands of Mexico, and belongs therefore as much to the Nearctic as to the Neotropical region. A second species has recently been described by Professor Peters {201}from Coban in Guatemala, in which, country it has also been observed by Mr. Salvin.

Fossil Procyonidæ.--A species of Nasua has been found in the bone caves of Brazil, and a Procyon in the Pliocene or Post-pliocene deposits of Illinois and Carolina.

FAMILY 31.--ÆLURIDÆ. (2 Genera, 2 Species.)

The Panda (Ælurus fulgens), of the forest regions of the Eastern Himalayas and East Thibet, a small cat-like bear, has peculiarities of organization which render it necessary to place it in a family by itself. (Plate VII. vol. i. p. 331). An allied genus, Æluropus, a remarkable animal of larger size and in colour nearly all white, has recently been described by Professor Milne-Edwards, from the mountains of East Thibet; so that the family may be said to inhabit the border lands of the Oriental and Palæarctic regions. These animals have their nearest allies in the coatis and bears.

FAMILY 32.--URSIDÆ. (5 Genera, or Sub-genera, 15 Species.)

The Bears have a tolerably wide distribution, although they are entirely absent from the Australian and Ethiopian, and almost so from the Neotropical region, one species only being found in the Andes of Peru and Chili. They comprise the following groups, some of which are doubtfully ranked as genera.

Thalassarctos, the polar bear (1 species) inhabiting the Arctic regions; Ursus, the true bears (12 species), which range over {202}all the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions as far as the Atlas Mountains, the Indo-Chinese sub-region in the mountains, and to Hainan and Formosa; Helarctos, the Malay or sun-bear (1 species) confined to the Indo-Malayan sub-region; Melursus or Prochilus, the honey-bear (1 species), confined to the first and second Oriental sub-regions, over which it ranges from the Ganges to Ceylon; and Tremarctos, the spectacled bear--commonly known as Ursus ornatus--which is isolated in the Andes of Peru and Chili, and forms a distinct group.

Fossil Ursidæ.--Two bears (Ursus spelæus and U. priscus) closely allied to living species, abound in the Post-tertiary deposits of Europe; and others of the same age are found in North America, as well as an extinct genus, Arctodus.

Ursus arvernensis is found in the Pliocene formation of France, and the extinct genus Leptarchus in that of North America.

Several species of Amphicyon, which appears to be an ancestral form of this family, are found in the Miocene deposits of Europe and N. India; while Ursus also occurs in the Siwalik Hills and Nerbudda deposits.

FAMILY 33.--OTARIIDÆ (4 Genera, 8 Species.)

The Otariidæ, or Eared Seals, comprehending the sea-bears and sea-lions, are confined to the temperate and cold shores of the North Pacific, and to similar climates in the Southern Hemisphere, where the larger proportion of the species are found. They are entirely absent from the North Atlantic shores. Mr. J. A. Allen, in his recent discussion of this family (Bull. Harvard Museum) divides them into the following genera:--

Otaria (1 species), Temperate South America, from Chili to La Plata; Callorhinus (1 species), Behring's Straits and Kamschatka; Arctocephalus (3 species), temperate regions of the {203}Southern Hemisphere; Zalophus (2 species), North Pacific, from California to Japan, and the shores of Australia and New Zealand; Eumetopias (1 species), Behring's Straits and California.

Fossil Otariidæ.--Remains supposed to belong to this family have been found in the Miocene of France.

FAMILY 34.--TRICHECHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Morse, or Walrus (Trichecus rosmarus), which alone constitutes this family, is a characteristic animal of the North Polar regions, hardly passing south of the Arctic circle except on the east and west coasts of North America, where it sometimes reaches Lat. 60°. It is most abundant on the shores of Spitzbergen, but is not found on the northern shores of Asia between Long. 80° and 160° E., or on the north shores of America from 100° to 150° west.

Its remains have been found fossil in Europe as far south as France, and in America as far as Virginia; but the small fragments discovered may render the identification uncertain.

FAMILY 35.--PHOCIDÆ. (13 Genera, 21 Species.)

The earless or true Seals are pretty equally divided between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, frequenting almost exclusively the temperate and cold regions, except two species said to occur among the West Indian islands. The genus Phoca and its close allies, as well as Halichoerus and Pelagius, are {204}northern; while Stenorhynchus and Morunga, with their allies, are mostly southern. The genera admitted by Dr. Gray in his catalogue are as follows:--

Callocephalus (3 species), Greenland, North Sea, also the Caspian Sea, and Lakes Aral and Baikal; Pagomys (2 species), North Sea, North Pacific, and Japan; Pagophilus (2 species), North Pacific and North Atlantic; Halicyon (1 species), North West coast of America; Phoca (2 species), North Atlantic and North Pacific, Japan; Halichoerus (1 species), Greenland, North Sea, and Baltic; Pelagius (2 species), Madeira, Mediterranean, Black Sea; Stenorhynchus (1 species), Antarctic Ocean, Falkland Islands, New Zealand; Lobodon (1 species), Antarctic Ocean; Leptonyx (1 species), Antarctic Ocean, South Australia, East Patagonia; Ommatophoca (1 species), Antarctic Ocean; Morunga (2 species), California, Falkland Islands, Temperate regions of Southern Ocean; Cystophora (2 species), North Atlantic, Antilles.

Fossil Seals.--Remains of living species of seals have been found in Post-tertiary deposits in many parts of Europe and in Algeria, as well as in New Zealand. Pristiphoca occitana is a fossil seal from the Pliocene of Montpellier, while a species of Phoca is said to have been found in the Miocene deposits of the United States.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Carnivora.

Terrestrial Carnivora.--For the purposes of geographical distribution, the terrestrial and aquatic Carnivora differ too widely to be considered in one view, their areas being limited by barriers of a very different nature. The terrestrial Carnivora form a very extensive and considerably varied group of animals, having, with the doubtful exception of Australia, a world-wide distribution. Yet the range of modification of form is not very great, and the occurrence of three families consisting of but one species each, is an indication of a great amount of recent extinction. One of the most marked features presented by this group is its comparative scarcity in the Neotropical region, only four families being represented there (not counting the Ursidæ, which has only one Andean species), and both genera and species are few in number. Even the Procyonidæ, which are especially South {205}American, have but two genera and six species in that vast area. We might therefore, from these considerations alone, conclude that Carnivora are a development of the northern hemisphere, and have been introduced into the Neotropical region at a comparatively recent epoch. The claim of the Nearctic region to be kept distinct from the Palæarctic (with which some writers have wished to unite it) is well maintained by its possession of at least six species of Mephitis, or skunk, a group having no close allies in any other region,--and the genera Procyon and Bassaris,--for the latter, ranging from the high lands of Guatemala and Mexico to Texas and California, may be considered a Nearctic rather than a Neotropical form. In the other families, the most marked feature is the total absence of Ursidæ from the Ethiopian region. The great mass of the generic forms of Carnivora, however, are found in the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, which possess all the extensive group of Viverridæ (except a few species in the fourth Palæarctic sub-region) and a large number of Felidæ and Mustelidæ.

Aquatic Carnivora.--The aquatic Carnivora present no very marked features of distribution, except their preference for cold and temperate rather than tropical seas. Their nearest approximation to the terrestrial group, is supposed to be that of the Otariidæ to the Ursidæ; but this must be very remote, and the occurrence of both seals and bears in the Miocene period, shows, that until we find some late Secondary or early Tertiary formation rich in Mammalian remains, we are not likely to get at the transition forms indicating the steps by which the aquatic Carnivora were developed. The most interesting special fact of distribution to be noticed, is the occurrence of seals, closely allied to those inhabiting the northern seas, in the Caspian, Lake Aral, and Lake Baikal. In the case of the two first-named localities there is little difficulty, as they are connected with the North Sea by extensive plains of low elevation, so that a depression of less than 500 feet would open a free communication with the ocean. At a comparatively recent epoch, a great gulf of the Arctic ocean must have occupied the valley of the Irtish, and extended to the Caspian Sea; till the elevation of the Kirghiz Steppes cut off the {206}communication with the ocean, leaving an inland sea with its seals. Lake Baikal, however, offers much greater difficulties; since it is not only a fresh-water lake, but is situated in a mountain district nearly 2,000 feet above the sea level, and entirely separated from the plains by several hundred miles of high land. It is true that such an amount of submergence and elevation is known to have occurred in Europe so recently as during the Glacial period; but Lake Baikal is so surrounded by mountains, that it must at that time have been filled with ice, if at anything like its present elevation. Its emergence from the sea must therefore have taken place since the cold epoch, and this would imply that an enormous extent of Northern Asia has been very recently under water.

We are accustomed to look on Seals as animals which exclusively inhabit salt water; but it is probably from other causes than its saltness that they usually keep to the open sea, and there seems no reason why fresh-water should not suit them quite as well, provided they find in it a sufficiency of food, facilities for rearing their young, and freedom from the attacks of enemies. As already remarked in vol. i. p. 218, Mr. Belt's ingenious hypothesis (founded on personal examination of the Siberian Steppes), that during the Glacial period the northern ice-cap dammed up the waters of the northward flowing Asiatic rivers, and thus formed a vast fresh-water lake which might have risen as high as Lake Baikal, seems to offer the best solution of this curious problem of distribution.

Range of Carnivora in Time.--Carnivora have been found in all the Tertiary deposits, and comprise a number of extinct genera and even families. Several genera of Canidæ occur in the Upper Eocene of Europe; but the most remarkable fact is, that even in the Lower Eocene are found two well-marked forms, Palæonyctis, one of the Viverridæ, and Arctocyon, forming a distinct family type of very generalized characters, but unmistakably a carnivore. This last has been found at La Fère, in the north-east of France, in a deposit which, according to M. Gaudry, is the very lowest of the Lower Eocene formation in Europe. Arctocyon is therefore one of the oldest, if not the very oldest, of the higher forms of mammal yet discovered.

{207}Order V.--CETACEA.

FAMILY 36.--BALÆNIDÆ. (6 Genera, 14 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--Temperate and Cold Seas of both Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

This family comprises the whalebone or "right" whales, the best known species being the Greenland whale (Balæna mysticetus). Allied species are found in all parts of the southern seas, as far north as the Cape of Good Hope; while some of the northern species are found off the coast of Spain, and even enter the Mediterranean. As most of the species indicated are imperfectly known, and their classification by no means well settled, no useful purpose will be served by enumerating the genera or sub-genera.

FAMILY 37.--BALÆNOPTERIDÆ. (9 Genera, 22 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--Cold and Temperate Seas of both Hemispheres.

This family comprises the finner whales and rorquals, and are characterised by possessing a dorsal fin and having the baleen or whalebone less developed. They are abundant in all northern seas, less so in the southern hemisphere, but they seem occasionally to enter the tropical seas. The best known genera are Megaptera (7 species); Physalus (4 species); and Balænoptera (2 species); all of which have species in the North Sea.

FAMILY 38.--CATODONTIDÆ. (4 Genera, or Sub-Genera, 6 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--All the Tropical Oceans, extending north and south into Temperate waters.

This family, comprising the cachalots or sperm whales, and black-fish, are separated from the true whales by having teeth in the lower jaw and no whalebone. They are pre-eminently a tropical, as distinguished from the two preceding which are {208}arctic and antarctic families. The spermaceti whale (Catodon macrocephalus) abounds in the Pacific Ocean and in the deep Moluccan Sea, and also in the Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel. In the Atlantic it is scarce, although it occasionally comes north as far as our shores.

The genera of Catodontidæ as given by Dr. Gray are, Catodon (2 species?), Warm Eastern Oceans; Physeter (1 species), "the black fish," North Sea; Cogia (2 species), South Temperate Oceans; Euphysetes (1 species), Coast of Australia.

FAMILY 39.--HYPEROODONTIDÆ. (9 Genera or Sub-Genera, 12 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Southern Ocean.

This family consists of the beaked whales, which have no permanent teeth in the upper jaw. The genera, according to Dr. Gray, are, Hyperoodon (2 species) "bottle-nosed whales," North Sea; Lagenocetus (1 species), North Sea; Epiodon (2 species), North and South Atlantic; Petrorhynchus (2 species), Mediterranean Sea and Southern Ocean; Berardius (1 species), New Zealand; Xiphius (1 species) North Atlantic; Dolichodon (1 species), Cape of Good Hope; Neoziphius (1 species) Mediterranean; Dioplodon (1 species), Indian Ocean.

FAMILY 40.--MONODONTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The "Narwhal" (Monodon monoceros) which constitutes this family, is placed by Dr. Gray along with the "white whales," in his family Belugidæ. It inhabits the North Sea.

FAMILY 41.--DELPHINIDÆ. (24 Genera or Sub-Genera, 100 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--All Oceans, Seas, and Great Rivers of the globe.

This family, including the Porpoises, Dolphins, White Whales, &c., may be described as small, fish-shaped whales, having teeth {209}in both jaws. According to Dr. Gray they form seven families and 24 genera; according to Professor Carus, four sub-families and 8 genera, but as these groups appear to be established on quite different principles, and often differ widely from each other, I shall simply enumerate Dr. Gray's genera with their distribution as given in his British Museum Catalogue.

Platanista (2 species), long-snouted porpoises, inhabiting the Ganges and Indus; Inia (1 species), a somewhat similar form, inhabiting the upper waters of the Amazonian rivers: Steno (8 species), Indian Ocean, Cape of Good Hope, and West Pacific; Sotalia (1 species), Guiana; Delphinus (10 species), all the oceans; Clymenia (14 species), all the oceans; Delphinapterus (1 species), South Atlantic; Tursio (7 species), Atlantic and Indian Oceans; Eutropia (2 species), Chili, and Cape of Good Hope; Electra, (8 species), all the oceans; Leucopleurus (1 species), North Sea; Lagenorhynchus (1 species), North Sea; Pseudorca (2 species), North Sea, Tasmania; Orcaella (2 species), Ganges; Acanthodelphis (1 species), Brazil; Phocæna (2 species), North Sea; Neomeris (1 species), India; Grampus (3 species), North Sea, Mediterranean, Cape of Good Hope; Globiocephalus (14 species), all the oceans; Sphærocephalus (1 species), North Atlantic; Orca (9 species), Northern and Southern Oceans; Ophysia (1 species), North Pacific; Beluga (6 species), Arctic Seas, Australia; Pontoporia (1 species), Monte Video.

Fossil Cetacea.

Remains of Cetacea are tolerably abundant in Tertiary deposits, both in Europe and North America. In the Lower Pliocene of England, France, and Germany, extinct species of five or six living genera of whales and dolphins have been found; and most of these occur also in the Upper Miocene, along with many others, referred to about a dozen extinct genera.

In the Post-pliocene deposits of Vermont and South Carolina, several extinct species have been found belonging to living genera; but in the Miocene deposits of the Eastern United States cetacean remains are much more abundant, more than 30 species of {210}extinct whales and dolphins having been described, most of them belonging to extinct genera.

The Zeuglodontidæ, an extinct family of carnivorous whales, with double-fanged serrated molar teeth, whose affinities are somewhat doubtful, are found in the older Pliocene of Europe, and in the Miocene and Eocene of the Eastern United States. Zeuglodon abounds in the United States, and one species reached a length of seventy feet. A species of this genus is said to have been found in Malta. Squalodon occurs in Europe and North America; and in the latter country four or five other genera have been described, of which one, Saurocetes, has been found also at Buenos Ayres.

Order VI.--SIRENIA.

FAMILY 42.--MANATIDÆ. (3 Genera, 5 Species?)

The Sea-cows are herbivorous aquatic animals living on the coasts or in the great rivers of several parts of the globe. Manatus (2 species) inhabits both shores of the Atlantic, one species ranging from the Gulf of Mexico to North Brazil, and ascending the Amazon far into the interior of the continent; while the other is found on the west coast of Africa. Halicore (2 species?), the Dugong, is peculiar to the Indian Ocean, extending from Mozambique to the Red Sea, thence to Western India and Ceylon, the Malay Archipelago and the north coast of Australia. Rytina (1 species), supposed to be now extinct, inhabited recently the North Pacific, between Kamschatka and Behring's Straits.

Fossil Sirenia.--Extinct species of Manatus have been found in the Post-pliocene deposits of Eastern North America from {211}Maryland to Florida; and an extinct genus, Prorastomus, in some Tertiary deposits in the Island of Jamaica.

In Post-pliocene deposits in Siberia, remains of Rytina have been found; while several species of the extinct genus Halitherium, perhaps intermediate between Manatus and Halicore, have been found in the older Pliocene and Upper Miocene of France and Germany.

Order VII.--UNGULATA.

FAMILY 43.--EQUIDÆ. (1 Genus, 8 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ LIVING SPECIES. | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- 2. 3 -- |1. 2. 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- | | | | | EXTINCT SPECIES. | | | | | 1. 2 -- -- |1. 2. 3 -- |1. 2. 3. 4 |-- -- -- --| 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- -- | | | | |

The Horses, Asses, and Zebras form a highly specialized group now confined to the Ethiopian and Palæarctic regions, but during the middle and later tertiaries having a very extensive range. The zebras (3 species) inhabit the greater part of the Ethiopian region, while the asses (4 species) are characteristic of the deserts of the Palæarctic region from North Africa and Syria to Western India, Mongolia, and Manchuria. The domestic horse is not known in a wild state, but its remains are found in recent deposits from Britain to the Altai Mountains, so that its disappearance is probably due to human agency.

Extinct Equidæ.--Extinct forms of this family are very numerous. The genus Equus occurs in Post-pliocene and Pliocene deposits in Europe, North America, and South America. In North America the species are most numerous. An allied genus Hipparion, having rudimentary lateral toes, is represented {212}by several species in the Pliocene of North America, while in Europe it occurs both in the Older Pliocene and Upper Miocene. Various other allied forms, in which the lateral toes are more and more developed, and most of which are now classed in a distinct family, Anchitheridæ, range back through the Miocene to the Eocene period. A sufficient account of these has already been given in vol. i. chap. vi. p. 135, to which the reader is referred for the supposed origin and migrations of the horse.

Family 44--TAPIRIDÆ. (2 Genera? 6 Species.)

The Tapirs form a small group of animals whose discontinuous distribution plainly indicates their approaching extinction. For a long time only two species were known, the black American, and the white-banded Malay tapir, the former confined to the equatorial forests of South America, the latter to the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo (Plate VIII. vol. i. p. 337). Lately however another, or perhaps two distinct species (or according to Dr. J. E. Gray, four!) have been discovered in the Andes of New Granada and Ecuador, at an elevation of from 8,000 to 12,000 feet; while one or perhaps two more, forming the allied genus Elasmognathus, have been found to inhabit Central America from Panama to Guatemala.

Extinct Tapirs.--True tapirs inhabited Western Europe, from the latest Pliocene back to the earliest Miocene times; while they only occur in either North or South America in the Post-pliocene deposits and caves. The singular distribution of the living species is thus explained, since we see that they are an Old World group which only entered the American continent at a comparatively recent epoch. An ancestral form of this group--Lophiodon--is found in Miocene and Eocene deposits of {213}Europe and North America; while a still more ancient form of large size is found in the Lower Eocene of France and England, indicating an immense antiquity for this group of Mammalia. There are many other extinct forms connecting these with the Palæotheridæ, already noticed in chapter vi. (vol. i. pp. 119-125).

FAMILY 45.--RHINOCEROTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 9 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ LIVING SPECIES. | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2. 3 -- |-- -- 3. 4 |-- -- -- -- | | | | | EXTINCT SPECIES. | | | | | -- -- -- --|1. 2 -- -- |1. 2. 3. 4 |-- -- -- --| 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- -- | | | | |

Living Rhinoceroses are especially characteristic of Africa, with Northern and Malayan India. Four or perhaps five species, all two-horned, are found in Africa, where they range over the whole country south of the desert to the Cape of Good Hope. In the Oriental region there are also four or five species, which range from the forests at the foot of the Himalayas eastwards through Assam, Chittagong, and Siam, to Sumatra, Borneo and Java. Three of these are one-horned, the others found in Sumatra, and northwards to Pegu and Chittagong, two-horned. The Asiatic differ from the African species in some dental characters, but they are in other respects so much alike that they are not generally considered to form distinct genera. In his latest catalogue however (1873), Dr. Gray has four genera, Rhinoceros (4 species), and Ceratorhinus (2 species), Asiatic; Rhinaster (2 species), and Ceratotherium (2 species), African.

Extinct Rhinocerotidæ.--Numerous species of Rhinoceros ranged over Europe and Asia from the Post-pliocene back to the Upper Miocene period, and in North America during the Pliocene period {214}only. The hornless Acerotherium is Miocene only, in both countries. Other genera are Leptodon from Greece, and Hyracodon from Nebraska, both of Miocene age. More than 20 species of extinct rhinoceroses are known, and one has even been found at an altitude of 16,000 feet in Thibet.

FAMILY 46.--HIPPOPOTAMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ LIVING SPECIES. | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2. 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- | | | | | EXTINCT SPECIES. | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2 -- -- |-- -- -- --| 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- -- | | | | |

The Hippopotamus inhabits all the great rivers of Africa; a distinct species of a smaller size being found on the west coast, and on some of the rivers flowing into Lake Tchad.

Fossil Hippopotami.--Eight extinct species of Hippopotamus are known from Europe and India, the former Post-pliocene or Pliocene, the latter of Upper Miocene age. They ranged as far north as the Thames valley. An extinct genus from the Siwalik Hills, Merycopotamus, according to Dr. Falconer connects Hippopotamus with Anthracotherium, an extinct form from the Miocene of Europe, allied to the swine.

FAMILY 47.--SUIDÆ. (5 Genera, 22 Species.)

The Swine may be divided into three well-marked groups, from peculiarities in their dentition. 1. The Dicotylinæ, or {215}peccaries (1 genus, Dicotyles). These offer so many structural differences that they are often classed as a separate family. 2. The true swine (3 genera, Sus, Potamochoerus, and Babirusa); and, 3. The Phacochoerinæ, or wart hogs (1 genus, Phacochoerus). These last are also sometimes made into a separate family, but they are hardly so distinct as the Dicotylinæ.

The Peccaries (2 species), are peculiar to the Neotropical region, extending from Mexico to Paraguay. They also spread northwards into Texas, and as far as the Red River of Arkansas, thus just entering the Nearctic region; but with this exception swine are wholly absent from this region, forming an excellent feature by which to differentiate it from the Palæarctic.

Sus (14 species), ranges over the Palæarctic and Oriental regions and into the first Australian sub-region as far as New Guinea; but it is absent from the Ethiopian region, or barely enters it on the north-east. Potamochoerus (3 species?), is wholly Ethiopian (Plate V. vol. i. p. 278). Babirusa (1 species), is confined to two islands, Celebes and Bouru, in the first Australian sub-region.

Phacochoerus (2 species), ranges over tropical Africa from Abyssinia to Caffraria.

Dr. J. E. Gray divides true swine (Sus) into 7 genera, but it seems far better to keep them as one.

Fossil Suidæ.--These are very numerous. Many extinct species of wild hog (Sus), are found in Europe and North India, ranging back from the Post-pliocene to the Upper Miocene formations. In the Miocene of Europe are numerous extinct genera, Bothriodon, Anthracotherium, Palæochoerus, Hyotherium, and some others; while in the Upper Eocene occur Cebochoerus, Choeropotamus, and Acotherium,--these early forms having more resemblance to the peccaries.

None of these genera are found in America, where we have the living genus Dicotyles in the Post-pliocene and Pliocene deposits, both of North and South America; with a number of extinct genera in the Miocene. The chief of these are, Elotherium, Perchoerus, Leptochoerus, and Nanohyus, all from Dakota, and Thinohyus, from Oregon. One extinct genus, Platygonus, closely allied to Dicotyles, is found in the Post-pliocene of Nebraska, {216}Oregon, and Arkansas. Elotherium is said to be allied to the peccary and hippopotamus. Hyopotamus, from the Miocene of Dakota, is allied to Anthracotherium, and forms with it (according to Dr. Leidy) a distinct family of ancestral swine.

It thus appears, that the swine were almost equally well represented in North America and Europe, during Miocene and Pliocene times, but by entirely distinct forms; and it is a remarkable fact that these hardy omnivorous animals, should, like the horses, have entirely died out in North America, except a few peccaries which have preserved themselves in the sub-tropical parts and in the southern continent, to which they are comparatively recent emigrants. We can hardly have a more convincing proof of the vast physical changes that have occurred in the North American continent during the Pliocene and Post-pliocene epochs, than the complete extinction of these, along with so many other remarkable types of Mammalia.

According to M. Gaudry, the ancestors of all the swine, with the hippopotami and extinct Anthracotherium, Merycopotamus, and many allied forms,--are the Hyracotherium and Pliolophus, both found only in the London clay belonging to the Lower Eocene formation.

FAMILY 48.--CAMELIDÆ. (2 Genera, 6 Species).

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ LIVING SPECIES. | | | | | 1. -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- 2. 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- | | | | | EXTINCT SPECIES. | | | | | 1. -- -- --|-- 2. 3. 4 |-- -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- 3. --|-- -- -- -- | | | | |

The Camels are an exceedingly restricted group, the majority of the species now existing only in a state of domestication. The genus Camelus (2 species), is a highly characteristic desert form {217}of the Palæarctic region, from the Sahara to Mongolia as far as Lake Baikal. Auchenia (4 species), comprehending the Llamas and Alpacas, is equally characteristic of the mountains and deserts of the southern part of South America. Two species entirely domesticated inhabit the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes; and two others are found in a wild state, the vicuna in the Andes of Peru and Chili (Plate XVI. vol. ii. p. 40), and the guanaco over the plains of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

Extinct Camelidæ.--No fossil remains of camels have been found in Europe, but one occurs in the deposits of the Siwalik Hills, usually classed as Upper Miocene, but which some naturalists think are more likely of Older Pliocene age. Merycotherium, teeth of which have been found in the Siberian drift, is supposed to belong to this family.

In North America, where no representative of the family now exists, the camel-tribe were once abundant. In the Post-pliocene deposits of California an Auchenia has been found, and in those of Kansas one of the extinct genus Procamelus. In the Pliocene period, this genus, which was closely allied to the living camels, abounded, six or seven species having been described from Nebraska and Texas, together with an allied form Homocamelus. In the Miocene period different genera appear,--Poebrotherium, and Protomeryx,--while a Procamelus has been found in deposits of this age in Virginia.

In South America a species of Auchenia has been found in the caves of Brazil, and others in the Pliocene deposits of the pampas, together with two extinct genera, Palæolama and Camelotherium.

We thus find the ancestors of the Camelidæ in a region where they do not now exist, but which is situated so that the now widely separated living forms could easily have been derived from it. This case offers a remarkable example of the light thrown by palæontology on the distribution of living animals; and it is a warning against the too common practice of assuming the direct land connection of remote continents, in order to explain similar instances of discontinuous distribution to that of the present family.

{218}FAMILY 49.--TRAGULIDÆ. (2 Genera, 6 Species.)

The Tragulidæ are a group of small, hornless, deer-like animals, with tusks in the upper jaw, and having some structural affinities with the camels. The musk-deer was formerly classed in this family, which it resembles externally; but a minute examination of its structure by M. Milne-Edwards, has shown it to be more nearly allied to the true deer. The Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, Tragulus (5 species), range over all India to the foot of the Himalayas and Ceylon, and through Assam, Malacca, and Cambodja, to Sumatra, Borneo, and Java (Plate VIII., vol. i. p. 337). Hyomoschus (1 species), is found in West Africa.

Extinct Tragulidæ.--A species of Hyomoschus is said to have been found in the Miocene of the South of France, as well as three extinct genera, Dremotherium (also found in Greece), with Lophiomeryx from the Upper Miocene, said to be allied to Tragulus; and Amphitragulus from the Lower Miocene, of more remote affinities, and sometimes placed among the Deer. There seems to be no doubt, however, that this family existed in Europe in Miocene times; and thus another case of discontinuous distribution is satisfactorily accounted for.

FAMILY 50.--CERVIDÆ. (8 Genera, 52 Species.)

The Cervidæ, or deer tribe, are an extensive group of animals equally adapted for inhabiting forests or open plains, the Arctic {219}regions or the Tropics. They range in fact over the whole of the great continents of the globe, with the one striking exception of Africa, where they are only found on the shores of the Mediterranean which form part of the Palæarctic region. The following is the distribution of the genera.

Alces (1 species), the elk or moose, ranges all over Northern Europe and Asia, as far south as East Prussia, the Caucasus, and North China; and over Arctic America to Maine on the East, and British Columbia on the west. The American species may however be distinct, although very closely allied to that of Europe. Tarandus (1 species), the reindeer, has a similar range to the last, but keeps farther north in Europe, inhabiting Greenland and Spitzbergen; and in America extends farther south, to New Brunswick and the north shore of Lake Superior. There are several varieties or species of this animal confined to special districts, but they are not yet well determined. Cervus (40 species), the true deer, have been sub-divided into numerous sub-genera characteristic of separate districts. They range over the whole area of the family, except that they do not go beyond 57° N. in America and a little further in Europe and Asia. In South America they extend over Patagonia and even to Tierra del Fuego. They are found in the north of Africa, and over the whole of the Oriental region, and beyond it as far as the Moluccas and Timor, where however they have probably been introduced by man at an early period. Dama (1 species), the fallow deer, is a native of the shores of the Mediterranean, from Spain and Barbary to Syria. Capreolus (2 species), the roe-deer, inhabits all Temperate and South Europe to Syria, with a distinct species in N. China. Cervulus (4 species), the muntjacs, are found in all the forest districts of the Oriental region, from India and Ceylon to China as far north as Ningpo and Formosa, also southward to the Philippines, Borneo, and Java. Moschus (1 species), the musk-deer, inhabits Central Asia from the Amoor and Pekin, to the Himalayas and the Siamese mountains above 8000 ft. elevation. This is usually classed as a distinct family, but M. Milne-Edwards remarks, that it differs in no important points of organisation from the rest of the Cervidæ. Hydropotes {220}(1 species) inhabits China from the Yang-tse Kiang northwards. This new genus has recently been discovered by Mr. Swinhoe, who says its nearest affinities are with Moschus. Other new forms are Lophotragus, and Elaphodus, both inhabiting North China; the former is hornless, the latter has very small horns about an inch long.

Extinct Deer.--Numerous extinct species of the genus Cervus are found fossil in many parts of Europe, and in all formations between the Post-pliocene and the Upper Miocene. The Elk and Reindeer are also found in caves and Post-pliocene deposits, the latter as far south as the South of France. Extinct genera only, occur in the Upper Miocene in various parts of Europe:--Micromeryx, Palæomeryx, and Dicrocercus have been described; with others referred doubtfully to Moschus, and an allied genus Amphimoschus.

In N. America, remains of this family are very scarce, a Cervus allied to the existing wapiti deer, being found in Post-pliocene deposits, and an extinct genus, Leptomeryx, in the Upper Miocene of Dakota and Oregon. Another extinct genus, Merycodus, from the Pliocene of Oregon, is said to be allied to camels and deer.

In South America, several species of Cervus have been found in the Brazilian caves, and in the Pliocene deposits of La Plata.

It thus appears, that there are not yet sufficient materials for determining the origin and migrations of the Cervidæ. There can be little doubt that they are an Old World group, and a comparatively recent development; and that some time during the Miocene period they passed to North America, and subsequently to the Southern continent. They do not however appear to have developed much in North America, owing perhaps to their finding the country already amply stocked with numerous forms of indigenous Ungulates.

{221}FAMILY 51.--CAMELOPARDALIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ LIVING SPECIES. | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- -- | | | | | EXTINCT SPECIES. | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- 2 -- -- |1 -- -- -- |-- -- 3 -- |-- -- -- -- | | | | |

The Camelopardalidæ, or giraffes, now consist of but a single species which ranges over all the open country of the Ethiopian region, and is therefore almost absent from West Africa, which is more especially a forest district. During the Middle Tertiary period, however, these animals had a wider range, over Southern Europe and Western India as far as the slopes of the Himalayas.

Extinct Species.--Species of Camelopardalis have been found in Greece, the Siwalik Hills, and Perim Island at the entrance to the Red Sea; and an extinct genus, Helladotherium, more bulky but not so tall as the giraffe, ranged from the south of France to Greece and North-west India.

FAMILY 52.--BOVIDÆ. (34 Genera, 149 Species.)

This large and important family, includes all the animals commonly known as oxen, buffaloes, antelopes, sheep, and goats, which have been classed by many naturalists in at least three, and sometimes four or five, distinct families. Zoologically, they {222}are briefly and accurately defined as, "hollow-horned ruminants;" and, although they present wide differences in external form, they grade so insensibly into each other, that no satisfactory definition of the smaller family groups can be found. As a whole they are almost confined to the great Old World continent, only a few forms extending along the highlands and prairies of the Nearctic region; while one peculiar type is found in Celebes, an island which is almost intermediate between the Oriental and Australian regions. In each of the Old World regions there are found a characteristic set of types. Antelopes prevail in the Ethiopian region; sheep and goats in the Palæarctic; while the oxen are perhaps best developed in the Oriental region.

Sir Victor Brooke, who has paid special attention to this family, divides them into 13 sub-families, and I here adopt the arrangement of the genera and species which he has been so good as to communicate to me in MSS.

Sub-family I. BOVINÆ (6 genera, 13 species). This group is one of the best marked in the family. It comprises the Oxen and Buffaloes with their allies, and has a distribution very nearly the same as that of the entire family. The genera are as follows: BOS (1 sp.), now represented by our domestic cattle, the descendants of the Bos primigenius, which ranged over a large part of Central Europe in the time of the Romans. The Chillingham wild cattle are supposed to be the nearest approach to the original species. Bison (2 sp.), one still wild in Poland and the Caucasus; the other in North America, ranging over the prairies west of the Mississippi, and on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains (Plate XIX., vol. ii., p. 129). Bibos (3 sp.), the Indian wild cattle, ranging over a large part of the Oriental region, from Southern India to Assam, Burmah, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and Java. Poephagus (1 sp.), the yak, confined to the high plains of Western Thibet. Bubalus (5 sp.), the buffaloes, of which three species are African, ranging over all the continental parts of the Ethiopian region; one Northern and Central Indian; and the domesticated animal in South Europe and North Africa. Anoa (1 sp.), the small wild cow of Celebes, {223}a very peculiar form more nearly allied to the buffaloes than to any other type of oxen.

Sub-family II. TRAGELAPHINÆ: (3 genera, 11 species). The Bovine Antelopes are large and handsome animals, mostly Ethiopian, but extending into the adjacent parts of the Palæarctic and Oriental regions. The genera are: Oreas (2 sp.), elands, inhabiting all Tropical and South Africa. Tragelaphus (8 sp.), including the bosch-bok, kudu, and other large antelopes, ranges over all Tropical and South Africa (Plate IV., vol. i., p. 261). Portax (1 sp.) India, but rare in Madras and north of the Ganges.

Sub-family III. ORYGINÆ: (2 genera, 5 species). Oryx (4 sp.) is a desert genus, ranging over all the African deserts to South Arabia and Syria; Addax (1 sp.) inhabits North Africa, North Arabia, and Syria.

Sub-family IV. HIPPOTRAGINÆ (1 genus, 3 species). The Sable Antelopes, Hippotragus, form an isolated group inhabiting the open country of Tropical Africa and south to the Cape.

Sub-family V. GAZELLINÆ (6 genera, 23 species). This is a group of small or moderate-sized animals, most abundant in the deserts on the borders of the Palæarctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions. Gazella (17 sp.) is typically a Palæarctic desert group, ranging over the great desert plateaus of North Africa, from Senegal and Abyssinia to Syria, Persia, Beloochistan, and the plains of India, with one outlying species in South Africa. Procapra (2 sp.), Western Thibet and Mongolia to about 110° east longitude. Antilope (1 sp.) inhabits all the plains of India. Æpyceros (1 sp.) the pallah, inhabits the open country of South and South-east Africa. Saiga (1 sp.) a singular sheep-faced antelope, which inhabits the steppes of Eastern Europe and Western Asia from Poland to the Irtish River, south of 55° north latitude. (Plate II., vol. i., p. 218.) Panthalops (1 sp.) confined to the highlands of Western Thibet and perhaps Turkestan.

Sub-family VI. ANTILOCAPRINÆ (1 genus, 1 species), Antilocapra, the prong-horned antelope, inhabit both sides of the Rocky Mountains, extending north to the Saskatchewan and {224}Columbia River, west to the coast range of California, and east to the Missouri. Its remarkable deciduous horns seem to indicate a transition to the Cervidæ. (Plate XIX., vol. ii., p. 129.)

Sub-family VII. CERVICAPRINÆ (5 genera, 21 species). This group of Antelopes is wholly confined to the continental portion of the Ethiopian region. The genera are: Cervicapra (4 sp.), Africa, south of the equator and Abyssinia; Kobus (6 sp.), grassy plains and marshes of Tropical Africa; Pelea (1 sp.), South Africa; Nanotragus (9 species), Africa, south of the Sahara; Neotragus (1 sp.) Abyssinia and East Africa.

Sub-family VIII. CEPHALOPHINÆ (2 genera, 24 species), Africa and India; Cephalophus (22 sp.), continental Ethiopian region; Tetraceros (2 sp.) hilly part of all India, but rare north of the Ganges.

Sub-family IX. ALCEPHALINÆ (2 genera, 11 species), large African Antelopes, one species just entering the Palæarctic region. The genera are: Alcephalus (9 sp.) all Africa and north-east to Syria; Catoblepas (2 sp.), gnus, Africa, south of the Equator.

Sub-region X. BUDORCINÆ (1 genus, 2 species) Budorcas inhabits the high Himalayas from Nepal to East Thibet.

Sub-family XI. RUPICAPRINÆ (1 genus, 2 species) the Chamois, Rupicapra, inhabit the high European Alps from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus. (Plate I., vol. i., p. 195.)

Sub-family XII. NEMORHEDINÆ (2 genera, 10 species). These goat-like Antelopes inhabit portions of the Palæarctic and Oriental regions, as well as the Rocky Mountains in the Nearctic region. Nemorhedus (9 sp.) ranges from the Eastern Himalayas to N. China and Japan, and south to Formosa, the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. Aplocerus (1 sp.), the mountain goat of the trappers, inhabits the northern parts of California and the Rocky Mountains.

Sub-family XIII. CAPRINÆ (2 genera, 23 species). The Goats and Sheep form an extensive series, highly characteristic of the Palæarctic region, but with an outlying species on the Neilgherries in Southern India, and one in the Rocky Mountains and California. The genera are Capra (22 sp.) and Ovibos (1 sp.). {225}The genus Capra consists of several sub-groups which have been named as genera, but it is unnecessary here to do more than divide them into "Goats and Ibexes" on the one hand and "Sheep" on the other--each comprising 11 species. The former range over all the South European Alps from Spain to the Caucasus; to Abyssinia, Persia, and Scinde; over the high Himalayas to E. Thibet and N. China; with an outlying species in the Neilgherries. The latter are only found in the mountains of Corsica, Sardinia, and Crete, in Europe; in Asia Minor, Persia, and in Central and North-Eastern Asia, with one somewhat isolated species in the Atlas mountains; while in America a species is found in the Rocky Mountains and the coast range of California. Ovibos (1 sp.), the musk-sheep, inhabits Arctic America north of lat. 60; but it occurs fossil in Post-glacial gravels on the Yena and Obi in Siberia, in Germany and France along with the Mammoth and with flint implements, and in caves of the Reindeer period; also in the brick earth in the south of England, associated with Rhinoceros megarhinus and Elephas antiquus.

Extinct Bovidæ.--In the caverns and diluviums of Europe, of the Post-Pliocene period, the remains are found of extinct species of Bos, Bison, and Capra; and in the caverns of the south of France Rupicapra, and an antelope near Hippotragus. Bos and Bison also occur in Pliocene deposits. In the Miocene of Europe, the only remains are antelopes closely allied to existing species, and these are especially numerous in Greece, where remains referred to two living and four extinct genera have been discovered. In the Miocene of India numerous extinct species of Bos, and two extinct genera, Hemibos and Amphibos, have been found, one of them at a great elevation in Thibet. Antelopes, allied to living Indian species, are chiefly found in the Nerbudda deposits.

In North America, the only bovine remains are those of a Bison, and a sheep or goat, in the Post-pliocene deposits; and of two species of musk-sheep, sometimes classed in a distinct genus Bootherium, from beds of the same age in Arkansas and Ohio. Casoryx, from the Pliocene of Nebraska, is supposed to be allied to the antelopes and to deer.

{226}In the caves of Brazil remains of two animals said to be antelopes, have been discovered. They are classed by Gervais in the genera Antilope and Leptotherium, but the presence of true antelopes in S. America at this period is so improbable, that there is probably some error of identification.

The extinct family Sivatheridæ, containing the extraordinary and gigantic four-horned Sivatherium and Bramatherium, of the Siwalik deposits, are most nearly allied to the antelopes.

From the preceding facts we may conclude, that the great existing development of the Bovidæ is comparatively recent. The type may have originated early in the Miocene period, the oxen being at first most tropical, while the antelopes inhabited the desert zone a little further north. The sheep and goats seem to be the most recent development of the bovine type, which was probably long confined to the Eastern Hemisphere.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Ungulata.

With the exception of the Australian region, from which this order of mammalia is almost entirely wanting, the Ungulata are almost universally distributed over the continental parts of all the other regions. Of the ten families, 7 are Ethiopian, 6 Oriental, 5 Palæarctic, 4 Neotropical, and 3 Nearctic. The Ethiopian region owes its superiority to the exclusive possession of the hippopotamus and giraffe, both of which inhabited the Palæarctic and Oriental regions in Miocene times. The excessive poverty of the Nearctic region in this order is remarkable; the swine being represented only by Dicotyles in its extreme southern portion, while the Bovidæ are restricted to four isolated species. Deer alone are fairly well represented. But, during the Eocene and Miocene periods, North America was wonderfully rich in varied forms of Ungulates, of which there were at least 8 or 9 families; while we have reason to believe that during the same periods the Ethiopian region was excessively poor, and that it probably received the ancestors of all its existing families from Europe or Western Asia in later Miocene or Pliocene times. Many types that once abounded in both Europe and North America are now preserved only in South America and Central or Tropical Asia,--as {227}the tapirs and camels; while others once confined to Europe and Asia have found a refuge in Africa,--as the hippopotamus and giraffe; so that in no other order do we find such striking examples of those radical changes in the distribution of the higher animals which were effected during the latter part of the Tertiary period. The present distribution of this order is, in fact, utterly unintelligible without reference to the numerous extinct forms of existing and allied families; but as this subject has been sufficiently discussed in the Second Part of this work (Chapters VI. and VII.) it is unnecessary to give further details here.

Order VIII.--PROBOSCIDEA.

FAMILY 53.--ELEPHANTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ LIVING SPECIES. | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2. 3 -- |1. 2. 3. 4 |-- -- -- -- | | | | | EXTINCT SPECIES. | | | | | 1. 2 -- -- |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1 -- -- -- |1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- -- | | | | |

The elephants are now represented by two species, the African, which ranges all over that continent south of the Sahara, and the Indian, which is found over all the wooded parts of the Oriental region, from the slopes of the Himalayas to Ceylon, and eastward, to the frontiers of China and to Sumatra and Borneo. These, however, are but the feeble remnants of a host of gigantic creatures, which roamed over all the great continents except Australia during the Tertiary period, and several of which were contemporary with man.

Extinct Elephants.--At least 14 extinct species of Elephas, and a rather greater number of the allied genus Mastodon (distinguished by their less complex grinding teeth) have now been {228}discovered. Elephants ranged over all the Palæarctic and Nearctic regions in Post-Pliocene times; in Europe and Central India they go back to the Pliocene; and only in India to the Upper Miocene period; the number of species increasing as we go back to the older formations.

In North America two or three species of Mastodon are Post-pliocene and Pliocene; and a species is found in the caves of Brazil, and in the Pliocene deposits of the pampas of La Plata, of the Bolivian Andes, and of Honduras and the Bahamas. In Europe the genus is Upper Miocene and Pliocene, but is especially abundant in the former period. In the East, it extends from Perim island to Burmah and over all India, and is mostly Miocene, but with perhaps one species Pliocene in Central India.

An account of the range of such animals as belong to extinct families of Proboscidea, will be found in Chapters VI. and VII.; from which it will be seen that, although the family Elephantidæ undoubtedly originated in the Eastern Hemisphere, it is not improbable that the first traces of the order Proboscidea are to be found in N. America.

Order IX.--HYRACOIDEA.

FAMILY 54.--HYRACIDÆ. (1 Genus. 10-12 Species.)

The genus Hyrax, which alone constitutes this family, consists of small animals having the appearance of hares or marmots, but which more resemble the genus Rhinoceros in their teeth and skeleton. They range all over the Ethiopian region, except Madagascar; a peculiar species is found in Fernando Po, and they just enter the Palæarctic as far as Syria. They may therefore be considered as an exclusively Ethiopian group. In Dr. Gray's {229}last Catalogue (1873) he divides the genus into three--Hyrax, Euhyrax and Dendrohyrax--the latter consisting of two species confined apparently to West and South Africa.

No extinct forms of this family have yet been discovered; the Hyracotherium of the London clay (Lower Eocene) which was supposed to resemble Hyrax, is now believed to be an ancestral type of the Suidæ or swine.

Order X.--RODENTIA.

FAMILY 55.--MURIDÆ. (37 Genera, 330 Species.)

The Muridæ, comprising the rats and mice with their allies, are almost universally distributed over the globe (even not reckoning the domestic species which have been introduced almost everywhere by man), the exceptions being the three insular groups belonging to the Australian region, from none of which have any species yet been obtained. Before enumerating the genera it will be as well to say a few words on the peculiarities of distribution they present. The true mice, forming the genus Mus, is distributed over the whole of the world except N. and S. America where not a single indigenous species occurs, being replaced by the genus Hesperomys; five other genera, comprehending all the remaining species found in South America are peculiar to the Neotropical region. Three genera are confined to the Palæarctic region, and three others to the Nearctic. No less than twelve genera are exclusively Ethiopian, while only three are exclusively Oriental and three Australian.

Mus (100-120 sp.) the Eastern Hemisphere, but absent from the Pacific and Austro-Malayan Islands, except Celebes and Papua; Lasiomys (1 sp.) Guinea; Acanthomys (5-6 sp.) Africa, India and {230}N. Australia; Cricetomys (1 sp.) Tropical Africa; Saccostomus (2 sp.) Mozambique; Cricetus (9 sp.) Palæarctic region and Egypt; Cricetulus (1 sp., Milne-Edwards, 1870) Pekin; Pseudomys (1 sp.) Australia; Hapalotis (13 sp.) Australia; Phlæomys (1 sp.) Philippines; Platacanthomys (1 sp., Blyth, 1865) Malabar; Dendromys (2 sp.) S. Africa; Nesomys (1 sp. Peters, 1870) Madagascar; Steatomys (2 sp.) N. and S. Africa; Pelomys (1 sp.) Mozambique; Reithrodon (9 sp.) N. America, Lat. 29° to Mexico, and south to Tierra del Fuego; Acodon (1 sp.) Peru; Myxomys (1 sp.) Guatemala; Hesperomys (90 sp.) North and South America; Holochilus (4 sp.) South America; Oxymycterus (4 sp.) Brazil and La Plata; Neotoma (6 sp.) U.S., East coast to California; Sigmodon (2 sp.) Southern United States; Drymomys (1 sp.) Peru; Neotomys (2 sp.) S. America; Otomys (6 sp.) S. and E. Africa; Meriones = Gerbillus (20-30 sp.) Egypt, Central Asia, India, Africa; Rhombomys (6 sp.) S. E. Europe, N. Africa, Central Asia; Malacothrix (2 sp.) South Africa; Mystromys (1 sp.) South Africa; Psammomys (1 sp.) Egypt; Spalacomys (1 sp.) India; Sminthus (1-3 sp.) East Europe, Tartary, Siberia; Hydromys (5 sp.) Australia and Tasmania; Hypogeomys (1 sp., Grandidier, 1870) Madagascar; Brachytarsomys (1 sp., Günther, 1874) Madagascar; Fiber (2 sp.) N. America to Mexico; Arvicola (50 sp.) Europe to Asia Minor, North Asia, Himalayas, Temp. N. America; Cuniculus (1 sp.) N. E. Europe, Siberia, Greenland, Arctic America; Myodes (4 sp.) Europe, Siberia, Arctic America, and Northern United States; Myospalax = Siphneus (2 sp.) Altai Mountains and N. China[4]; Lophiomys (1 sp.) S. Arabia, and N. E. Africa; Echiothrix (1 sp.) Australia.

Extinct Muridæ.--Species of Mus, Cricetus, Arvicola, and Myodes, occur in the Post-Pliocene deposits of Europe; Arvicola, Meriones, and the extinct genus Cricetodon, with some others, in the Miocene.

In North America, Fiber, Arvicola, and Neotoma, occur in caves; {231}an extinct genus, Eumys, in the Upper Miocene of Dakota, and another, Mysops, in the Eocene of Wyoming.

In South America Mus, or more probably Hesperomys, is abundant in Brazilian caverns, and Oxymycterus in the Pliocene of La Plata; while Arvicola is said to have occurred both in the Pliocene and Eocene deposits of the same country.

FAMILY 56.--SPALACIDÆ. (7 Genera, 17 Species.)

The Spalacidæ, or mole-rats, have a straggling distribution over the Old World continents. They are found over nearly the whole of Africa, but only in the South-east of Europe, and West of Temperate Asia, but appearing again in North India, Malacca, and South China. Ellobius (1 sp.), is found in South Russia and South-west Siberia; Spalax (1 sp.), Southern Russia, West Asia, Hungary, Moldavia, and Greece (Plate II., vol. i. p. 218); Rhizomys (6 sp.), Abyssinia, North India, Malacca, South China; Heterocephalus (1 sp.), Abyssinia; Bathyerges (= Orycterus 1 sp.), South Africa; Georychus (6 sp.), South, Central, and East Africa; Heliophobus (1 sp.), Mozambique.

FAMILY 57.--DIPODIDÆ. (3 Genera, 22 Species.)

The Jerboas, or jumping mice, are especially characteristic of the regions about the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean, being found in South Russia, the Caspian district, Arabia, Egypt, {232}and Abyssinia; but they also extend over a large part of Africa, and eastward to India; while isolated forms occur in North America, and the Cape of Good Hope. Dipus = Gerbillus (20 sp.), inhabits North and Central Africa, South-East Europe, and across Temperate Asia to North China, also Afghanistan, India, and Ceylon; Pedetes (1 sp.), South Africa to Mozambique and Angola; Jaculus = Meriones (1 sp.), North America, from Nova Scotia and Canada, south to Pennsylvania and west to California and British Columbia (Plate XX., vol. ii. p. 135).

Extinct Dipodidæ.--Dipus occurs fossil in the Miocene of the Alps; and an extinct genus, Issiodromys, said to be allied to Pedetes of the Cape of Good Hope, is from the Pliocene formations of Auvergne in France.

FAMILY 58.--MYOXIDÆ. (1 Genus, 12 Species.)

The Dormice (Myoxus), are small rodents found over all the temperate parts of the Palæarctic region, from Britain to Japan; and also over most parts of Africa to the Cape, but wanting in India. Some of the African species have been separated under the name of Graphidurus, while those of Europe and Asia form the sub-genera Glis, Muscardinus, and Eliomys.

Extinct Myoxidæ.--Myoxus ranges from the Post-pliocene of the Maltese caverns to the Miocene of Switzerland and the Upper Eocene of France; and an extinct genus Brachymys is found in the Miocene of Central Europe.

{233}FAMILY 59.--SACCOMYIDÆ. (6 Genera, 33 Species.)

The Saccomyidæ, or pouched rats, are almost wholly confined to our second Nearctic sub-region, comprising the Rocky Mountains and the elevated plains of Central North America. A few species range from this district as far as Hudson's Bay on the north, to South Carolina on the east, and to California on the west, while one genus, doubtfully placed here, goes south as far as Honduras and Trinidad. The group must therefore be considered to be pre-eminently characteristic of the Nearctic region.

The genera are,--Dipodomys (5 sp.), North Mexico, California, the east slope of the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, and one species in South Carolina; Perognathus (6 sp.), North Mexico, California, east slope of the Rocky Mountains to British Columbia; Thomomys (2 sp.), Upper Missouri, and Upper Columbia Rivers to Hudson's Bay; Geomys (5 sp.), North Mexico, and east slope of Rocky Mountains to Nebraska (Plate XIX., vol. ii. p. 129); Saccomys (1 sp.), North America, locality unknown; Heteromys (6 sp.), Mexico, Honduras, and Trinidad. Geomys and Thomomys constitute a separate family Geomyidæ, of Professor Carus; but I follow Professor Lilljeborg, who has made a special study of the Order, in keeping them with this family.

In the Post-Pliocene deposits of Illinois and Nebraska, remains of an existing species of Geomys have been found.

{234}FAMILY 60.--CASTORIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Beavers, forming the genus Castor, consist of two species, the American (Castor canadensis) ranging over the whole of North America from Labrador to North Mexico; while the European (Castor fiber) appears to be confined to the temperate regions of Europe and Asia, from France to the River Amoor, over which extensive region it doubtless roamed in prehistoric times, although now becoming rare in many districts.

Extinct Castoridæ.--Extinct species of Castor range back from the Post-pliocene to the Upper Miocene in Europe, and to the Newer Pliocene in North America. Extinct genera in Europe are, Trogontherium, Post-Pliocene and Pliocene; Chalicomys, Older Pliocene; and Steneofiber, Upper Miocene. In North America Castoroides is Post-Pliocene, and Palæocastor, Upper Miocene. The family thus first appears on the same geological horizon in both Europe and North America.

FAMILY 61.--SCIURIDÆ.--(8 Genera, 180-200 Species.)

The Squirrel family, comprehending also the marmots and prairie-dogs, are very widely spread over the earth. They are especially abundant in the Nearctic, Palæarctic, and Oriental regions, and rather less frequent in the Ethiopian and Neotropical, in which last region they do not extend south of Paraguay. They are absent from the West Indian islands, Madagascar, and Australia, only occurring in Celebes which doubtfully belongs to the Australian region. The genera are as follows:--

{235}Sciurus (100-120 sp., including the sub-genera Spermosciurus, Xerus, Macroxus, Rheithrosciurus, and Rhinosciurus), comprises the true squirrels, and occupies the area of the whole family wherever woods and forests occur. The approximate number of species in each region is as follows: Nearctic 18, Palæarctic 6, Ethiopian 18, Oriental 50, Australian (Celebes) 5, Neotropical 30. Sciuropterus (16-19 sp.), comprises the flat-tailed flying squirrels, which range from Lapland and Finland to North China and Japan, and southward through India and Ceylon, to Malacca and Java, with a species in Formosa; while in North America they occur from Labrador to British Columbia, and south to Minnesota and Southern California. Pteromys (12 sp.), comprising the round-tailed flying squirrels, is a more southern form, being confined to the wooded regions of India from the Western Himalayas to Java and Borneo, with species in Formosa and Japan. Tamias (5 sp.), the ground squirrels, are chiefly North American, ranging from Mexico to Puget's Sound on the west coast, and from Virginia to Montreal on the Atlantic coast; while one species is found over all northern Asia. Spermophilus (26 sp.), the pouched marmots, are confined to the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions; in the former extending from the Arctic Ocean to Mexico and the west coast, but not passing east of Lake Michigan and the lower Mississippi; in the latter from Silesia through South Russia to the Amoor and Kamschatka, most abundant in the desert plains of Tartary and Mongolia. Arctomys (8 sp.), the marmots, are found in the northern parts of North America as far down as Virginia and Nebraska to the Rocky Mountains and British Columbia, but not in California; and from the Swiss Alps eastward to Lake Baikal and Kamschatka, and south as far as the Himalayas, above 8,000 feet elevation. Cynomys (2 sp.), the prairie-dogs, inhabit the plains east of the Rocky Mountains from the Upper Missouri to the Red River and Rio Grande (Plate XIX., vol. ii. p. 129). Anomalurus (5 sp.), consists of animals which resemble flying-squirrels, but differ from all other members of the family in some points of internal structure. They form a very aberrant portion of the Sciuridæ, and, according to some naturalists, a distinct family. They inhabit West Africa and the island of Fernando Po.

{236}Extinct Sciuridæ.--These are tolerably abundant. The genus Sciurus appears to be a remarkably ancient form, extinct species being found in the Miocene, and even in the Upper Eocene formations of Europe. Spermophilus goes back to the Upper Miocene; Arctomys to the Newer Pliocene. Extinct genera are, Brachymys, Lithomys and Plesiarctomys, from the European Miocene, the latter said to be intermediate between marmots and squirrels.

In North America, Sciurus, Tamias, and Arctomys occur in the Post-pliocene deposits only. The extinct genera are Ischyromys, from the Upper Miocene of Nebraska; Paramys, allied to the marmots, and Sciuravus, near the squirrels, from the Eocene of Wyoming.

Here we have unmistakable evidence that the true squirrels (Sciurus) are an Old World type, which has only recently entered North America; and this is in accordance with the comparative scarcity of this group in South America, a country so well adapted to them, and their great abundance in the Oriental region, which, with the Palæarctic, was probably the country of their origin and early development. The family, however, has been traced equally far back in Europe and North America, so that we have as yet no means of determining where it originated.

FAMILY 62--HAPLOODONTIDÆ.--(1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The genus Haploodon or Aplodontia, consists of two curious rat-like animals, inhabiting the west coast of America, from the southern part of British Columbia to the mountains of California. They seem to have affinities both with the beavers and marmots, and Professor Lilljeborg constitutes a separate family to receive them.

{237}FAMILY 63.--CHINCHILLIDÆ. (3 Genera, 6 Species.)

The Chinchillidæ, including the chinchillas and viscachas, are confined to the alpine zones of the Andes, from the boundary of Ecuador and Peru to the southern parts of Chili; and over the Pampas, to the Rio Negro on the south, and the River Uruguay on the east. Chinchilla (2 sp.), the true chinchillas, are found in the Andes of Chili and Peru, south of 9° S. lat., and from 8,000 to 12,000 feet elevation (Plate XVI. vol. ii. p. 40); Lagidium (3 sp.), the alpine viscachas, inhabit the loftiest plateaus and mountains from 11,000 to 16,000 feet, and extend furthest north of any of the family; while Lagostomus (1 sp.), the viscacha of the Pampas, has the range above indicated. The family is thus confined within the limits of a single sub-region.

Extinct Chinchillidæ.--Lagostomus has been found fossil in the caves of Brazil, and in the Pliocene deposits of La Plata. The only known extinct forms of this family are Amblyrhiza and Loxomylus, found in cavern-deposits in the island of Anguilla, of Post-Pliocene age. These are very interesting, as showing the greater range of this family so recently; though its absence from North America and Europe indicates that it is a peculiar development of the Neotropical region.

FAMILY 64.--OCTODONTIDÆ. (8 Genera, 19 Species.)

{238}The Octodontidæ include a number of curious and obscure rat-like animals, mostly confined to the mountains and open plains of South America, but having a few stragglers in other parts of the world, as will be seen by our notes on the genera. The most remarkable point in their distribution is, that two genera are peculiar to the West Indian islands, while no species of the family inhabits the northern half of South America. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--Habrocomus (2 sp.), Chili; Capromys (3 sp.), two of which inhabit Cuba, the third Jamaica (Plate XVII. vol. ii. p. 67); Plagiodontia (1 sp.), only known from Hayti; Spalacopus, including Schizodon (2 sp.), Chili, and east side of Southern Andes; Octodon (3 sp.), Peru, Bolivia, and Chili; Ctenomys (6 sp.), the tuco-tuco of the Pampas, the Campos of Brazil to Bolivia and Tierra del Fuego; Ctenodactylus (1 sp.), Tripoli, North Africa; Pectinator (1 sp.), East Africa, Abyssinia, 4,000 to 5,000 feet.

Capromys and Plagiodontia, the two West Indian genera, were classed among the Echimyidæ by Mr. Waterhouse, but Professor Lilljeborg removes them to this family.

Extinct Octodontidæ.--Species of Ctenomys have been found in the Pliocene of La Plata, and an extinct genus Megamys, said to be allied to Capromys, in the Eocene of the same country. In Europe, Palæomys and Archæomys from the lower Miocene of Germany and France, are also said to be allied to Capromys.

FAMILY 65.--ECHIMYIDÆ. (10 Genera, 30 Species.)

The Echimyidæ, or spiny rats, are a family, chiefly South American, of which the Coypu, a large beaver-like water-rat from Peru and Chili is the best known. Two of the genera are found in South Africa, but all the rest inhabit the continent of South America, East of the Andes, none being yet known north {239}of Panama. The genera are as follows:--Dactylomys (2 sp.), Guiana and Brazil; Cercomys (1 sp.), Central Brazil; Lasiuromys (1 sp.), San Paulo, Brazil; Petromys (1 sp.), South Africa; Myopotamus (1 sp.), the coypu, on the East side of the Andes from Peru to 42° S. lat., on the West side from 33° to 48° S. lat.; Carterodon (1 sp.), Minaes Geraes, Brazil; Aulacodes (1. sp.), West and South Africa; Mesomys (1 sp.), Borba on the Amazon; Echimys (11 sp.), from Guiana and the Ecuadorian Andes to Paraguay; Loncheres (10 sp.), New Granada to Brazil.

Fossil and Extinct Echimyidæ.--The genus Carterodon was established on bones found in the Brazilian caves, and it was several years afterwards that specimens were obtained showing the animal to be a living species. Extinct species of Myopotamus and Loncheres have also been found in these caves, with the extinct genera Lonchophorus and Phyllomys.

No remains of this family have been discovered in North America; but in the Miocene and Upper Eocene deposits of France there are many species of an extinct genus Theridomys, which is said to be allied to this group or to the next (Cercolabidæ). Aulacodon, from the Upper Miocene of Germany, is allied to the West African Aulacodes; and some other remains from the lower Miocene of Auvergne, are supposed to belong to Echimys.

FAMILY 66.--CERCOLABIDÆ. (3 Genera, 13-15 Species.)

The Cercolabidæ, or arboreal porcupines, are a group of rodents entirely confined to America, where they range from the northern limit of trees on the Mackenzie River, to the southern limit of forests in Paraguay. There is however an intervening district, the Southern United States, from which they are absent. Erethizon (3 sp.), the Canadian porcupine, is found throughout {240}Canada and as far south as Northern Pennsylvania, and west to the Mississippi (Plate XX., vol. ii. p. 135); an allied species inhabiting the west coast from California to Alaska, and inland to the head of the Missouri River; while a third is found in the north-western part of South America; Cercolabes (12 sp.), ranges from Mexico and Guatemala to Paraguay, on the eastern side of the Andes; Chætomys (1 sp.), North Brazil.

Extinct Cercolabidæ.--A large species of Cercolabes has been found in the Brazilian caves, but none have been discovered in North America or Europe. We may conclude therefore that this is probably a South American type, which has thence spread into North America at a comparatively recent epoch. The peculiar distribution of Cercolabes may be explained by supposing it to have migrated northwards along the west coast by means of the wooded slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It could then only reach the Eastern States by way of the forest region of the great lakes, and then move southward. This it may be now doing, but it has not yet reached the Southern States of Eastern North America.

Family 67.--HYSTRICIDÆ. (3 Genera, 12 Species.)

The true Porcupines have a very compact and well-marked distribution, over the whole of the Oriental and Ethiopian regions (except Madagascar), and the second Palæarctic sub-region. There is some confusion as to their sub-division into genera, but the following are those most usually admitted:--Hystrix (5 sp.), South Europe to the Cape of Good Hope, all India, Ceylon, and South China; Atherura (5 sp.), "brush-tailed porcupines," inhabit West Africa, India, to Siam, Sumatra, and Borneo; Acanthion (2 sp.), Nepal and Malacca, to Sumatra, Borneo, and Java.

Extinct Hystricidæ.--Several extinct species of Hystrix have {241}been found in the Pliocene and Miocene deposits of Europe, and one in the Pliocene of Nebraska in North America.

FAMILY 68.--CAVIIDÆ. (6 Genera, 28 Species.)

The Cavies and Agoutis were placed in distinct families by Mr. Waterhouse, in which he is followed by Professor Carus, but they have been united by Professor Lilljeborg, and without pretending to decide which classification is the more correct I follow the latter, because there is a striking external resemblance between the two groups, and they have an identical distribution in the Neotropical region, and with one exception are all found east of the Andes. Dasyprocta (9 sp.), the agouti, ranges from Mexico to Paraguay, one species inhabiting the small West Indian islands of St. Vincent, Lucia, and Grenada; Cælogenys (2 sp.), the paca, is found from Guatemala to Paraguay, and a second species (somewhat doubtful) in Eastern Peru; Hydrochoerus (1 sp.), the capybara inhabits the banks of rivers from Guayana to La Plata; Cavia (9 sp.), the guinea-pigs, Brazil to the Straits of Magellan, and one species west of the Andes at Yça Peru; Kerodon (6 sp.), Brazil and Peru to Magellan; Dolichotis (1 sp,), the Patagonian cavy, from Mendoza to 48° 30' south latitude, on sterile plains.

Extinct Caviidæ.--Hydrochoerus, Cælogenys, Dasyprocta, and Kerodon, have occurred abundantly in the caves of Brazil, and the last-named genus in the Pliocene of La Plata. Hydrochoerus has been found in the Post-Pliocene deposits of South Carolina. Cavia and Dasyprocta are said to have been found in the Miocene of Switzerland and France. No well-marked extinct genera of this family have been recorded.

If the determination of the above-mentioned fossil species of Cavia and Dasyprocta are correct, it would show that this now {242}exclusively South American family is really derived from Europe, where it has long been extinct.

FAMILY 69.--LAGOMYIDÆ. (1 Genus, 11 Species.)

The Lagomyidæ, or pikas, are small alpine and desert animals which range from the south of the Ural Mountains to Cashmere and the Himalayas, at heights of 11,000 to 14,000 feet, and northward to the Polar regions and the north-eastern extremity of Siberia. They just enter the eastern extremity of Europe as far as the Volga, but with this exception, seem strictly limited to the third Palæarctic sub-region. In America they are confined to the Rocky Mountains from about 42° to 60° north latitude.

Extinct Lagomyidæ.--Extinct species of Lagomys have occurred in the southern parts of Europe, from the Post-Pliocene to the Miocene formations. Titanomys, an extinct genus, is found in the Miocene of France and Germany.

FAMILY 70.--LEPORIDÆ. (1 Genus, 35-40 Species.)

The Hares and Rabbits are especially characteristic of the Nearctic and Palæarctic, but are also thinly scattered over the Ethiopian and Oriental regions. In the Neotropical region they are very scarce, only one species being found in South America, in the mountains of Brazil and various parts of the Andes, while one or two of the North American species extend into Mexico {243}and Guatemala. In the Nearctic region, they are most abundant in the central and western parts of the continent, and they extend to the Arctic Ocean and to Greenland. They are found in every part of the Palæarctic region, from Ireland to Japan; three species range over all India to Ceylon, and others occur in Hainan, Formosa, South China, and the mountains of Pegu; the Ethiopian region has only four or five species, mostly in the southern extremity and along the East coast. An Indian species is now wild in some parts of Java, but it has probably been introduced.

Extinct Leporidæ.--Species of Lepus occur in the Post-Pliocene and Newer Pliocene of France; but only in the Post-Pliocene of North America, and the caves of Brazil.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Rodentia.

With the exception of the Australian region and Madagascar, where Muridæ alone have been found, this order is one of the most universally and evenly distributed over the entire globe. Of the sixteen families which compose it, the Palæarctic region has 10; the Ethiopian, Nearctic, and Neotropical, each 9; and the Oriental only 5. These figures are very curious and suggestive. We know that the rodentia are exceedingly ancient, since some of the living genera date back to the Eocene period; and some ancestral types might thus have reached the remote South American and South African lands at the time of one of their earliest unions with the northern continents. In both these countries the rodents diverged into many special forms, and being small animals easily able to conceal themselves, have largely survived the introduction of higher Mammalia. In the Palæarctic and Nearctic regions, their small size and faculty of hibernation may have enabled them to maintain themselves during those great physical changes which resulted in the extermination or banishment of so many of the larger and more highly organised Mammalia, to which, in these regions, they now bear a somewhat inordinate proportion. The reasons why they are now less numerous and varied in the Oriental region, may be of two kinds. The comparatively small area of that region and its {244}uniformity of climate, would naturally lead to less development of such a group as this, than in the vastly more extensive and varied and almost equally luxuriant Palæarctic region of Eocene and Miocene times; while on the other hand the greater number of the smaller Carnivora in the tropics during the Pliocene and Post-Pliocene epochs, would be a constant check upon the increase of these defenceless animals, and no doubt exterminate a number of them.

The Rodents thus offer a striking contrast to the Ungulates; and these two great orders afford an admirable illustration of the different way in which physical and organic changes may affect large and small herbivorous Mammalia; often leading to the extinction of the former, while favouring the comparative development of the latter.

Order XI.--EDENTATA.

FAMILY 71.--BRADYPODIDÆ. (3 Genera, 12 Species.)

The Sloths are a remarkable group of arboreal mammals, strictly confined to the great forests of the Neotropical region, from Guatemala to Brazil and Eastern Bolivia. None are found west of the Andes, nor do they appear to extend into Paraguay, or beyond the Tropic of Capricorn on the east coast. The genera as defined by Dr. Gray in 1871 are:--Choloepus (2 sp.), "Sloths with two toes on fore limbs, sexes alike," Costa Rica to Brazil; Bradypus (2 sp.), "Sloths with three toes on fore limbs, sexes alike," Central Brazil, Amazon to Rio de Janeiro; Arctopithecus (8 sp.), "Sloths with three toes on fore limbs, males with a coloured patch on the back," Costa Rica to Brazil and Eastern Bolivia (Plate XIV., vol ii. p. 24).

{245}Extinct Bradypodidæ.--In the caves of Brazil are found three extinct genera of Sloths--Cælodon, Sphenodon, and Ochotherium. More distantly allied, and probably forming distinct families, are Scelidotherium and Megatherium, from the caves of Brazil and the Pliocene deposits of La Plata and Patagonia.

FAMILY 72.--MANIDIDÆ. (1 Genus, 8 Species.)

The Manididæ, or scaly ant-eaters, are the only Edentate Mammalia found out of America, They are spread over the Ethiopian and Oriental regions; in the former from Sennaar to West Africa and the Cape; in the latter from the Himalayas to Ceylon, and Eastward to Borneo and Java, as well as to South China, as far as Amoy, Hainan, and Formosa. They have been sub-divided, according to differences in the scaly covering, into five groups, Manis, Phatagin, Smutsia, Pholidotus and Pangolin, the three former being confined to Africa, the last common to Africa and the East, while Pholidotus seems confined to Java. It is doubtful if these divisions are more than sub-genera, and as such they are treated here.

No extinct species referable to this family are yet known.

FAMILY 73.--DASYPODIDÆ. (6 Genera, 17 Species.)

The Dasypodidæ, or armadillos, are a highly characteristic Neotropical family, ranging from the northern extremity of the region {246}in south Texas, to 50° south latitude on the plains of Patagonia. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--Tatusia (5 sp.), has the range of the whole family from the lower Rio Grande of Texas to Patagonia; Prionodontes (1 sp.), the giant armadillo, Surinam to Paraguay; Dasypus (4 sp.), Brazil to Bolivia, Chili, and La Plata; Xenurus (3 sp.), Guiana to Paraguay; Tolypeutes (2 sp.), the three-banded armadillos, Bolivia and La Plata; Chlamydophorus (2 sp.), near Mendoza in La Plata, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra in Bolivia.

Extinct Armadillos.--Many species of Dasypus and Xenurus have been found in the caves of Brazil, together with many extinct genera--Hoplophorus, Euryodon, Heterodon, Pachytherium, and Chlamydotherium, the latter as large as a rhinoceros. Eutatus, allied to Tolypeutes, is from the Pliocene deposits of La Plata.

FAMILY 74.--ORYCTEROPODIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Aard-vark, or Cape ant-eater (Orycteropus capensis) is a curious form of Edentate animal, with the general form of an ant-eater, but with the bristly skin and long obtuse snout of a pig. A second species inhabits the interior of North-East Africa and Senegal, that of the latter country perhaps forming a third species (Plate IV. vol. i. p. 261).

Extinct Orycteropodidæ.--The genus Macrotherium, remains of which occur in the Miocene deposits of France, Germany, and Greece, is allied to this group, though perhaps forming a separate family. The same may be said of the Ancylotherium, a huge animal found only in the Miocene deposits of Greece.

{247}FAMILY 75.--MYRMECOPHAGIDÆ. (3 Genera, 5 Species.)

The true ant-eaters are strictly confined to the wooded portions of the Neotropical region, ranging from Honduras to Paraguay on the East side of the Andes. The three genera now generally admitted are: Myrmecophaga (1 sp.), the great ant-eater, Northern Brazil to Paraguay; Tamandua (2 sp.), 4-toed ant-eaters, Guatemala, Ecuador to Paraguay (Plate XIV. vol. ii. p. 24); Cyclothurus (2 sp.), 2-toed ant-eaters, Honduras and Costa Rica to Brazil.

Extinct Ant-eaters.--The only extinct form of this family seems to be the Glossotherium, found in the caves of Brazil, and the Tertiary deposits of Uruguay. It is said to be allied to Myrmecophaga and Manis.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Edentata.

These singular animals are almost confined to South America, where they constitute an important part of the fauna. In Africa, two family types are scantily represented, and one of these extends over all the Oriental region. In Pliocene and Post-Pliocene times the Edentata were wonderfully developed in South America, many of them being huge animals, rivalling in bulk, the rhinoceros and hippopotamus. As none of these forms resemble those of Africa, while the only European fossil Edentata are of African type, it seems probable that South Africa, like South America, was a centre of development for this group of mammalia; and it is in the highest degree probable that, should extensive fluviatile deposits of Pliocene or Miocene age be discovered in the former country, an extinct fauna, not less strange and grotesque than that of South America, will be brought to {248}light. From the fact that so few remains of this order occur in Europe, and those of one family type, and in Miocene deposits only, it seems a fair conclusion, that this represents an incursion of an ancient Ethiopian form into Europe analogous to that which invaded North America from the south during the Post-Pliocene epoch. The extension of the Manididæ, or scaly ant-eaters, over tropical Asia may have occurred at the same, or a somewhat later epoch.

For a summary of the Numerous Edentata of North and South America which belong to extinct families, see vol. i. p. 147.

Order XII.--MARSUPIALIA.

FAMILY 76.--DIDELPHYIDÆ. (3 Genera, 22 Species.)

The Didelphyidæ, or true opossums, range throughout all the wooded districts of the Neotropical region from the southern boundary of Texas to the River La Plata, and on the west coast to 42° S. Lat., where a species of Didelphys was obtained by Professor Cunningham. One species only is found in the Nearctic region, extending from Florida to the Hudson River, and west to the Missouri. The species named Didelphys californica inhabits Mexico, and only extends into the southern extremity of California. The species are most numerous in the great forest region of Brazil, and they have been recently found to the west of the Andes near Guayaquil, as well as in Chili. The exact number of species is very doubtful, owing to the difficulty of determining them from dried skins. All but two belong to the genus Didelphys, which has the range above given for the family (Plate XIV., vol. ii. p. 24); Chironectes (1 sp.), the yapock or water opossum, inhabits Guiana and Brazil; Hyracodon (1 sp.), is a small {249}rat-like animal discovered by Mr. Fraser in Ecuador, and which may perhaps belong to another family.

Extinct Didelphyidæ.--No less than seven species of Didelphys have been found in the caves of Brazil, but none in the older formations. In North America the living species only, has been found in Post-Pliocene deposits. In Europe, however, many species of small opossums, now classed as a distinct genus, Peratherium, have been found in various Tertiary deposits from the Upper Miocene to the Upper Eocene.

We have here a sufficient proof that the American Marsupials have nothing to do with those of Australia, but were derived from Europe, where their ancestors lived during a long series of ages.

FAMILY 77.--DASYURIDÆ. (10 Genera, 30 Species.)

The Dasyuridæ, or native cats, are a group of carnivorous or insectivorous marsupials, ranging from the size of a wolf to that of a mouse. They are found all over Australia and Tasmania, as well as in New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan islands. Several new genera and species have recently been described by Mr. G. Krefft, of the Sydney Museum, and are included in the following enumeration. Phasgogale (3 sp.), New Guinea, West, East, and South Australia; Antechinomys (1 sp.), Interior of South Australia; Antechinus (12 sp.), Aru Islands, all Australia, and Tasmania; Chætocercus (1 sp.), South Australia; Dactylopsila (1 sp.), Aru Islands and North Australia; Podabrus (5 sp.), West, East, and South Australia, and Tasmania; Myoictis (1 sp.), Aru Islands; Sarcophilus (1 sp.), Tasmania; Dasyurus (4 sp.), North, East, and South, Australia, and Tasmania; Thylacinus (1 sp.), Tasmania (Plate XI., vol. i. p. 439).

Extinct species of Dasyurus and Thylacinus have been found in the Post-Pliocene deposits of Australia.

{250}FAMILY 78.--MYRMECOBIIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The only representative of this family is the Myrmecobius fasciatus, or native ant-eater, a small bushy-tailed squirrel-like animal, found in the South and West of Australia.

FAMILY 79.--PERAMELIDÆ. (3 Genera, 10 Species.)

The Peramelidæ, or bandicoots, are small insectivorous Marsupials, having something of the form of the kangaroos. They range over the whole of Australia and Tasmania, as well as the Papuan Islands. The genus Perameles (8 sp.), has the range of the family, one species being found in New Guinea and the Aru Islands (Plate XI., vol. i. p. 440); Peragalea (1 sp.), inhabits West Australia only; and Choeropus (1 sp.), a beautiful little animal with something of the appearance of a mouse-deer, is found in both South, East, and West Australia.

FAMILY 80.--MACROPODIDÆ. (10 Genera, 56 Species.)

{251}The well-known Kangaroos are the most largely developed family of Marsupials, and they appear to be the form best adapted for the present conditions of life in Australia, over every part of which they range. One genus of true terrestrial kangaroos (Dorcopsis), inhabits the Papuan Islands, as do also the curious tree kangaroos (Dendrolagus) which, without much apparent modification of form, are able to climb trees and feed upon the foliage. The genera, as established by Mr. Waterhouse, are as follows: Macropus (4 sp.), West, South, and East Australia, and Tasmania (Plate XII., vol. i. p. 441); Osphranter (5 sp.), all Australia; Halmaturus (18 sp.), all Australia and Tasmania; Petrogale (7 sp.), all Australia; Dendrolagus (2 sp.), New Guinea (Plate X., vol. i. p. 414); Dorcopsis (2 sp.) Aru and Mysol Islands, and New Guinea; Onychogalea (3 sp.), Central Australia; Lagorchestes (5 sp.), North, West, and South Australia; Bettongia (6 sp.), West, South, and East, Australia, and Tasmania; Hypsiprymnus (4 sp.), West and East Australia, and Tasmania.

Extinct Macropodidæ.--Many species of the genera Macropus and Hypsiprymnus have been found in the cave-deposits and other Post-Tertiary strata of Australia. Among the extinct genera are Protemnodon and Sthenurus, which are more allied to the tree-kangaroos of New Guinea than to living Australian species; the gigantic Diprotodon, a kangaroo nearly as large as an elephant; and Nototherium, of smaller size.

FAMILY 81.--PHALANGISTIDÆ. (8 Genera, 27 Species.)

The Phalangistidæ, or phalangers, are one of the most varied and interesting groups of Marsupials, being modified in a variety of ways for an arboreal life. We have the clumsy-looking tail-less koala, or native sloth; the prehensile-tailed opossum-like phalangers; the beautiful flying oppossums, so closely resembling {252}in form the flying squirrels of North America and India, but often no larger than a mouse; the beautiful dormouse-like Dromiciæ, one species of which is only 2¼ inches long or less than the harvest-mouse; and the little Tarsipes, a true honey-sucker with an extensile tongue, and of the size of a mouse. These extreme modifications and specializations within the range of a single family, are sufficient to indicate the great antiquity of the Australian fauna; and they render it almost certain that the region it occupied was once much more extensive, so as to supply the variety of conditions and the struggle between competing forms of life, which would be required to develop so many curiously modified forms, of which we now probably see only a remnant.

The Phalangistidæ not only range over all Australia and Tasmania, but over the whole of the Austro-Malayan sub-region from New Guinea to the Moluccas and Celebes. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--Phascolarctos (1 sp.), the koala, East Australia; Phalangista (5 sp.), East, South, and West Australia, and Tasmania; Cuscus (8 sp.), woolly phalangers, New Guinea, North Australia, Timor, Moluccas and Celebes; Petaurista (1 sp.) large flying phalanger, East Australia; Belideus (5 sp.), flying opossums, South, East, and North Australia, New Guiana and Moluccas; Acrobata (1 sp.), pigmy flying opossum, South and East Australia; Dromicia (5 sp.), dormouse-phalangers, West and East Australia, and Tasmania; Tarsipes (1 sp.), West Australia.

Thylacoleo, a large extinct marsupial of doubtful affinities, seems to be somewhat intermediate between this family and the kangaroos. Professor Owen considered it to be carnivorous, and able to prey upon the huge Diprotodon, while Professor Flower and Mr. Gerard Krefft, believe that it was herbivorous.

FAMILY 82.--PHASCOLOMYIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

{253}The Wombats are tail-less, terrestrial, burrowing animals, about the size of a badger, but feeding on roots and grass. They inhabit South Australia and Tasmania (Plate XI. vol. i. p. 439).

An extinct wombat, as large as a tapir, has been found in the Australian Pliocene deposits.

General Remarks on the Distribution of Marsupialia.

We have here the most remarkable case, of an extensive and highly varied order being confined to one very limited area on the earth's surface, the only exception being the opossums in America. It has been already shown that these are comparatively recent immigrants, which have survived in that country long after they disappeared in Europe. As, however, no other form but that of the Didelphyidæ occurs there during the Tertiary period, we must suppose that it was at a far more remote epoch that the ancestral forms of all the other Marsupials entered Australia; and the curious little mammals of the Oolite and Trias, offer valuable indications as to the time when this really took place.

A notice of these extinct marsupials of the secondary period will be found at vol. i. p. 159.

Order XIII.--MONOTREMATA.

FAMILY 83.--ORNITHORHYNCHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Ornithorhynchus, or duck-billed Platypus, one of the most remarkable and isolated of existing mammalia, is found in East and South Australia, and Tasmania.

{254}FAMILY 84.--ECHIDNIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Echidna, or Australian Hedgehog, although quite as remarkable in internal structure as the Ornithorhynchus, is not so peculiar in external appearance, having very much the aspect of a hedgehog or spiny armadillo. The two species of this genus are very closely allied; one inhabits East and South Australia, the other Tasmania.

Extinct Echidnidæ.--Remains of a very large fossil species of Echidna have lately (1868) been discovered at Darling Downs in Australia.

Remark on the Distribution of the Monotremata.

This order is the lowest and most anomalous of the mammalia, and nothing resembling it has been found among the very numerous extinct animals discovered in any other part of the world than Australia.

{255}CHAPTER XVIII.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF BIRDS.

Order I.--PASSERES.

FAMILY 1.--TURDIDÆ. (21 Genera, 205 Species.)

The extensive and familiar group of Thrushes ranges over every region and sub-region, except New Zealand. It abounds most in the North Temperate regions, and has its least development in the Australian region. Thrushes are among the most perfectly organized of birds, and it is to this cause, perhaps, as well as to their omnivorous diet, that they have been enabled to establish themselves on a number of remote islands. Peculiar species of true thrush are found in Norfolk Island, and in the small Lord Howes' Island nearer Australia; the Island of St. Thomas in the Gulf of Guinea has a peculiar species; while the Mid-Atlantic island Tristan d'Acunha,--one of the most remote and isolated spots on the globe,--has a peculiarly modified form of thrush. Several of the smaller West Indian Islands have also peculiar species or genera of thrushes.

The family is of somewhat uncertain extent, blending insensibly with the warblers (Sylviidæ) as well as with the Indian bulbuls {256}(Pycnonotidæ), while one genus, usually placed in it (Myiophonus) seems to agree better with Enicurus among the Cinclidæ. The genera here admitted into the thrush family are the following, the numbers prefixed to some of the genera indicating their position in Gray's Hand List of the Genera and Species of Birds:--

(1143) Brachypteryx (8 sp.), Nepaul to Java and Ceylon (this may belong to the Timaliidæ); Turdus (100 sp.) has the range of the whole family, abounding in the Palæarctic, Oriental and Neotropical regions, while it is less plentiful in the Nearctic and Ethiopian, and very scarce in the Australian; (934) Oreocincla (11 sp.), Palæarctic and Oriental regions, Australia and Tasmania; (942) Rhodinocichla (1 sp.), Venezuela; (946) Melanoptila (1 sp.), Honduras; (947 948) Catharus (10 sp.) Mexico to Equador; (949 950) Margarops (4 sp.), Hayti and Porto Rico to St. Lucia; (951) Nesocichla (1 sp.), Tristan d'Acunha; (952) Geocichla (8 sp.), India to Formosa and Celebes, Timor and North Australia; (954 955) Monticola (8 sp.), Central Europe to South Africa and to China, Philippine Islands, Gilolo and Java; (956) Orocætes (3 sp.), Himalayas and N. China; Zoothera (3 sp.) Himalayas, Aracan, Java, and Lombok; Mimus (20 sp.) Canada to Patagonia, West Indies and Galapagos; (962) Oreoscoptes (1 sp.), Rocky Mountains and Mexico; (963) Melanotis (2 sp.), South Mexico and Guatemala; (964) Galeoscoptes (1 sp.), Canada and Eastern United States to Cuba and Panama; (965 966) Mimocichla (5 sp.), Greater Antilles; (967 968) Harporhynchus (7 sp.), North America, from the great lakes to Mexico; Cinclocerthia (3 sp.), Lesser Antilles; (970) Rhamphocinclus (1 sp.), Lesser Antilles; Chætops (3 sp.), South Africa; Cossypha = Bessonornis (15 sp.) Ethiopian region and Palestine.

FAMILY 2.--SYLVIIDÆ. (74 Genera, 640 Species.)

{257}This immense family, comprising all the birds usually known as "warblers," is, as here constituted, of almost universal distribution. Yet it is so numerous and preponderant over the whole Eastern Hemisphere, that it may be well termed an Old-World group; only two undoubted genera with very few species belonging to the Nearctic region, while two or three others whose position is somewhat doubtful, are found in California and the Neotropical region.

Canon Tristram, who has paid great attention to this difficult group, has kindly communicated to me a MSS. arrangement of the genera and species, which, with a very few additions and alterations, I implicitly follow. He divides the Sylviidæ into seven sub-families, as follows:

1. Drymoecinæ (15 genera, 194 sp.), confined to the Old World and Australia, and especially abundant in the three Tropical regions. 2. Calamoherpinæ (11 genera, 75 sp.), has the same general distribution as the last, but is scarce in the Australian and abundant in the Palæarctic region; 3. Phylloscopinæ (11 genera, 139 sp.), has the same distribution as the entire family, but is most abundant in the Oriental and Palæarctic regions. 4. Sylviinæ (6 genera, 33 sp.), most abundant in the Palæarctic region, very scarce in the Australian and Oriental regions, absent from America. 5. Ruticillinæ (10 genera, 50 sp.); entirely absent from America and Australia; abounds in the Oriental and Palæarctic regions. 6. Saxicolinæ (12 genera, 126 sp.), absent from America (except the extreme north-west), abundant in the Oriental region and moderately so in the Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Australian. 7. Accentorinæ (6 genera, 21 sp.), absent from the Ethiopian region and South America, most abundant in Australia, one small genus (Sialia), in North America.

The distribution of the several genera arranged under these sub-families, is as follows:

1. DRYMOECINÆ.--(736) Orthotomus (13 sp.), all the Oriental region; (737) Prinia (11 sp.), all the Oriental region; (738 740 742 746) Drymoeca (83 sp.), Ethiopian and Oriental regions, most abundant in the former; (743 to 745 and 749 to 752) Cisticola (32 sp.), Ethiopian and Oriental regions, with South Europe, China {258}and Australia; (741) Suya (5 sp.), Nepal to South China and Formosa; (773) Sphenæacus (7 sp.), Australia, New Zealand, and Chatham Island, with one species (?) in South Africa; (770 772) Megalurus (4 sp.), Central India to Java and Timor; (774 775) Poodytes (2 sp.), Australia; (766) Amytis (3 sp.), Australia; (768) Sphenura (4 sp.), Australia; (764) Malurus (16 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; (762 763) Chthonicola (3 sp.), Australia; (761) Calamanthus (2 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; (759) Camaroptera (5 sp.), Africa and Fernando Po; (753) Apalis (1 sp.), South Africa.

2. CALAMOHERPINÆ.--(777 to 781 and sp. 2968) Acrocephalus (35 sp.), Palæarctic, Ethiopian, continental part of Oriental region, Moluccas, Caroline Islands, and Australia; (782 818) Dumeticola (4 sp.), Nepal to East Thibet, Central Asia, high regions; (783 790) Potamodus (3 sp.), Central and South Europe, and East Thibet; (789 and sp. 2969) Lusciniola (1 sp.), South Europe; (791 792) Locustella (8 sp.), Palæarctic region to Central India and China; (739) Horites (5 sp.), Nepal to North-west China and Formosa; (784-786) Bradyptetus = Cettia (10 sp.), South Europe, Palestine, and South Africa; (747 748) Catriscus (3 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Bernieria (2 sp.), and (756) Ellisia (3 sp.), Madagascar; (832 a) Mystacornis (1 sp.), Madagascar; (787) Calamodus (2 sp.), Europe and Palestine; (734) Tatare (2 sp.) Samoa to Marquesas Islands.

3. PHYLLOSCOPINÆ.[5]--Phylloscopus (18 sp.), all Palæarctic and Oriental regions to Batchian; (757 758 820) Eremomela (16 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (754) Eroessa (1 sp.), Madagascar; [5]Hypolais (12 sp.), Palæarctic region, all India, Timor, North and South Africa; (815 816 819) Abrornis (26 sp.), Oriental region; (814) Reguloides (4 sp.), Palæarctic and continental Oriental regions; (822) Sericornis (7 sp.), Australia and Tasmania (823 824 1451) Acanthiza (14 sp.), Australia and New Caledonia; (821) Regulus (7 sp.), all Palæarctic and Nearctic regions and south to Guatemala; (890) Polioptila (13 sp,); Paraguay to New Mexico; (825) Gerygone (22 sp.), Australia, Papuan and Timor groups, New Zealand and Norfolk Island.

{259}4. SYLVIINÆ.--(793) Aedon (9 sp.), Spain and Palestine, to East and South Africa; (858) Drymodes (2 sp.), Australia; (800) Pyrophthalma (2 sp.), South Europe and Palestine; (801) Melizophilus (3 sp.), South-west Europe and North-east Africa; (802 804) Sylvia = Alsecus (8 sp.), Palæarctic region to India and Ceylon, and North-east Africa; (806 809) Curruca (7 sp.), Central and South Europe, Madeira, Palestine, Central India, North-east Africa, and South Africa.

5. RUTICILLINÆ.--(827) Luscinia (2 sp.), West Asia, Europe, North Africa; (839) Cyanecula (3 sp.), Europe, North-east Africa, India, Ceylon, and China; (840) Calliope (2 sp.), North Asia, Himalayas, Central India, and China; (838) Erithacus (3 sp.), Europe, North-east Africa, Japan, and North China; (828 830 837) Ruticilla (20 sp.), Palæarctic and Oriental regions to Senegal and Abyssinia, and east to Timor; abounds in Himalayas; (829) Chæmarrhornis (1 sp.), Himalayas; (831 832 834) Larvivora (10 sp.), Oriental region and Japan; (833) Notodela (3 sp.), Himalayas, Pegu, Formosa, Java; (835) Tarsiger (2 sp.), Nepal; (841) Grandala (1 sp.), High Himalayas of Nepal.

6. SAXICOLINÆ.--(975) Copsychus (7 sp.), all Oriental region and Madagascar; (976) Kittacincla (5 sp.), Oriental region to {260}Ceylon, Andaman Islands, Formosa, and Borneo; (794-799) Thamnobia (10 sp.), Ethiopian region and India to foot of Himalayas; (977) Gervasia (2 sp.), Madagascar and Seychelle Islands; (845 847) Dromolæa (18 sp.), Africa to South Europe, Palestine, North-west India, and North China; (842 843 846) Saxicola (36 sp.), Africa, North-west India, whole Palæarctic region, migrating to Alaska and Greenland; (848 849) Oreicola (5 sp.), Timor, Lombok, and Burmah; (844) Cercomela (6 sp.), North-east Africa to North-west India; (850) Pratincola (15 sp.), Europe, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions to Celebes and Timor; (917) Ephthianura (3 sp.), Australia; (851-856) Petroeca (17 sp.), Australian region, Papua to New Zealand, Chatham and Auckland Islands, and Samoa; (857) Miro (2 sp.), New Zealand (doubtfully placed here).

7. ACCENTORINÆ.--(771) Cinclorhamphus (2 sp.), Australia; (860) Origma (1 sp.), East Australia; (859) Sialia (8 sp.), United States to Guatemala; (861) Accentor (12 sp.), Palæarctic region to Himalayas and North-west China; (703) Orthonyx (4 sp.), East Australia and New Zealand (doubtfully placed here).

The following two genera, which have been usually classed as Ampelidæ, are arranged by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin in the Sylviidæ:--

(1362) Myiadestes (8 sp.), Peru and Bolivia, along the Andes to Mexico and California, also the Antilles; (1364) Cichlopsis (1 sp.), Brazil.

FAMILY 3.--TIMALIIDÆ. (35 Genera, 240 Species.)

The Timaliidæ, or babbling thrushes, are a group of small strong-legged active birds, mostly of dull colours, which are especially characteristic of the Oriental region, in every part of which they abound, while they are much less plentiful in {261}Australia and Africa. The Indo-Chinese sub-region is the head quarters of the family, whence it diminishes rapidly in all directions in variety of both generic and specific forms. Viscount Walden has kindly assisted me in the determination of the limits of this family, as to which there is still much difference of opinion. The distribution of the genera here admitted is as follows; and as the genera are widely scattered in the Hand List, reference numbers are prefixed in every case.

(1023-1026 1008) Pomatorhinus (27 sp.), the whole Oriental region (excluding Philippines), Australia and New Guinea; (1027) Pterohinus (3 sp.), North China, East Thibet; (1029 1030) Malacocircus (9 sp.), Continental India and Ceylon, Arabia, Nubia; (1031) Chatarrhæa (5 sp.), Abyssinia, Palestine, India, Nepal, Burmah, and Philippines; (1032) Layardia (3 sp.), India and Ceylon; (1033) Acanthoptila (1 sp.), Nepal; (1034) Cinclosoma (4 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; (1035 1036) Crateropus (18 sp.), all Africa, Persia; (1037) Hypergerus (1 sp.), West Africa; (1038) Cichladusa (3 sp.), Tropical Africa; (1039) Garrulax (23 sp.), the Oriental region (excluding Philippines); (1040) Janthocincla (10 sp.), Nepal, to East Thibet, Sumatra, Formosa; (1041 1042) Gampsorhynchus (2 sp.), Himalayas; (1049) Grammatoptila (1 sp.), North India; (1043-1045) Trochalopteron (24 sp.), all India to China and Formosa; (1046) Actinodura (4 sp.), Nepal to Burmah, 3,000-10,000 feet; (1047) Pellorneum (4 sp.), Nepal to Ceylon, Tenasserim; (1158 1159) Timalia (12 sp.), Malaya;[6] (1160) Dumetia (2 sp.), Central India and Ceylon; (1162) Stachyris (6 sp.), Nepal to Assam, Sumatra, Formosa; (1164) Pyctorhis (3 sp.), India to Ceylon and Burmah; (1165) Mixornis (8 sp.), Himalayas and Malaya; (1167) Malacopteron (3 sp.), Malaya; (1168 1169) Alcippe (15 sp.), Ceylon and South India, Himalayas to Aracan, Malaya, Formosa, New Guinea; (1170) Macronus (2 sp.), Malaya; (1171) Cacopitta (5 sp.), Malaya; (1172) Trichastoma (11 sp.), Nepal, Burmah, Malaya, Celebes; (1173) Napothera (6 sp.), Malaya; (1174) Drymocataphus (8 sp.), Burmah, Malaya, Ceylon, {262}Timor; (1175) Turdinus (5 sp.), Khasia Hills, Malacca, Tenasserim; (1176) Trichixos (1 sp.), Borneo, Malacca; (1004) Sibia (6 sp.), Nepal to Assam, Tenasserim, Formosa; (1177 1178) Alethe (4 sp.), West Africa; (1178 a) Oxylabes (1 sp.), Madagascar; (1050) Psophodes (2 sp.), South, East, and West Australia; (1048) Turnagra (3 sp.), New Zealand.

FAMILY 4.--PANURIDÆ. (4 Genera, 13 Species).

This new family is adopted, at the suggestion of Professor Newton, to include some peculiar groups of Himalayan birds whose position has usually been among the Timaliidæ or the Paridæ, but which are now found to be allied to our Bearded Reedling. The supposed affinity of this bird for the Tits has been long known to be erroneous, and the family Panuridæ was formed for its reception (Yarrell's British Birds, 4th edit. p. 512). The genera having hitherto been widely scattered in systematic works, are referred to by the numbers of Mr. G. E. Gray's Hand List.

(1901) Paradoxornis (3 sp.), Himalayas and East Thibet; (1904) Conostoma (1 sp.), Himalayas and East Thibet; (876) Suthora (8 sp.), Himalayas to North-west China, Formosa; (877) Chlenasicus (1 sp.), Darjeeling; (887) Panurus (1 sp.), Central and Southern Europe; (1902) Heteromorpha (1 sp.), Nepal, 10,000 feet altitude; Cholornis (1 sp.), Moupin in East Thibet.

FAMILY 5.--CINCLIDÆ. (4 Genera, 27 Species.)

{263}The Cinclidæ consist of a number of more or less thrush-like ground-birds, of which the most remarkable are the Dippers, forming the genus Cinclus. These are curiously distributed, from the Palæarctic region as a centre, to the alpine districts of North and South America; while the three genera which are here included as somewhat allied to Cinclus, all inhabit the Oriental region. The genera which I class in this family are the following:--

(978) Cinclus (9 sp.), Palæarctic region to West China and Formosa, Rocky Mountains, and Mexico in North America, and southward to the Andes of Peru; (916) Enicurus (9 sp.), Himalayas to Java and West China; (979) Eupetes (4 sp.), Indo-Malay sub-region and New Guinea; (971) Myiophonus (5 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon, Java, South China, and Formosa.

(981) Mesites (1 sp.), Madagascar, is an anomalous bird placed with Eupetes by Mr. G. R. Gray, but of very uncertain affinities.

FAMILY 6.--TROGLODYTIDÆ. (17 Genera, 94 Species.)

The Troglodytidæ, or Wrens, are small birds, rather abundant and varied in the Neotropical region, with a few species scattered through the Nearctic, Palæarctic, and parts of the Oriental regions, and one doubtful genus in Africa. The constitution of the family is by no means well determined. The South American genera are taken from Messrs. Sclater and Salvin's Nomenclator Avium Neotropicalium.

Tesia (2 sp.), Eastern Himalayas; Pnoepyga (6 sp.), Himalayas to East Thibet, Java; (716 and 723) Troglodytes (15 sp.), Neotropical, Nearctic, and Palæarctic regions to the Higher Himalayas; (697) Rimator (1 sp.), Darjeeling; Thryothorus (13 sp.), South Brazil to Mexico, Martinique, and Nearctic region; Thryophilus (13 sp.), Brazil to Mexico, and North-west America; Cistothorus {264}(5 sp.), Patagonia to Greenland; Uropsila (1 sp.), Mexico; Donacobius (2 sp.), Tropical America; Campylorhynchus (18 sp.), Brazil, and Bolivia to Mexico and the Gila valley; Cyphorhinus (5 sp.), Equatorial South America to Costa Rica; Microcerculus (5 sp.), Brazil and Peru to Mexico; Henicorhina (2 sp.), Peru and Guiana to Costa Rica; Salpinctes (1 sp.), High Plains of Rocky Mountains; Catherpes (1 sp.), Mexico and Rio Grande; Cinnicerthia (2 sp.), Ecuador and Columbia. (760) Sylvietta (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa,--is placed in this family by Mr. Tristram.

FAMILY 7.--CHAMÆIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species).

The bird which forms the genus Chamæa inhabits California; and though allied to the wrens it has certain peculiarities of structure which, in the opinion of many ornithologists, require that it should be placed in a distinct family.

FAMILY 8.--CERTHIIDÆ. (6 Genera, 18 Species.)

The Certhiidæ, or Creepers, form a small family whose species are thinly scattered over North America from Mexico, the Palæarctic region, parts of the Oriental region, and Australia, where they are somewhat more abundant. The distribution of the genera is as follows:

Certhia (6 sp.), Nearctic and Palæarctic regions, Nepal, and Sikhim; Salpornis (1 sp.), Central India; Tichodroma, (1 sp.), South {265}Europe to Abyssinia, Nepal, and North China; Rhabdornis (1 sp.), Philippine Islands; Climacteris (8 sp.), Australia and New Guinea.

FAMILY 9.--SITTIDÆ. (6 Genera, 31 Species.)

The Sittidæ, or Nuthatches, are another small family of tree-creeping birds, whose distribution is very similar to that of the Certhiidæ, but with a more uniform range over the Oriental region, and extending to New Zealand and Madagascar. The genera are as follows:--

Sitta (17 sp.), Palæarctic and Nearctic regions to South India and Mexico; Dendrophila (2 sp.), Ceylon and India to Burmah and Malaya; Hypherpes (1 sp.), Madagascar; Sittella (6 sp.), Australia and New Guinea. Acanthisitta (1 sp.) and Xenicus (4 sp.), New Zealand, are placed with some doubt in this family.

FAMILY 10.--PARIDÆ. (14 Genera, 92 Species.)

The Paridæ, or Tits, are very abundant in the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions; many fine species are found in the Himalayas, but they are sparingly scattered through the Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions. The genera usually admitted into this family are the following, but the position of some of them, especially of the Australian forms, is doubtful.

(864-867 870) Parus (46 sp.), North America, from Mexico, Palæarctic, and Oriental regions, Tropical and South Africa; {266}(868 869) Lophophanes (10 sp.), Europe, the Higher Himalayas to Sikhim, North America to Mexico; Acredula = Orites (6 sp.), Palæarctic region; Melanochlora (2 sp.), Nepal to Sumatra; Psaltria (1 sp.), Java; Psaltriparus (3 sp.), Guatemala to California, and Rocky Mountains; Auriparus (1 sp.), Rio Grande; (881 882) Parisoma (5 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (883 884) Ægithalus (6 sp.), South-east Europe to South Africa; (885 889) Ægithaliscus (6 sp.), Afghanistan and Himalayas to Amoy; Cephalopyrus (1 sp.), North-west Himalayas; Sylviparus (1 sp.), Himalayas and Central India; Certhiparus (2 sp.), New Zealand; (879 880) Sphenostoma (2 sp.), East and South Australia.

FAMILY 11.--LIOTRICHIDÆ. (11 Genera, 35 Species.)

The Liotrichidæ, or Hill-Tits, are small, active, delicately-coloured birds, almost confined to the Himalayas and their extension eastward to China. They are now generally admitted to form a distinct family. The genera are distributed as follows:

(1146) Liothrix (3 sp.), Himalayas to China; Siva (3 sp.), Himalayas; Minla (4 sp.), Himalayas and East Thibet; Proparus (7 sp.), Nepal to East Thibet and Aracan; (1153) Pteruthius (6 sp.), Himalayas to Java and West China; (1155) Cutia (2 sp.), Nepal; (1019) Yuhina (3 sp.), High Himalayas and Moupin; (1020) Ixulus (3 sp.), Himalayas to Tenasserim; (1021) Myzornis (1 sp.), Darjeeling.

FAMILY 12.--PHYLLORNITHIDÆ. (3 Genera, 14 Species.)

{267}The Phyllornithidæ, or "Green Bulbuls," are a small group of fruit-eating birds, strictly confined to the Oriental region, and ranging over the whole of it, with the one exception of the Philippine Islands. The genera are:--

(1022) Phyllornis (12 sp.), India to Java, Ceylon, and Hainan; (1166) Iora (4 sp.), the whole Oriental region; (1163) Erpornis (2 sp.), Borneo, Himalayas, Hainan, and Formosa.

FAMILY 13.--PYCNONOTIDÆ. (9 Genera, 139 Species.)

The Pycnonotidæ, Bulbuls, or fruit-thrushes, are highly characteristic of the Oriental region, in every part of which they abound; less plentiful in the Ethiopian region, and extending to Palestine and Japan in the Palæarctic, and to the Moluccas in the Australian region, but absent from the intervening island of Celebes. The genera are:--

MICROSCELIS (6 sp.), Burmah, the Indo-Malay Islands, and Japan; Pycnonotus (52 sp., in many sub-genera), Palestine to South Africa, the whole Oriental region, China and Japan; Alcurus (1 sp.), Himalayas; Hemixus (2 sp.), Nepal, Bootan, Hainan; Phyllastrephus (4 sp.), West and South Africa; Hypsipetes (20 sp.), the whole Oriental region, Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands; Tylas (1 sp.), Madagascar; Criniger (30 sp.), the whole Oriental region (excluding Philippines), West and South Africa, Moluccas; Ixonotus (7 sp.), West Africa; (1015 1017) Setornis (3 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo; Iole (4 sp.), Aracan and Malaya; Andropadus (9 sp.), Tropical Africa; (1157) Lioptilus (1 sp.), South Africa.

{268}FAMILY 14.--ORIOLIDÆ. (5 Genera, 40 Species.)

The Orioles, or Golden Thrushes, are a small group characteristic of the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, migrating into the western Palæarctic region, and with some of the less typical forms in Australia. The genera are:--

Oriolus (24 sp.), Central Europe, throughout Africa, and the whole Oriental region, northward to Pekin, and eastward to Flores; (1073) Analcipus (3 sp.), Himalayas, Formosa, Java and Borneo; Mimeta (9 sp.), the Moluccas and Australia; Sphecotheres (3 sp.), Timor and Australia. Artamia (1 sp.), Madagascar,--perhaps belongs to the next family or to Laniidæ.

FAMILY 15.--CAMPEPHAGIDÆ (3 Genera, 100 Species.)

The Campephagidæ, or Cuckoo Shrikes, (Campephaginæ of the Hand List, with the addition of Cochoa) are most abundant in the Australian region (especially in the Austro-Malay sub-region), less so in the Oriental, and still less in the Ethiopian region. The genera, for the most part as adopted by Dr. Hartlaub, are as follows:--

Pericrocotus (22 sp.), the whole Oriental region, extending north to Pekin, and east to Lombok; (1242-1244) Lanicterus (4 sp.), West and South Africa; (1245 1246) Graucalus (25 sp.), the whole Oriental region, and eastward to Austro-Malaya, the New {269}Hebrides, and Tasmania; Artamides (1 sp.), Celebes; Pteropodocys (1 sp.), Australia; (1248 1250 1257 1258) Campephaga (16 sp.), Austro-Malaya, and New Caledonia, Philippines, the Ethiopian region; Volvocivora (8 sp.) the Oriental region (excluding Philippines); Lalage (18 sp.), the whole Malay Archipelago to New Caledonia and Australia; Symmorphus (1 sp.), Australia; Oxynotus (2 sp.), Mauritius and Bourbon; (1204) Cochoa (3 sp.), Himalayas, Java. The position of this last genus is doubtful. Jerdon puts it in the Liotrichidæ; Sundeval in the Sturnidæ; Bonaparte in the Dicruridæ; Professor Newton suggests the Pycnonotidæ; but it seems on the whole best placed here.

FAMILY 16.--DICRURIDÆ. (6 Genera, 58 Species.)

The Dicruridæ, or Drongo Shrikes (Dicruridæ of the Hand List, omitting the genus Melænornis), have nearly the same distribution as the last family, with which they are sometimes united. They are, however, most abundant and varied in the Oriental region, much less so both in the Australian and Ethiopian regions. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Dicrurus (46 sp., in several sub-genera), has the range of the whole family, extending east to New Ireland, and one species in Australia; Chætorhynchus (1 sp.), New Guinea; Bhringa (2 sp.), Himalayas to Borneo (Plate IX. vol. i. p. 339); Chibia (2 sp.), Himalayas eastward to North China; Chaptia (3 sp.), all India to Malacca and Formosa; Irena (4 sp.), Central India, Assam, and Burmah to Borneo and the Philippine Islands. This last genus is placed by Jerdon among the Pycnonotidæ, but seems to come most naturally here or in the last family.

{270}FAMILY 17.--MUSCICAPIDÆ. (44 Genera, 283 Species.)

The Muscicapidæ, or Flycatchers (Muscicapinæ and Myiagrinæ of the Hand List, omitting Cochoa and including Pogonocichla) form an extensive family of usually small-sized and often bright-coloured birds, very abundant in the warmer regions of the Old World and Australia, but becoming scarce as we approach the temperate and colder regions. They are wholly absent from North and South America. The genera, many of which are not well defined, are distributed as follows:--

Peltops (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; Monarcha (28 sp.), Moluccas to the Carolines and Marquesas Islands, Australia and Tasmania; Leucophantes (1 sp.), New Guinea; Butalis (4 sp.), Ethiopian and Palæarctic regions, Moluccas and Formosa; Muscicapa (12 sp.), Europe and Africa; Muscicapula (6 sp.), India to Western China; Alseonax (1 sp.), South Africa; Erythrosterna (7 sp.), Europe to China and Java; Newtonia (1 sp.), Madagascar; Xanthopygia (2 sp.), Japan, China, Malacca; Hemipus (1 sp.), India and Ceylon; Pycnophrys (1 sp.), Java; Hyliota (2 sp.), West Africa; Erythrocercus (2 sp.), West Africa and Zambesi; Micræca (6 sp.), Australia, Timor, and Papuan Islands; Artomyias (2 sp.), West Africa; Pseudobias (1 sp.), Madagascar; Hemichelidon (3 sp.), the Oriental region and North China; Smithornis (2 sp.), West and South Africa; Megabias (1 sp.), West Africa; Cassinia (2 sp.), West Africa; Bias, (1 sp.), Tropical Africa; Niltava (3 sp.), Himalayas to West China; Cyornis (16 sp.), the whole Oriental region; Cyanoptila (1 sp.), Japan, China, Hainan; Eumyias (7 sp.), India to South China, Ceylon, and Sumatra; (1213 and 1216) Siphia (8 sp.), North India, Formosa, Timor; Anthipes (1 sp.), Nepal; Seisura (5 sp.), Australia and {271}Austro-Malaya (excluding Celebes); Myiagra (16 sp.), Australia and Moluccas to Caroline and Samoa Islands; Hypothymis (2 sp.), Oriental region and Celebes; Elminia (2 sp.), Tropical Africa; Muscitodus (2 sp.), Fiji Islands; Machærirhynchus (4 sp.), Papuan Islands and North Australia; Platystira (12 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Rhipidura (45 sp.), the Oriental and Australian regions to the Samoa Islands and Tasmania; Chelidorynx (1 sp.), North India; Myialestes (2 sp.), India to Ceylon, China, Java and Celebes; Tchitrea (26 sp.), the entire Ethiopian and Oriental regions, and to North China and Japan; Philentoma (4 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo, and Philippine Islands; Todopsis (6 sp.), Papuan Islands; (836) Pogonocichla (1 sp.), South Africa; (1061-1063) Bradyornis (7 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1460) Chasiempis (2 sp.), Sandwich Islands.

FAMILY 18.--PACHYCEPHALIDÆ. (5 Genera, 62 Species.)

The Pachycephalidæ, or Thick-headed Shrikes (Pachycephalinæ of the Hand List omitting Colluricincla, Cracticus, and Pardalotus) are almost confined to the Australian region, a single species extending to Java and Aracan, and another (?) to Madagascar. The family has generally been united with the Laniidæ, but most modern ornithologists consider it to be distinct. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Oreoeca (1 sp.), Australia; Falcunculus (2 sp.), Australia; Pachycephala (44 sp.), Sula Islands (east of Celebes) to the Fiji Islands, and Australia; Hylocharis (4 sp.), Timor, Celebes, Indo-Malaya, and Aracan; Calicalicus (1 sp.), Madagascar; Eopsaltria (14 sp.), Australia, New Caledonia, and the New Hebrides; Artamia (4 sp.), Madagascar,--may belong to this family, or to Laniidæ, Oriolidæ, or Artamidæ, according to different authors.

{272}FAMILY 19.--LANIIDÆ. (19 Genera, 145 Species.)

The Laniidæ, or Shrikes (Laniinæ and Malaconotinæ of the Hand List, and including Colluricincla), are most abundant and varied in Africa, less plentiful in the Oriental, Australian, and Palæarctic regions, with a few species in the Nearctic region as far as Mexico. The constitution of the family is, however, somewhat uncertain. The genera here admitted are:--

Colluricincla (4 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Rectes (18 sp.), Papuan Islands, North Australia, to Pelew and Fiji Islands; (1462-1464 1466 1470 1471-1473) Lanius (50 sp.), the whole Nearctic, Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions, one species reaching Timor, none in Madagascar; Laniellus (1 sp.), Java; Hypocolius (1 sp.), Abyssinia and Upper Nile; Corvinella (1 sp.), South and West Africa; Urolestes (1 sp.), South and East Africa; Tephrodornis (4 sp.), Oriental region to Hainan and Java; Hypodes (1 sp.), West Africa; Fraseria (2 sp.), West Africa; Cuphopterus (1 sp.), Princes' Island; Nilaus (1 sp.), South and West Africa; Prionops (9 sp.), Tropical Africa; Eurocephalus (2 sp.), North, East, and South Africa, and Abyssinia; Chaunonotus (1 sp.), West Africa; Vanga (4 sp.), Madagascar (Plate VI. vol. i. p. 278); Laniarius (36 sp.), the whole Ethiopian region; Telephonus (10 sp.), all Africa and South Europe; Meristes (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Nicator (1 sp.), East Africa.

FAMILY 20.--CORVIDÆ. (24 Genera, 190 Species.)

{273}The Corvidæ, or Crows, Jays, &c., form an extensive and somewhat heterogeneous group, some members of which inhabit almost every part of the globe, although none of the genera are cosmopolitan. The true crows are found everywhere but in South America; the magpies, choughs, and nutcrackers are characteristic of the Palæarctic region; the jays are Palæarctic, Oriental, and American; while the piping crows are peculiarly Australian. The more detailed distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Sub-family I. Gymnorhininæ (Piping Crows).--Strepera (4 sp.), and Gymnorhina (3 sp.), are Australian only; Cracticus (9 sp.), ranges from New Guinea to Tasmania (this is usually put with the Shrikes, but it has more affinity with the preceding genera); Pityriasis (1 sp.), Borneo (an extraordinary bird of very doubtful affinities); Grallina (1 sp.), Australia, is put here by Sundevall,--among Motacillidæ, by Gould.

Sub-family II. Garrulinæ (Jays).--Platylophus = Lophocitta (4 sp.), Malaya; Garrulus (12 sp.), Palæarctic region, China and Himalayas; Perisoreus (2 sp.), North of Palæarctic and Nearctic regions; Cyanurus (22 sp.), American, from Bolivia to Canada, most abundant in Central America, but absent from the Antilles; Cyanocorax (15 sp.), La Plata to Mexico; Calocitta (2 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; Psilorhinus (3 sp.), Costa Rica to Texas; Urocissa (6 sp.), Western Himalayas to China and Formosa; Cissa (3 sp.), South-eastern Himalayas to Tenasserim, Ceylon, Sumatra, and Java.

Sub-family III. Dendrocittinæ (Tree Crows).--Temnurus (3 sp.), Cochin China, Malacca to Borneo (not Java); Dendrocitta (9 sp.), the Oriental region to Sumatra, Hainan, and Formosa; Crypsirhina (3 sp.), Pegu, Siam, and Java; Ptilostomus (2 sp.), West, East, and South Africa.

Sub-family IV. Corvinæ (Crows and Magpies).--Nucifraga (4 sp.), Palæarctic region to the Himalayas and North China; Picicorvus (1 sp.), the Rocky Mountains and California; Gymnokitta (1 sp.), Rocky Mountains and Arizona (Plate XVIII., Vol. II., p. 128); Pica (9 sp.), Palæarctic region, Arctic America, and California; Cyanopica (3 sp.), Spain, North-east Asia, Japan; {274}Streptocitta (2 sp.), Celebes; Charitornis (1 sp.), Sula Islands; Corvus (55 sp.), universally distributed except South America and New Zealand, but found in Guatemala and the Antilles to Porto Rico; reaches the extreme north of Europe and Asia; Gymnocorvus (2 sp.), Papuan Islands; Picathartes (1 sp.), West Africa; Corvultur (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa.

Sub-family V. Fregilinæ (Choughs).--Fregilus (3 sp.), mountains and cliffs of Palæarctic region from West Europe to the Himalayas and North China, Abyssinia (Plate I., Vol. I., p. 195); Corcorax (1 sp.), Australia.

FAMILY 21.--PARADISEIDÆ. (19 Genera, 34 Species.)

The Paradiseidæ, or "Birds of Paradise," form one of the most remarkable families of birds, unsurpassed alike for the singularity and the beauty of their plumage. Till recently the family was restricted to about eight species of the more typical Paradise birds, but in his splendid monograph of the group, Mr. Elliot has combined together a number of allied forms which had been doubtfully placed in several adjacent families. The various species of true Paradise birds, having ornamental plumes developed from different parts of the body, are almost wholly confined to New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands, one species only being found in the Moluccas and one in North Australia; while the less typical Bower-birds, having no such developments of plumage, are most characteristic of the north and east of Australia, with a few species in New Guinea. The distribution of the genera according to Mr. Elliot's monograph is as follows:--

Sub-family I. Paradiseinæ.--Paradisea (4 sp.), Papuan Islands; Manucodia (3 sp.), Papuan Islands and North Australia; Astrapia (1 sp.), New Guinea; Parotia (1 sp.), New Guinea; Lophorhina (1 sp.), New Guinea; Diphyllodes (3 sp.), Papuan {275}Islands; Xanthomelus (1 sp.), New Guinea; Cicinnurus (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; Paradigalla (1 sp.), New Guinea; Semioptera (1 sp.), Gilolo and Batchian.

Sub-family II. Epimachinæ.--Epimachus (1 sp.), New Guinea; Drepanornis (1 sp.), New Guinea; Seleucides (1 sp.), New Guinea (Plate X., Vol. I., p. 414); Ptilorhis (4 sp.), New Guinea and North Australia.

Sub-family III. Tectonarchinæ (Bower-birds).--Sericulus (1 sp.), Eastern Australia; Ptilonorhynchus (1 sp.), Eastern Australia; Chlamydodera (4 sp.), North and East Australia; Ælurædus (3 sp.), Papuan Islands and East Australia; Amblyornis (1 sp.), New Guinea.

FAMILY 22.--MELIPHAGIDÆ. (23 Genera, 190 Species.)

(As in the Hand List, but omitting Zosterops, and slightly altering the arrangement.)

The extensive group of the Meliphagidæ, or Honey-suckers, is wholly Australian, for the genus Zosterops, which extends into the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, does not naturally belong to it. Several of the genera are confined to Australia, others to New Zealand, while a few range over the whole Australian region. The genera are distributed as follows:--

Myzomela (18 sp.), has the widest range, extending from Celebes to the Samoa Islands, and to Timor and Eastern Australia; Entomophila (4 sp.), Australia and New Guinea; Gliciphila (10 sp.), Australia, Timor, New Guinea, and New Caledonia; Acanthorhynchus (2 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Meliphaga (1 sp.), Australia; Ptilotis (40 sp.), Gilolo and Lombok to Australia and Tasmania, and to the Samoa and Tonga Islands; Meliornis (5 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Prosthemadera (1 sp.), Pogonornis (1 sp.), New Zealand; Anthornis (4 sp.), New Zealand and Chatham Islands; Anthochæra (4 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; {276}Xanthotis (4 sp.), Papuan Islands and Australia; Leptornis (2 sp.), Samoa Islands and New Caledonia; Philemon = Tropidorhyncus (18 sp.), Moluccas and Lombok to New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania and New Caledonia; Entomiza (2 sp.), Australia; Manorhina (5 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Euthyrhynchus (3 sp.), New Guinea; Melirrhophetes (2 sp.), New Guinea; Melidectes (1 sp.), New Guinea; Melipotes (1 sp.), New Guinea; Melithreptus (8 sp.), New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania; (397) Moho (3 sp.), Sandwich Islands; Chætoptila (1 sp.), Sandwich Islands.

FAMILY 23.--NECTARINIIDÆ. (11 Genera, 122 Species.)

The Nectariniidæ, or Sun-birds, form a rather extensive group of insectivorous honey-suckers, often adorned with brilliant metallic plumage, and bearing a superficial resemblance to the American humming-birds, although not in any way related to them. They abound in the Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions, as far east as New Ireland, and south to Queensland, while one species inhabits the hot Jordan Valley in the Palæarctic region. For the Eastern genera I follow Lord Walden's classification (Ibis, 1870); the African species not having been so carefully studied are mostly placed in one genus. The genera adopted are as follows:--

Promerops (1 sp.), South Africa; Nectarinia (60 sp.), the whole Ethiopian region; Cinnyricinclus (5 sp.), West Africa; Neodrepanis (1 sp.), Madagascar; Arachnecthra (13 sp.), Palestine, all India to Hainan, the Papuan Islands, and North-east Australia; Æthopyga (15 sp.), Himalayas and Central India to West China, Hainan, Java, and Northern Celebes; Nectarophila (5 sp.), Central India and Ceylon, Assam and Aracan to Java, Celebes and the Philippines; Chalcostetha (6 sp.), Malay Peninsula to New Guinea; Anthreptes (1 sp.), Siam, Malay Peninsula to {277}Sula Islands, and Flores; Cosmeteira (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; Arachnothera (15 sp.), the Oriental region (excluding Philippines) Celebes, Lombok, and Papuan Islands.

FAMILY 24.--DICÆIDÆ. (5 Genera, 107 Species.)

The Dicæidæ, or Flower-peckers, consist of very small, gaily-coloured birds, rather abundant over the whole Oriental and much of the Australian regions, and one genus extending over the Ethiopian region. The genera here adopted are the following:--

(622) Zosterops (68 sp.), the whole Ethiopian, Oriental, and Australian regions, as far east as the Fiji Islands, and north to Pekin and Japan; (400-403) Dicæum (25 sp.), the whole Oriental region, except China, with the Australian region as far as the Solomon Islands; (404) Pachyglossa (2 sp. 1437 1442), Nepal and Northern Celebes; (405) Piprisoma (2 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon and Timor; (1450) Pardalotus (10 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; (407-409) Prionochilus (5 sp.), Indo-Malay sub-region and Papuan Islands.

FAMILY 25.--DREPANIDIDÆ. (4 Genera, 8 Species.)

The Drepanididæ are confined to the Sandwich Islands, and I follow Mr. Sclater's suggestion in bringing together the following genera to form this family:--

Drepanis (3 sp.); Hemignathus (3 sp.); Loxops (1 sp.); Psittirostra (1 sp.). If these are correctly associated, the great {278}differences in the bill indicate that they are the remains of a larger and more varied family, once inhabiting more extensive land surfaces in the Pacific.

FAMILY 26.--COEREBIDÆ. (11 Genera, 55 Species.)

(According to the arrangement of Messrs. Sclater and Salvin.)

The Coerebidæ, or Sugar-birds, are delicate little birds allied to the preceding families, but with extensile honey-sucking tongues. They are almost wholly confined to the tropical parts of America, only one species of Certhiola ranging so far north as Florida. The following is the distribution of the genera:--

Diglossa (14 sp.), Peru and Bolivia to Guiana and Mexico; Diglossopis (1 sp.), Ecuador to Venezuela; Oreomanes (1 sp.), Ecuador; Conirostrum (6 sp.), Bolivia to Ecuador and Columbia; Hemidacnis (1 sp.), Upper Amazon and Columbia; Dacnis (13 sp.), Brazil to Ecuador and Costa Rica; Certhidea (2 sp.), Galapagos Islands; Chlorophanes (2 sp.), Brazil to Central America and Cuba; Coereba (4 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; Certhiola (10 sp.), Amazon to Mexico, West Indies, and Florida; Glossoptila (1 sp.), Jamaica.

FAMILY 27.--MNIOTILTIDÆ. (18 Genera, 115 Species.)

(Messrs. Sclater and Salvin are followed for the Neotropical, Baird and Allen for the Nearctic region.)

The Mniotiltidæ, or Wood-warblers, are an interesting group of small and elegant birds, allied to the preceding family and to the greenlets, and perhaps also to the warblers and tits of Europe. {279}They range over all North America from Panama to the Arctic regions, but do not extend far beyond the tropic in Southern America. They are almost as abundant in the Nearctic as in the Neotropical region; and considering the favourable conditions of existence in Tropical America, this fact, in connection with their absence from the South Temperate zone would lead us to suppose that they originated in North Temperate America, and subsequently spread southward into the tropics. This supposition is strengthened by the fact that their metropolis, in the breeding season, is to the north of the United States. The genera adopted by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin are as follows:--

(918) Siurus (4 sp.), Venezuela and West Indies to Eastern States and Canada; Mniotilta (1 sp.), Venezuela, Mexico, and Antilles to the Eastern States; Parula (5 sp.), Brazil to Mexico, and the Eastern States, and Canada; Protonotaria (1 sp.), Antilles to Ohio; Helminthophaga (8 sp.), Columbia to Arctic America; Helmintherus (2 sp.), Central America to Eastern States; Perissoglossa (1 sp.), Antilles and Eastern States; Dendroeca (33 sp.), Amazon to Antilles, and Arctic America, and south to Chili; Oporornis (2 sp.), Guatemala to Eastern States; Geothlypis (11 sp.), all North America and Brazil; Myiodioctes (5 sp.), all North America and Columbia; Basileuterus (22 sp.), Bolivia and Brazil to Mexico; Setophaga (15 sp.), Brazil to Canada; Ergaticus (2 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; Cardellina (1 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; (1440) Granatellus (3 sp.), Amazon to Mexico; (1441) Teretristis (2 sp.), Cuba; (1439) Icteria (2 sp.), Costa Rica and United States to Canada.

FAMILY 28.--VIREONIDÆ. (7 Genera, 63 Species.)

(Messrs. Sclater and Salvin are followed for the Neotropical genera; Professor Baird and Mr. Allen for those of the Nearctic region.)

{280}The Vireonidæ, or Greenlets, are a family of small fly-catching birds wholly restricted to the American continent, where they range from Paraguay to Canada. They are allied to the Mniotiltidæ and perhaps also to the Australian Pachycephalidæ. Only two of the genera, with about a dozen species, inhabit the Nearctic region. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Vireosylvia (13 sp.), Venezuela to Mexico, the Antilles, the Eastern States and Canada; Vireo (14 sp.), Central America and the Antilles to Canada; Neochloe (1 sp.), Mexico; Hylophilus (20 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; Laletes (1 sp.), Jamaica; Vireolanius (5 sp.), Amazonia to Mexico; Cychlorhis (9 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico.

FAMILY 29.--AMPELIDÆ. (4 Genera, 9 Species.)

The Ampelidæ, represented in Europe by the waxwing, are a small family, characteristic of the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions, but extending southward to Costa Rica and the West Indian islands. The genera are distributed as follows:--

(1539) Ampelis (3 sp.), the Palæarctic and Nearctic regions, and southward to Guatemala; (1360) Ptilogonys (2 sp.), Central America; (1442) Dulus (2 sp.), West Indian Islands; (1361) Phænopepla (1 sp.), Mexico and the Gila Valley.

FAMILY 30.--HIRUNDINIDÆ. (9 Genera, 91 Species.)

{281}The Hirundinidæ, or Swallows, are true cosmopolites. Although they do not range quite so far north (except as stragglers) as a few of the extreme polar birds, yet they pass beyond the Arctic Circle both in America and Europe, Cotyle riparia having been observed in the Parry Islands, while Hirundo rustica has been seen both in Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. Cotyle riparia and Chelidon urbica also breed in great numbers in northern Lapland, latitude 67° to 70° north. Many of the species also, have an enormous range, the common swallow (Hirundo rustica) inhabiting Europe, Asia and Africa, from Lapland to the Cape of Good Hope and to the Moluccas. The genera of swallows are not well determined, a number having been established of which the value is uncertain. I admit the following, referring by numbers to the Hand List:--

(215-221 226-228) Hirundo (40 sp.), the range of the entire family; (222 223) Psalidoprogne (10 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (224) Phedina (1 sp.), Madagascar and Mascarene Islands; (225) Petrochelidon (5 sp.), North and South America and Cape of Good Hope; (220-232 ?234) Atticora (8 sp.), the Neotropical region and ? Australia; (235 237) Cotyle (11 sp.), Europe, India, Africa, North America, Antilles and Ecuador; (236) Stelgidopteryx (5 sp.), La Plata to United States; (238 and 239) Chelidon (6 sp.), Palæarctic region, Nepal, Borneo; (240-242) Progne (5 sp.), all North and South America.

FAMILY 31.--ICTERIDÆ. (24 Genera, 110 Species.)

The Icteridæ, or American hang-nests, range over the whole continent, from Patagonia and the Falkland Islands to the Arctic Circle. Only about 20 species inhabit the Nearctic region, while, as usual with exclusively American families, the larger proportion of the genera and species are found in the {282}tropical parts of South America. The genera adopted by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin are the following:--

Clypeicterus (1 sp.), Upper Amazon; Ocycalus (2 sp.), Upper Amazon to Mexico; Ostinops (8 sp.), Brazil and Bolivia to Mexico; Cassiculus (1 sp.), Mexico; Cassicus (10 sp.), South Brazil and Bolivia to Costa Rica; Icterus (34 sp.), La Plata to the Antilles and United States; Dolichonyx (1 sp.), Paraguay to Canada; Molothrus (8 sp.), La Plata to Northern United States; Agelæus (7 sp.), La Plata and Chili to Northern United States; Xanthocephalus (1 sp.), Mexico to California and Canada; Xanthosomus (4 sp.), La Plata to Venezuela; Amblyrhamphus (1 sp.), La Plata and Bolivia; Gymnomystax (1 sp.), Amazonia and Guiana; Pseudoleistes (2 sp.), La Plata and Brazil; Leistes (3 sp.), La Plata to Venezuela; Sturnella (5 sp.), Patagonia and Falkland Islands to Middle United States; Curæus (1 sp.), Chili; Nesopsar (1 sp.), Jamaica; Scolecophgaus (2 sp.), Mexico to Arctic Circle; Lampropsar (4 sp.), Amazonia and Ecuador to Mexico; Quiscalus (10 sp.), Venezuela and Columbia to South and Central United States; Hypopyrrhus (1 sp.), Columbia; Aphobus (1 sp.), Brazil and Bolivia; Cassidix (2 sp.), Brazil to Mexico and Cuba.

FAMILY 32.--TANAGRIDÆ. (43 Genera, 304 Species.)

The Tanagers are an extensive family of varied and beautiful fruit-eating birds, almost peculiar to the Neotropical region, only four species of a single genus (Pyranga) extending into the Eastern United States and Rocky Mountains. Southward they range to La Plata. They are especially abundant in the forest regions of South America east of the Andes, where no less than 40 out of the 43 genera occur; 23 of the genera are peculiar to this sub-region, while only 1 (Phlogothraupis) is {283}peculiar to Central America and Mexico, and 2 (Spindalis and Phænicophilus) to the West Indian islands. The genera adopted by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin with their distribution will be found at Vol. II., p. 99, in our account of Neotropical Zoology.

FAMILY 33.--FRINGILLIDÆ. (74 Genera, 509 Species.)

The great family of the Fringillidæ, or finches, is in a very unsettled state as regards their division into genera, the most divergent views being held by ornithologists as to the constitution and affinities of many of the groups. All the Australian finch-like birds appear to belong to the Ploceidæ, so that the finches, as here constituted, are found in every region and sub-region, except the Australian region from which they are entirely absent--a peculiar distribution hardly to be found in any other family of birds.

Many European ornithologists separate the Emberizidæ, or buntings, as a distinct family, but as the American genera have not been so divided I am obliged to keep them together; but the genera usually classed as "buntings" are placed last, as a sub-family. In the following arrangement of the genera, I have done what I could to harmonize the views of the best modern writers. For convenience of reference the succession of the genera is that of the Hand List, and the numbers of the sub-genera are given whenever practicable:--

(1793 1795) Fringilla (6 sp.), the whole Palæarctic region, including the Atlantic Islands; (1794) Acanthis (3 sp.), Europe to Siberia, Persia, and North-West Himalayas; (1796) Procarduelis (1 sp.), High Himalayas and East Thibet; (1797-1803) Chrysomitris (18 sp.), Neotropical and Nearctic regions, Europe, and Siberia; (1804) Metoponia (1 sp.), East Europe to North West Himalayas; (1805 and 1809) Chlorospiza (9 sp.), Palæarctic region and Africa to the {284}Cape of Good Hope; (1806-1809) Dryospiza (14 sp.), South Europe, Palestine, Canaries, and all Africa; (1810) Sycalis (18 sp.), the whole Neotropical region; (1811-1813 1816-1819) Pyrgita (34 sp.), Palæarctic and Oriental regions, and all Africa; (1814) Montifringilla (4 sp.), Palæarctic region; (1815) Fringillauda (2 sp.), North-West Himalayas to East Thibet; (1820-1822) Coccothraustes (6 sp.), Palæarctic region and Nepal, Nearctic region to Mexico; (1823) Eophona (2 sp.), China and Japan; (1824) Mycerobas (2 sp.), Central Asia to Persia, High Himalayas, and East Thibet; (1825) Chaunoproctus (1 sp.), Bonin Islands, south-east of Japan, (probably Palæarctic); (1826) Geospiza (7 sp.), Galapagos Islands; (1827) Camarhynchus (5 sp.), Galapagos Islands; (1828) Cactornis (4 sp.), Galapagos Islands; (1830-1832) Phrygilus (10 sp.), Columbia to Fuegia and the Falkland Islands; (1833) Xenospingus (1 sp.), Peru; (1834) Diuca (3 sp.), Peru to Chili and Patagonia; (1835 and 1837) Emberizoides (3 sp.), Venezuela to Paraguay; (1836) Donacospiza (1 sp.), South Brazil and La Plata; (1839) Chamæospiza (1 sp.), Mexico; (1838 and 1840) Embernagra (9 sp.), Arizona to La Plata; (1841) Hæmophila (6 sp.), Mexico to Costa Rica; (1842) Atlapetes (1 sp.), Mexico; (1843) Pyrgisoma (5 sp.). Mexico to Costa Rica; (1844 and 1845) Pipilo (12 sp.), all North America to Guatemala; (1846) Junco (6 sp.), all the United States to Guatemala; (1847) Zonotrichia (9 sp.), the whole Nearctic and Neotropical regions; (1848 1849) Melospiza (7 sp.), Sitka and United States to Guatemala; (1850) Spizella (7 sp.), Canada to Guatemala; (1851) Passerella (4 sp.), the Nearctic region and Northern Asia; (1852) Passerculus (6 sp.), Nearctic region and to Guatemala; (1853) Pooecetes (1 sp.), all United States and Mexico; (1854) Ammodromus (4 sp.), all United States to Guatemala; (1855) Coturniculus (6 sp.), north and east of North America to Jamaica and Bolivia; (1856) Peucæa (6 sp.), South Atlantic States and California to Mexico; (1857) Tiaris (1 sp.), Brazil; (1858) Volatinia (1 sp.), Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia; (1859) Cyanospiza (5 sp.), Canada to Guatemala; (1860 1861) Paroaria (6 sp.), Tropical South America, east of the Andes; (1862) Coryphospingus (4 sp.), Tropical South America; (1863) Haplospiza (2 sp.), Mexico and Brazil; (1864 1891) Phonipara (8 sp.), Mexico to Columbia, the greater Antilles; (1865) Poospiza {285}(13 sp.), California and South Central States to Bolivia and La Plata; (424) Spodiornis (1 sp.), Andes of Quito; (1866 1867) Pyrrhula (9 sp.), the whole Palæarctic region to the Azores and High Himalayas; (1868) Crithagra (17 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, Mauritius, Syria; (1869) Ligurnus (2 sp.), West Africa; (1870 1871) Carpodacus (18 sp.), Nearctic and Palæarctic regions to Mexico and Central India; (1872-1874) Erythrospiza (6 sp.), Southern parts of Palæarctic region; (1875) Uragus (2 sp.), Siberia and Japan; (1876) Cardinalis (2 sp.), South and Central States to Venezuela; (1877) Pyrrhuloxia (1 sp.), Texas and Rio Grande; (1878 1879) Guiraca (6 sp.), Southern United States to La Plata; (1880) Amaurospiza (2 sp.), Costa Rica and Brazil; (1881) Hedymeles (2 sp.), all United States to Columbia; (1882) Pheucticus (5 sp.), Mexico to Peru and Bolivia; (1883) Oryzoborus (6 sp.), Mexico to Ecuador and South Brazil; (1884) Melopyrrha (1 sp.), Cuba; (1885) Loxigilla (4 sp.), Antilles; (1886 1887) Spermophila (44 sp.), Texas to Bolivia and Uruguay; (1888) Catamenia (4 sp.), Columbia to Bolivia; (1889) Neorhynchus (3 sp.), West Peru; (1892) Catamblyrhyncus (1 sp.), Columbia; (1893) Loxia (7 sp.), Europe to North-west India and Japan, Arctic America to Pennsylvania, Mexico; (1894) Pinicola (3 sp.), Arctic America, North-east Europe to the Amoor, Camaroons Mountains West Africa; (1895) Propyrrhula (1 sp.), Darjeeling in the winter,? Thibet; (1896) Pyrrhospiza (1 sp.), Snowy Himalayas; (1897) Hæmatospiza (1 sp.), South-east Himalayas, 5,000-10,000 feet; (1898 1899) Linota (12 sp.), Europe to Central Asia, north and east of North America; (1900) Leucosticte (7 sp.), Siberia and Thibet to Kamschatka, and from Alaska to Utah.

Sub-family Emberizinæ.--(1995) Calamospiza (1 sp.), Arizona and Texas to Mexico; (1906) Chondestes (2 sp.), Western, Central, and Southern States to Mexico and Nicaragua; (1907-1910) Euspiza (9 sp.), Palæarctic region, India, Burmah, and South China, South-east United States to Columbia; (1911-1920) Emberiza (28 sp.), the whole Palæarctic region (continental), to Central India in winter; (1921) Gubernatrix (1 sp.), Paraguay and La Plata, (according to Messrs. Sclater and Salvin this comes next to Pipilo); (1922) Fringillaria (8 sp.), Africa and South Europe; {286}(1923-1925) Plectrophanes (6 sp.), Arctic Zone to Northern Europe and North China, Arctic America, and east side of Rocky Mountains; (1926) Centronyx (1 sp.), Mouth of Yellowstone River.

FAMILY 34.--PLOCEIDÆ. (29 Genera, 252 species.)

The Ploceidæ, or Weaver-finches, are especially characteristic of the Ethiopian region, where most of the genera and nearly four-fifths of the species are found; the remainder being pretty equally divided between the Oriental and Australian regions. Like the true finches these have never been properly studied, and it is exceedingly difficult to ascertain what genera are natural and how far those of Australia and Africa are distinct. The following enumeration must therefore be taken as altogether tentative and provisional. When the genera adopted differ from those of the Hand List they will be referred to by numbers.

Textor (5 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1650-1654 1657) Hyphantornis (32 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1655 1656) Symplectes (8 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Malimbus (9 sp.), West Africa; (1659 1661) Ploceus (6 sp.), West and East Africa, the Oriental region (excluding Philippines); (1660) Nelicurvius (1 sp.), Madagascar; Foudia (12 sp.), Madagascar and Mascarene Islands, Tropical Africa; (1663 1664) Sporopipes (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1665-1667) Pyromelana (14 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, Abyssinia to 10,500 feet; Philetærus (1 sp.), South Africa; Nigrita (7 sp.), West Africa to Upper Nile; Plocepasser (4 sp.), East and South Africa; (1672-1674) Vidua (7 sp.), Tropical and South Africa (Plate V., Vol. I., p. 264); (1675-1677) Coliuspasser (9 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Chera (1 sp.), South Africa; Spermospiza (2 sp.), West Africa; Pyrenestes (6 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1682-1687 1689 1692 1693 1698) Estrilda (26 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, India, Burmah, and Java to Australia; (1688 1690 1691 1695 1696) {287}Pytelia (24 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1694) Hypargos (2 sp.), Mozambique and Madagascar; (1697) Emblema (1 sp.), North-west Australia (1699 1712-1717) Amadina (15 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, Moluccas to Australia and the Samoa Islands; (1700 1701 1710) Spermestes (8 sp.), Tropical Africa and Madagascar; (1702) Amauresthes (1 sp.), East and West Africa; (1703 1707-1709 1711) Munia (30 sp.), Oriental region to Timor and New Guinea; (1704) Donacola (3 sp.), Australia; (1705 1706) Poephila (6 sp.), Australia; (1718-1721) Erythrura (7 sp.), Sumatra to Java, Moluccas, Timor, New Guinea, and Fiji Islands; (1722) Hypochera (3 sp.), Tropical and South Africa.

FAMILY 35.--STURNIDÆ. (29 Genera, 124 Species.)

The Sturnidæ or Starlings, are a highly characteristic Old-World group, extending to every part of the great Eastern continent and its islands, and over the Pacific Ocean to the Samoa Islands and New Zealand, yet wholly absent from the mainland of Australia. The family appears to be tolerably well-defined, and the following genera are generally considered to belong to it: (1558 1559 1562) Eulabes (13 sp.), the Oriental region to South-west China, Hainan, and Java,--and Flores, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the Australian region; Ampeliceps (1 sp.), Tenasserim, Burmah, and Cochin China; Gymnops (1 sp.), Philippine Islands; Basilornis (2 sp.), Celebes and Ceram; Pastor (1 sp.), South-east Europe to India, Ceylon, and Burmah; Acridotheres (7 sp.), the whole Oriental region and Celebes; (1568 1569) Sturnia (12 sp.), the whole Oriental region, North China, Japan, and Siberia, Celebes; Dilophus (1 sp.), South Africa; Sturnus (6 sp.), Palæarctic region, to India and South China in winter; Sturnopastor (4 sp.), India to Burmah and East Java; Creadion (2 sp.), New Zealand; Heterolocha (1 sp.), New Zealand; (1520) Callæas {288}(2 sp.), New Zealand; Buphaga (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Euryceros (1 sp.), Madagascar (see Plate VI., Vol. I., p. 278.) This genus and the last should perhaps form distinct families. (1577) Juida (5 sp.), Central, West, and South Africa; (1578) Lamprocolius (20 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Cinnyricinclus (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Onychognathus (2 sp.), West Africa; (1581) Spreo (4 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1582-1585) Amydrus (7 sp.), South and East Africa, Palestine; Aplonis (9 sp.), New Caledonia to the Tonga Islands; (1587-1589) Calornis (18 sp.), the whole Malay Archipelago and eastward to the Ladrone and Samoa Islands; (1590) Enodes (1 sp.), Celebes; Scissirostrum (1 sp.), Celebes; (1592) Saroglossa (1 sp.), Himalayas; (1593) Hartlaubius (1 sp), Madagascar; Fregilupus (1 sp.), Bourbon, but it has recently become extinct; (363) Falculia (1 sp)., Madagascar.

FAMILY 36.--ARTAMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 17 Species.)

The Artamidæ, or Swallow-shrikes, are a curious group of birds, ranging over the greater part of the Oriental and Australian regions as far east as the Fiji Islands and south to Tasmania. Only a single species inhabits India, and they are more plentiful in Australia than in any other locality. The only well-marked genus is Artamus.

There are a few Madagascar birds belonging to the genus Artamia, which some ornithologists place in this family, others with the Laniidæ, but which are here classed with the Oriolidæ.

{289}FAMILY 37.--ALAUDIDÆ. (15 Genera, 110 Species.)

The Alaudidæ, or Larks, may be considered as exclusively belonging to the great Eastern continent, since the Nearctic, Neotropical, and Australian regions have each only a single species. They abound most in the open plains and deserts of Africa and Asia, and are especially numerous in South Africa. The genera, including those recently established by Mr. Sharpe, are as follows:--

Otocorys (8 sp.); the Palæarctic region, North America and south to the Andes of Columbia, North India; (1928 1929) Alauda (17 sp.), Palæarctic region, all Africa, the Peninsula of India, and Ceylon; (1931) Galerita (10 sp.), Central Europe to Senegal and Abyssinia, Persia, India and North China; (1932) Calendula (2 sp.), Abyssinia and South Africa; (1933 1934) Calandrella (6 sp.), Europe, North Africa, India, Burmah, North China, and Mongolia; (1935-1937) Melanocorypha (7 sp.), South Europe to Tartary, Abyssinia, and North-west India; Pallasia (sp. 7781), East Asia; (1938) Certhilauda (4 sp.), South Europe, South Africa; Heterocorys (sp. 7792) South Africa; (1939) Alæmon (3 sp.), South-east Europe to Western India, and South Africa; (1940) Mirafra (25 sp.), the Oriental and Ethiopian regions to Australia; (1941) Ammomanes (10 sp.), South Europe to Palestine and Central India, and to Cape Verd Islands and South Africa; (1942 1943) Megalophonus (6 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Tephrocorys (1 sp.), South Africa; Pyrrhulauda (9 sp.), all Africa, Canary Islands, India and Ceylon.

{290}FAMILY 38.--MOTACILLIDÆ. (9 Genera, 80 Species.)

The Motacillidæ, or Wagtails and Pipits, are universally distributed, but are most abundant in the Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions, to which the true wagtails are almost confined. The following genera are usually adopted, but some of them are not very well defined:--

Motacilla (15 sp.), ranges over the greater part of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and to Alaska in North-west America; Budytes (10 sp.), Europe, Africa, Asia to Philippines, Moluccas, Timor, and North Australia; Calobates (3 sp.), South Palæarctic and Oriental regions to Java; Nemoricola (1 sp.), Oriental region; Anthus (30 sp.), all the great continents; Neocorys (1 sp.), Central North America; Corydalla (14 sp.), South Europe to India, China, the Malay Islands, Australia, New Zealand and the Auckland Islands: Macronyx (5 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Heterura (1 sp.), Himalayas.

FAMILY 39.--TYRANNIDÆ. (71 Genera, 329 Species.)

The Tyrannidæ, or Tyrant Shrikes, form one of the most extensive and truly characteristic American families of birds; as they extend over the whole continent from Patagonia to the Arctic regions, and are found also in all the chief American islands--the Antilles, the Galapagos, the Falkland Islands, and {291}Juan Fernandez. As the genera are all enumerated in the table, at p. 101 of this volume, I shall here confine myself to the distribution of the sub-families, only referring to such genera as are of special geographical interest.

Sub-family I. CONOPHAGINÆ (2 genera, 13 species). Confined to tropical South America, from Brazil and Bolivia to Guiana and Columbia.

Sub-family II. TÆNIOPTERINÆ (19 genera, 76 species). This group ranges from Patagonia and the Falkland Islands to the northern United States; yet it is almost wholly South American, only 2 genera and 4 species passing north of Panama, and none inhabiting the West Indian islands. Empidias has 3 species in North America, while Tænioptera, Cnipolegus, Muscisaxicola, and Centrites, range south to Patagonia.

Sub-family III. PLATYRHYNICHINÆ (16 genera, 60 species). This sub-family is wholly Neotropical and mostly South American, only 7 of the genera passing Panama and but 3 reaching Mexico, while there are none in the West Indian islands. Only 3 genera extend south to the temperate sub-region, and one of these, Anæretes, has a species in Juan Fernandez.

Sub-family IV. ELAINEINÆ (17 genera, 91 species). This sub-family is more exclusively tropical, only two genera extending south as far as Chili and La Plata, while none enter the Nearctic region. No less than 10 of the genera pass north of Panama, and one of these, Elainea, which ranges from Chili to Costa Rica has several species in the West Indian islands. About one fourth of the species of this sub-family are found north of Panama.

Sub-family V. TYRANNINÆ (17 genera, 89 species). This sub-family is that which is best represented in the Nearctic region, where 6 genera and 24 species occur. Milvulus reaches Texas; Tyrannus and Myiarchus range over all the United States; Sayornis, the Eastern States and California; Contopus extends to Canada; Empidonax ranges all over North America; and Pyrocephalus reaches the Gila Valley as well as the Galapagos Islands. No less than 5 genera of this sub-family occur in the West Indian islands.

{292}FAMILY 39_a_.--OXYRHAMPHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The genus Oxyrhamphus (2 sp.) which ranges from Brazil to Costa Rica, has usually been placed in the Dendrocolaptidæ; but Messrs Sclater and Salvin consider it to be the type of a distinct family group, most allied to the Tyrannidæ.

FAMILY 40.--PIPRIDÆ. (15 Genera, 60 Species.)

The Pipridæ, or Manakins, have generally been associated with the next family, and they have a very similar distribution. The great majority of the genera and species are found in the equatorial regions of South America, only 9 species belonging to 5 genera ranging north of Panama, while 2 or 3 species extend to the southern limit of the tropical forests in Paraguay and Brazil. The genera which go north of Panama are Piprites, Pipra, Chiroxiphia, Chiromachæris, and Hetoropelma. Pipra is the largest genus, containing 19 species, and having representatives throughout the whole range of the family. As in all the more extensive families peculiar to the Neotropical region, the distribution of the genera will be found in the tables appended to the chapter on the Neotropical region in the Third Part of this work. (Vol. II. p. 103).

{293}FAMILY 41.--COTINGIDÆ. (28 Genera, 93 Species.)

The Cotingidæ, or Chatterers, comprise some of the most beautiful and some of the most remarkable of American birds, for such we must consider the azure and purple Cotingas, the wine-coloured white-winged Pompadour, the snowy carunculated Bell-birds, the orange-coloured Cocks-of-the-Rock, and the marvellously-plumed Umbrella-birds, (Plate XV. Vol. II. p. 28). The Cotingidæ are also one of the most pre-eminently Neotropical of all the Neotropical families, the great mass of the genera and species being concentrated in and around the vast equatorial forest region of the Amazon. Only 13 species extend north of Panama, one to the Antilles, and not more than 20 are found to the south of the Amazon Valley. Messrs. Sclater and Salvin divide the family into six sub-families, the distribution of which will be briefly indicated.

Sub-family I. TITYRINÆ (3 genera, 22 species). Ranges from Brazil to Mexico, one species of Hadrostomus inhabiting Jamaica.

Sub-family II. LIPAUGINÆ (4 genera, 14 species) also ranges from Brazil to Mexico; one genus (Ptilochloris) is confined to Brazil.

Sub-family III. ATTALINÆ (2 genera, 10 species). Ranges from Paraguay to Costa Rica; one genus (Casiornis) is confined to South Brazil and Paraguay.

Sub-family IV. RUPICOLINÆ (2 genera, 5 species). This sub-family is restricted to the Amazonian region and Guiana, with one species extending along the Andean valleys to Bolivia. The genera are Rupicola (3 species) and Phænicocercus (2 species).

Sub-family V. COTINGINÆ (10 genera, 28 species). Ranges from Southern Brazil and Bolivia to Nicaragua; only two species {294}(belonging to the genera Carpodectes and Cotinga) are found north of Panama, and there are none in the West Indian islands. The great majority of these, the true Chatterers, are from the regions about the Equator.

Sub-family VI. GYMNODERINÆ (7 genera, 14 species). Ranges from Brazil to Costa Rica; two species, of the genera Chasmorhynchus and Cephalopterus, are found north of Panama, while there are none in the West Indian islands. Only 2 species are found south of the Amazon valley.

FAMILY 42.--PHYTOTOMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

The Phytotomidæ, or Plant-cutters, are singular thick-billed birds, strictly confined to the temperate regions of South America. The single genus, Phytotoma, is found in Chili, La Plata, and Bolivia. Their affinities are uncertain, but they are believed to be allied to the series of families with which they are here associated. (Plate XVI. Vol. II. p. 128).

FAMILY 43.--EURYLÆMIDÆ. (6 Genera, 9 Species.)

The Eurylæmidæ, or Broad-bills, form a very small family of birds, often adorned with striking colours, and which have their nearest allies in the South American Cotingidæ. They have a very limited distribution, from the lower slopes of the Himalayas through Burmah and Siam, to Sumatra, Borneo, and Java. They are evidently the remains of a once extensive group, and from the small number of specific forms remaining, seem to be on {295}the road to extinction. Thus we may understand their isolated geographical position. The following are the names and distribution of the genera:--

Eurylæmus (2 species), Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Borneo; Corydon (1 species), Malacca, Sumatra and Borneo (Plate IX. Vol. I. p. 339); Psarisomus (1 species), Himalayas to Burmah, up to 6,000 feet; Serilophus (2 species), Nepal to Tenasserim; Cymbirhynchus (2 species), Siam to Sumatra and Borneo; Calyptomena (1 species), Penang to Sumatra and Borneo.

FAMILY 44.--DENDROCOLAPTIDÆ. (43 Genera, 217 Species.)

The Dendrocolaptidæ, or American Creepers, are curious brown-coloured birds with more or less rigid tail feathers, strictly confined to the continental Neotropical region, and very numerous in its south-temperate extremity. They are divided by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin into five sub-families, to which I shall confine my remarks on their distribution. The details of the numerous genera, being only interesting to specialists, will be given in the table of genera of the Neotropical region. No less than 13 of the genera are confined to South-Temperate America and the High Andes; 14 are restricted to Tropical South America, while not one is peculiar to Tropical North America, and only 15 of the 43 genera extend into that sub-region, showing that this is one of the pre-eminently South American groups.

Sub-family I. FURNARIINÆ (8 genera, 30 species). Ranges over all South America, 4 genera and 18 species being restricted to the temperate sub-region; one species is found in the Falkland Islands.

Sub-family II. SCLERURINÆ (1 genus, 6 species). Brazil to Guiana, Columbia, and north to Mexico.

Sub-family III. SYNALLAXINÆ (12 genera, 78 species). Ranges from Patagonia to Mexico; 7 genera and 28 species are confined {296}to the temperate sub-region; species occur in the islands of Mas-a-fuera, Trinidad, and Tobago.

Sub-family IV. PHILYDORINÆ (6 genera, 35 species). Confined to Tropical America from Brazil to Mexico; 4 genera and 8 species occur in Tropical North America.

Sub-family V. DENDROCOLAPTINÆ (14 genera, 59 species). Ranges from Chili and La Plata to Mexico; only 3 species occur in the South Temperate sub-region, while 9 of the genera extend into Tropical North America. Two of the continental species occur in the island of Tobago, which, together with Trinidad, forms part of the South American rather than of the true Antillean sub-region.

FAMILY 45.--FORMICARIIDÆ. (32 Genera, 211 Species.)

The Formicariidæ, comprising the Bush-Shrikes and Ant-thrushes, form one of the most exclusively Neotropical families; and the numerous species are rigidly confined to the warm and wooded districts, only a single species extending to La Plata, and none to the Antilles or to the Nearctic region. Less than 30 species are found north of Panama. Messrs. Sclater and Salvin divide the group into three sub-families, whose distribution may be conveniently treated, as in the Dendrocolaptidæ, without enumerating the genera.

Sub-family I. THAMNOPHILINÆ.--(10 genera, 70 species.) One species of Thamnophilus inhabits La Plata; only 3 genera and 12 species are found north of Panama, the species of this sub-family being especially abundant in the Equatorial forest districts.

Sub-family II. FORMICIVORINÆ.--(14 genera, 95 species.) Only 8 species occur north of Panama, and less than one-third of the species belong to the districts south of the Equator.

{297}Sub-family III. FORMICARIINÆ.--(8 genera, 46 species.) About 12 species occur north of Panama, and only 5 south of the Equatorial district.

It appears, therefore, that this extensive family is especially characteristic of that part of South America from the Amazon valley northwards.

FAMILY 46.--PTEROPTOCHIDÆ. (8 Genera, 19 Species.)

The Pteroptochidæ are a group of curious Wren-like birds, almost confined to the temperate regions of South America, extending along the Andes beyond the Equator, and with a few species in South-east Brazil, and one in the valley of the Madeira. The genera are as follows:--

Scytalopus (8 sp.), Chili and West Patagonia to the Andes of Columbia; Merulaxis (1 sp.), South-east Brazil; Rhinocrypta (2 sp.), Northern Patagonia and La Plata; Lioscelis (1 sp.), Madeira valley; Pteroptochus (2 sp.), Chili; Hylactes (3 sp.), Western Patagonia and Chili; Acropternis (1 sp.), Andes of Ecuador and Columbia; Triptorhinus (1 sp.), Chili.

FAMILY 47.--PITTIDÆ. (4 Genera, 40 Species.)

The Pittas comprise a number of beautifully-coloured Thrush-like birds, which, although confined to the Old World, are more nearly allied to the South American Pteroptochidæ than to any other family. They are most abundant in the Malay Archipelago, {298}between the Oriental and Australian divisions of which they are pretty equally divided. They seem, however, to attain their maximum of beauty and variety in the large islands of Borneo and Sumatra; from whence they diminish in numbers in every direction till we find single species only in North China, West Africa, and Australia, The genera here adopted are the following:--

(1087 1088 1090 1092 1093) Pitta (33 sp.), has the range of the family; (1089) Hydrornis (3 sp.), Himalayas and Malaya; Eucichla (3 sp.), Malaya; Melampitta (1 sp.), recently discovered in New Guinea.

FAMILY 48.--PAICTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

This family was established by Professor Sundevall, for an anomalous bird of Madagascar, which he believes to have some affinity for the American Formicariidæ, but which perhaps comes best near the Pittas. The only genus is Philepitta, containing two species.

FAMILY 49.--MENURIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Menuridæ, or Lyre Birds, remarkable for the extreme elegance of the lyre-shaped tail in the species first discovered, are birds of a very anomalous structure, and have no near affinity to any other family. Two species of Menura are known, confined to South and East Australia (Plate XII. Vol. I. p. 441).

{299}FAMILY 50.--ATRICHIIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The genus Atrichia, or Scrub-birds of Australia, have been formed into a separate family by Professor Newton, on account of peculiarities in the skeleton which separate them from all other Passeres. Only two species are known, inhabiting East and West Australia respectively. They are very noisy, brown-coloured birds, and have been usually classed with the warblers, near Amytis and other Australian species.

General remarks on the distribution of the Passeres.

The order Passeres, is the most extensive among birds, comprehending about 5,700 species grouped in 870 genera, and 51 families. The distribution of the genera, and of the families considered individually, has been already sufficiently given, and we now have to consider the peculiarities of distribution of the families collectively, and in their relations to each other, as representing well-marked types of bird-structure. The first thing to be noted is, how very few of these families are truly cosmopolitan; for although there are seven which are found in each of the great regions, yet few of these are widely distributed throughout all the regions, and we can only find three that inhabit every sub-region, and are distributed with tolerable uniformity; these are the Hirundinidæ, or swallows, the Motacillidæ or wagtails and pipits, and the Corvidæ or crows,--but the latter is a family of so heterogeneous a nature, that it possibly contains the materials of several natural families, and if so divided, the parts would probably all cease to be cosmopolitan. The Sylviidæ, the {300}Turdidæ, and the Paridæ, are the only other families that approach universality of distribution, and all these are wanting in one or more sub-regions. If, now, we divide the globe into the New and the Old World, the former including the whole American continent, the latter all the rest of the earth, we find that the Old World possesses exclusively 23 families, the New World exclusively 14, of which 5 are common to North and South America. But if we take the division proposed by Professor Huxley--a northern world, comprising our first four regions (from Nearctic to Oriental), and a southern world comprising our last two regions (the Australian and Neotropical)--we find that the northern division possesses only 5 families exclusively, and the southern division 13 exclusively, of which not one is common to Australia and South America. This plainly indicates that, as far as the Passeres are concerned, the latter bipartite division is not so natural as the former. Again, if we compare temperate with tropical families (not too rigidly, but as regards their general character), we find in the northern hemisphere only two families that have the character of being typically temperate--the Cinclidæ, and in a less degree the Ampelidæ--both of small extent. In the southern hemisphere we have also two, the Phytotomidæ, and in a less degree, the Pteroptochidæ; making two wholly and two mainly temperate families. Of exclusively tropical families on the other hand, we have about 12, and several others that are mainly tropical.

The several regions do not differ greatly in the number of families found in each. The Nearctic has 19, the Palæarctic 21, the Ethiopian 23, the Oriental 28, the Australian 29, and the Neotropical 23. But many of these families are only represented by a few species, or in limited districts; and if we count only those families which are tolerably well represented, and help to form the ornithological character of the region, the richness of the several tropical regions will appear to be (as it really is) comparatively much greater. The families that are confined to single regions are not very numerous, except in the case of the Neotropical region, which has 5. The Australian has only {301}3, the Oriental 1, the Ethiopian 1, and the other regions have no peculiar families.

The distribution of the Passeres may be advantageously considered as divided into the five series of Turdoid, Tanagroid, Sturnoid, Formicarioid, and Anomalous Passeres. The Turdoid Passeres, consisting of the first 23 families, are especially characteristic of the Old World, none being found exclusively in America, and only two or three being at all abundant there. The Tanagroid Passeres (Families 24-33) are very characteristic of the New World, five being confined to it, and three others being quite as abundant there as in the Old World; while there is not a single exclusively Old World family in the series, except the Drepanididæ confined to the Sandwich Islands. The Sturnoid Passeres (Families 34-38) are all exclusively Old World, except that two larks inhabit parts of North America, and a few pipits South America. The Formicarioid Passeres (Families 39-48) are strikingly characteristic of the New World, to which seven of the families exclusively belong; the two Old World groups being small, and with a very restricted distribution. The Anomalous Passeres (Families 49-50) are confined to Australia.

The most remarkable feature in the geographical distribution of the Passeres is the richness of the American continent, and the large development of characteristic types that occurs there. The fact that America possesses 14 altogether peculiar families, while no less than 23 Old-World families are entirely absent from it, plainly indicates, that, if this division does not represent the most ancient and radical separation of the land surface of the globe, it must still be one of very great antiquity, and have modified in a very marked way the distribution of all living things. Not less remarkable is the richness in specific forms of the 13 peculiar American families. These contain no less than 1,570 species, leaving only about 500 American species in the 13 other Passerine families represented in the New World. If we make a deduction for those Nearctic species which occur only north of Panama, we may estimate the truly Neotropical species of Passerine birds at 1,900, which is almost exactly {302}one-third of the total number of Passeres; a wonderful illustration of the Ornithological riches of South America.

Order II.--PICARIÆ.

FAMILY 51.--PICIDÆ. (36 Genera, 320 Species.)

The Woodpeckers are very widely distributed, being only absent from the Australian region beyond Celebes and Flores. They are most abundant in the Neotropical and Oriental regions, both of which possess a number of peculiar genera; while the other regions possess few or no peculiar forms, even the Ethiopian region having only three genera not found elsewhere. The soft-tailed Picumninæ inhabit the tropical regions only, Picumnus being Neotropical, Vivia and Sasia Oriental, and Verreauxia Ethiopian. Picoides, or Apternus, is an Arctic form peculiar to the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions. Celeus, Chrysoptilus, Chloronerpes, and some smaller genera, are Neotropical exclusively, and there are two peculiar forms in Cuba. Yungipicus, Chrysocolaptes, Hemicercus, Mulleripicus, Brachypternus, Tiga, and Micropternus, are the most important of the peculiar Oriental genera. Dendropicus and Geocolaptes are Ethiopian; but there are no woodpeckers in Madagascar. The Palæarctic woodpeckers belong to the genera Picus--which is widely distributed, Gecinus--which is an Oriental form, and Dryocopus--which is South American. Except Picoides, the Nearctic woodpeckers are mostly of Neotropical genera; but Sphyrapicus and Hylatomus are peculiar. The geological record is, as yet, almost silent as to this family; but remains doubtfully referred to it have been found in the Miocene of Europe and the Eocene of the United States. Yet the group is evidently one of very high antiquity, as is shown by {303}its extreme isolation, its great specialization of structure, its abundant generic forms, and its wide distribution. It originated, probably, in Central Asia, and passed through, the Nearctic region to South America, in whose rich and varied forests it found the conditions for rapid development, and for the specialization of the many generic forms now found there.

A large number of genera have been established by various authors, but their limitations and affinities are not very well made out. Those which seem best established are the following:--

(2107-2112) Picumnus (22 sp.). Tropical South America to Honduras; (2113) Vivia (1 sp.), Himalayas to East Thibet; (2114) Sasia (2 sp.), Nepal to Java; (2115) Verreauxia (1 sp.), West Africa; Picoides (5 sp.), northern parts of Nearctic and Palæarctic regions, and Mountains of East Thibet; Picus (42 sp.), the whole Palæarctic, Oriental, Nearctic, and Neotropical regions; (2123) Hyopicus (2 sp.), Himalayas and North China; (2124) Yungipicus (16 sp.), Oriental region, and to Flores, Celebes, North China, and Japan; (2127-2129) Sphyrapicus (7 sp.), Nearctic region, Mexico, and Bolivia; (2130-2133 2139) Campephilus (14 sp.), Neotropical and Nearctic regions; Hylatomus (1 sp.), Nearctic region; (2137 2140) Dryocopus (5 sp.), Mexico to South Brazil, Central and Northern Europe; (2134) Reinwardtipicus (1 sp.), Penang to Borneo; (2135 2136) Venilia (2 sp.), Nepal to Borneo; Chrysocolaptes (8 sp.), India and Indo-Malaya; Dendropicus (16 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Hemicercus (5 sp.), Malabar and Pegu to Malaya; Gecinus (18 sp.), Palæarctic and Oriental regions to Java; (2151-2156) Dendromus (15 sp.), West and South Africa, Zanzibar, and Abyssinia; (2157-2159) Mulleripicus (6 sp.), Malabar, Pegu, Indo-Malaya, and Celebes; Celeus (17 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico; Nesoceleus (sp. 8833) Cuba; (2162) Chrysoptilus (9 sp.), Chili and South Brazil to Mexico; Brachypternus (5 sp.), India, Ceylon, and China; (2165 2166) Tiga (5 sp.), all India to Malaya; (2167) Gecinulus (2 sp.), South-east Himalayas to Burmah; Centurus (13 sp.), Nearctic Region to Antilles and Venezuela; Chloronerpes (35 sp.), Tropical America, Hayti; (2171) Xiphidiopicus (1 sp.), Cuba; Melanerpes (11 sp.), Brazil to {304}Canada, Porto Rico; Leuconerpes (1 sp.), Bolivia to North Brazil; Colaptes (9 sp.), La Plata and Bolivia to Arctic America, Greater Antilles; Hypoxanthus (1 sp.), Venezuela and Ecuador; (2187) Geocolaptes (1 sp.), South Africa; Miglyptes (3 sp.), Malaya; Micropternus (8 sp.), India and Ceylon to South China, Sumatra and Borneo.

FAMILY 52.--YUNGIDÆ. (1 Genus, 5 Species.)

The Wrynecks (Yunx), which constitute this family, are small tree-creeping birds characteristic of the Palæarctic region, but extending into North and East Africa, over the greater part of the peninsula of India (but not to Ceylon), and just reaching the lower ranges of the Himalayas. There is also one species isolated in South Africa.

FAMILY 53.--INDICATORIDÆ. (1 Genus, 12 Species.)

The Honey-guides (Indicator) constitute a small family of doubtful affinities; perhaps most nearly allied to the woodpeckers and barbets. They catch bees and sometimes kill small birds; and some of the species are parasitical like the cuckoo. Their distribution is very interesting, as they are found in every part of the Ethiopian region, except Madagascar, and in the Oriental region only in Sikhim and Borneo, being absent from the peninsula of India which is nearest, both geographically and zoologically, to Africa.

{305}FAMILY 54.--MEGALÆMIDÆ. (13 Genera, 81 Species.)

The Megalæmidæ, or Barbets, consist of rather small, fruit-eating birds, of heavy ungraceful shape, but adorned with the most gaudy colours, especially about the head and neck. They form a very isolated family; their nearest allies being, perhaps, the still more isolated Toucans of South America. Barbets are found in all the tropics except Australia, but are especially characteristic of the great Equatorial forest-zone; all the most remarkable forms being confined to Equatorial America, West Africa, and the Indo-Malay Islands. They are most abundant in the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, and in the latter are universally distributed.

In the beautiful monograph of this family by the Messrs. Marshall, the barbets are divided into three sub-families, as follows:--

Pogonorhynchinæ (3 genera, 15 sp.), which are Ethiopian except the 2 species of Tetragonops, which are Neotropical; Megalæminæ (6 genera, 45 sp.), which are Oriental and Ethiopian; and Capitoninæ (4 genera, 18 sp.), common to the three regions.

The genera are each confined to a single region. Africa possesses the largest number of peculiar forms, while the Oriental region is richest in species.

This is probably a very ancient group, and its existing distribution may be due to its former range over the Miocene South Palæarctic land, which we know possessed Trogons, Parrots, Apes, and Tapirs, groups which are now equally abundant in Equatorial countries.

{306}The following is a tabular view of the genera with their distribution:--

--------------------+------------------+----------------+---------------- Genera | Ethiopian | Oriental | Neotropical | Region. | Region. | Region. --------------------+------------------+----------------+---------------- | | | POGONORHYNCHINÆ. | | | Tricholæma 1 sp.|W. Africa | | Pogonorhynchus 12 " |All Trop. & S. Af.| | Tetragonops 2 " | | |Peru & Costa | | | Rica | | | MEGALÆMINÆ. | | | Megalæma 29 " | |The whole region| Xantholæma 4 " | |The whole region| Xylobucco 2 " |W. Africa | | Barbatula 9 " |Trop. & S. Africa | | Psilopogon 1 " | | |Sumatra Gymnobucco 2 " |W. Africa | | | | | CAPITONINÆ. | | | Trachyphonus 5 " |Trop. & S. Africa | | Capito 10 " | | |Equatorial Amer. | | | to Costa Rica Calorhamphus 2 " | |Malay Pen., | | | Sumatra, Borneo| Stactolæma 1 " |W. Africa | | | | | --------------------+------------------+----------------+----------------

FAMILY 55.--RHAMPHASTIDÆ. (5 Genera, 51 Species.)

The Toucans form one of the most remarkable and characteristic families of the Neotropical region, to which they are strictly confined. They differ from all other birds by their long feathered tongues, their huge yet elegant bills, and the peculiar texture and coloration of their plumage. Being fruit-eaters, and strictly adapted for an arboreal life, they are not found beyond the forest regions; but they nevertheless range from Mexico to Paraguay, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. One genus, {307}Andigena, is confined to the forest slopes of the South American Andes. The genera are:--

Rhamphastos (12 sp.), Mexico to South Brazil; Pteroglossus (16 sp.), Nicaragua to South Brazil (Plate XV. Vol. II. p. 28); Selenidera (7 sp.), Veragua to Brazil, east of the Andes; Andigena (6 sp.), the Andes, from Columbia to Bolivia, and West Brazil; Aulacorhamphus (10 sp.), Mexico to Peru and Bolivia.

FAMILY 56.--MUSOPHAGIDÆ. (2 Genera, 18 Species.)

The Musophagidæ, or Plantain-eaters and Turacos, are handsome birds, somewhat intermediate between Toucans and Cuckoos. They are confined to the Ethiopian region and are most abundant in West Africa. The Plantain eaters (Musophaga, 2 sp.), are confined to West Africa; the Turacos (Turacus, 16 sp., including the sub-genera Corythaix and Schizorhis) range over all Africa from Abyssinia to the Cape (Plate V. Vol. I. p. 264).

FAMILY 57.--COLIIDÆ. (1 Genus, 7 Species.)

The Colies, consisting of the single genus Colius, are an anomalous group of small finch-like birds, occuping a position between the Picariæ and Passeres, but of very doubtful affinities. Their range is nearly identical with that of the Musophagidæ, but they are most abundant in South and East Africa.

{308}FAMILY 58.--CUCULIDÆ. (35 Genera, 180 Species.)

The Cuculidæ, of which our well-known Cuckoo is one of the most widely distributed types, are essentially a tropical group of weak insectivorous birds, abounding in varied forms in all the warmer parts of the globe, but very scarce or only appearing as migrants in the temperate and colder zones. Many of the smaller Eastern species are adorned with the most intense golden or violet metallic lustre, while some of the larger forms have gaily-coloured bills or bare patches of bright red on the cheeks. Many of the cuckoos of the Eastern Hemisphere are parasitic, laying their eggs in other birds' nests; and they are also remarkable for the manner in which they resemble other birds, as hawks, pheasants, or drongo-shrikes. The distribution of the Cuckoo family is rather remarkable. They abound most in the Oriental region, which produces no less than 18 genera, of which 11 are peculiar; the Australian has 8, most of which are also Oriental, but 3 are peculiar, one of these being confined to Celebes and closely allied to an Oriental group; the Ethiopian region has only 7 genera, all of which are Oriental but three, 2 of these being peculiar to Madagascar, and the other common to Madagascar and Africa. America has 11 genera, all quite distinct from those of the Eastern Hemisphere, and only three enter the Nearctic region, one species extending to Canada.

Remembering our conclusions as to the early history of the several regions, these facts enable us to indicate, with considerable probability, the origin and mode of dispersal of the cuckoos. They were almost certainly developed in the Oriental and Palæarctic regions, but reached the Neotropical at a very early date, where they have since been completely isolated. Africa must have long remained without cuckoos, the earliest immigration {309}being to Madagascar at the time of the approximation of that sub-region to Ceylon and Malaya. A later infusion of Oriental forms took place probably by way of Arabia and Persia, when those countries were more fertile and perhaps more extensive. Australia has also received its cuckoos at a somewhat late date, a few having reached the Austro-Malay Islands somewhat earlier.

The classification of the family is somewhat unsettled. For the American genera I follow Messrs. Sclater and Salvin; and, for those of the Old World, Mr. Sharpe's suggestive paper in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1873, p. 600. The following is the distribution of the various genera:--

(2195) Phænicophaës (1 sp.), Ceylon; (2196) Rhamphococcyx (1 sp.), Celebes; (2196) Rhinococcyx (1 sp.), Java; (2196 pt. and 2203) Rhopodytes (6 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon, Hainan, and Malaya; (2203 pt) Poliococcyx (1 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo; (2197) Dasylophus (1 sp.), Philippine Islands; (2198) Lepidogrammus (1 sp.), Philippine Islands; (2200) Zanclostomus (1 sp.), Malaya; (2201) Ceuthmochares (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa and Madagascar; (2202) Taccocua (4 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon and Malacca; (2204) Rhinortha (1 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo; (2199) Carpococcyx (1 sp.), Borneo and Sumatra; (2220) Neomorphus (4 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; (2205 2206) Coua (10 sp.), Madagascar; (2207) Cochlothraustes (1 sp.), Madagascar; (2221) Centropus (35 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, the whole Oriental region, Austro-Malaya and Australia; (2213) Crotophaga (3 sp.), Brazil to Antilles and Pennsylvania; (2212) Guira (1 sp.), Brazil and Paraguay; (2209) Geococcyx (2 sp.), Guatemala to Texas and California; (2211) Dromococcyx (2 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; (2210) Diplopterus (1 sp.), Mexico to Ecuador and Brazil; (2208) Saurothera (4 sp.), Greater Antilles; (2219) Hyetornis (2 sp.), Jamaica and Hayti; (2215) Piaya (3 sp.), Mexico to West Ecuador and Brazil; (2218) Morococcyx (1 sp.), Costa Rica to Mexico; (2214) Coccygus (10 sp.), La Plata to Antilles, Mexico and Pennsylvania, Cocos Island; (2227) Cuculus (22 sp.), Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions, to Moluccas and Australia; (2229) Caliecthrus (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; (2230-2232) Cacomantis (15 sp.), Oriental and Australian {310}regions to Fiji Islands and Tasmania; (2233-2237) Chrysococcyx (16 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, the Oriental and Australian regions to New Zealand and Fiji Islands; (2238) Surniculus (2 sp.), India, Ceylon, and Malaya; (2239) Hierococcyx (7 sp.), the Oriental region to Amoorland and Celebes; (2240 2241) Coccystes (6 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, the Oriental region, excluding Philippines; (2242) Eudynamis (8 sp.), the Oriental and Australian regions, excluding Sandwich Islands; (2243) Scythrops (1 sp.), East Australia to Moluccas and North Celebes.

FAMILY 59.--LEPTOSOMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Leptosomus discolor, which constitutes this family, is a bird of very abnormal characters, having some affinities both with Cuckoos and Rollers. It is confined to Madagascar (Plate VI. Vol. I. p. 278).

FAMILY 60.--BUCCONIDÆ. (5 Genera, 43 Species.)

The Bucconidæ, or Puff-birds, are generally of small size and dull colours, with rather thick bodies and dense plumage. They form one of the characteristic Neotropical families, being most abundant in the great Equatorial forest plains, but extending as far north as Guatemala, though absent from the West Indian Islands.

The genera are:--Bucco (21 sp.), Guatemala to Paraguay, and West of the Andes in Ecuador; Malacoptila (10 sp.), Guatemala {311}to Bolivia and Brazil; Nonnula (3 sp.), Amazon and Columbia; Monasa (7 sp.), Costa Rica to Brazil; Chelidoptera (2 sp.), Columbia and Guiana to Brazil.

FAMILY 61.--GALBULIDÆ. (6 Genera, 19 Species.)

The Galbulidæ, or Jacamars, are small slender birds, of generally metallic plumage; somewhat resembling in form the Bee-eaters of the Old World but less active. They have the same general distribution as the last family, but they do not occur west of the Equatorial Andes. The genera are:--

Galbula (9 sp.), Guatemala to Brazil and Bolivia; Urogalba (2 sp.), Guiana and the lower Amazon; Brachygalba (4 sp.), Venezuela to Brazil and Bolivia; Jacamaralcyon (1 sp.), Brazil; Jacamerops (2 sp.), Panama to the Amazon; Galbalcyrhynchus (1 sp.), Upper Amazon.

FAMILY 62.--CORACIIDÆ. (3 Genera, 19 Species.)

The Rollers are a family of insectivorous birds allied to the Bee-eaters, and are very characteristic of the Ethiopian and Oriental regions; but one species (Coracias garrula) spreads over the Palæarctic region as far north as Sweden and the Altai mountains, while the genus Eurystomus reaches the Amoor valley, Australia, and the Solomon Islands. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Coracias (8 sp.), the whole Ethiopian region, the Oriental {312}region except Indo-Malaya, the Palæarctic to the above-named limits, and the island of Celebes on the confines of the Australian region; Eurystomus (8 sp.), West and East Africa and Madagascar, the whole Oriental region except the Peninsula of India, and the Australian as far as Australia and the Solomon Islands; Brachypteracias (possibly allied to Leptosomus?) (4 sp.), Madagascar only, but these abnormal birds form a distinct sub-family, and according to Mr. Sharpe, three genera, Brachypteracias, Atelornis, and Geobiastes.

A most remarkable feature in the distribution of this family is the occurrence of a true roller (Coracias temminckii) in the island of Celebes, entirely cut off from the rest of the genus, which does not occur again till we reach Siam and Burmah.

The curious Pseudochelidon from West Africa may perhaps belong to this family or to the Cypselidæ. (Ibis. 1861, p. 321.)

FAMILY 63.--MEROPIDÆ. (5 Genera, 34 Species.)

The Meropidæ, or Bee-eaters, have nearly the same distribution as the Rollers, but they do not penetrate quite so far either into the Eastern Palæarctic or the Australian regions. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Merops (21 sp.), has the range of the family extending on the north to South Scandinavia, and east to Australia and New Guinea; Nyctiornis (3 sp.), the Oriental region, except Ceylon and Java; Meropogon (1 sp.), Celebes; Meropiscus (3 sp.), West Africa; Melittophagus (6 sp.), Ethiopian region, except Madagascar.

{313}FAMILY 64.--TODIDÆ. (1 Genus, 5 Species.)

The Todies are delicate, bright-coloured, insectivorous birds, of small size, and allied to the Motmots, although externally more resembling flycatchers. They are wholly confined to the greater Antilles, the islands of Cuba, Hayti, Jamaica, and Porto Rico having each a peculiar species of Todus, while another species, said to be from Jamaica, has been recently described (Plate XVI. Vol. II. p. 67).

FAMILY 65.--MOMOTIDÆ. (6 Genera, 17 Species.)

The Motmots range from Mexico to Paraguay and to the west coast of Ecuador, but seem to have their head-quarters in Central America, five of the genera and eleven species occurring from Panama northwards, two of the genera not occurring in South America. The genera are as follows:--

Momotus (10 sp.), Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia, one species extending to Tobago, and one to Western Ecuador; Urospatha (1 sp.), Costa Rica to the Amazon; Baryphthengus (1 sp.), Brazil and Paraguay; Hylomanes (2 sp.), Guatemala; Prionirhynchus (2 sp.), Guatemala to Upper Amazon; Eumomota (1 sp.), Honduras to Chiriqui.

{314}FAMILY 66.--TROGONIDÆ. (7 Genera, 44 Species.)

The Trogons form a well-marked family of insectivorous forest-haunting birds, whose dense yet puffy plumage exhibits the most exquisite tints of pink, crimson, orange, brown, or metallic green, often relieved by delicate bands of pure white. In one Guatemalan species the tail coverts are enormously lengthened into waving plumes of rich metallic green, as graceful and marvellous as those of the Paradise-birds. Trogons are tolerably abundant in the Neotropical and Oriental regions, and are represented in Africa by a single species of a peculiar genus. The genera now generally admitted are the following:--

Trogon (24 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico, and west of the Andes in Ecuador; Temnotrogon (1 sp.), Hayti; Prionoteles (1 sp.), Cuba (Plate XVII. Vol. II. p. 67); Apaloderma (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Harpactes (10 sp.), the Oriental region, excluding China; Pharomacrus (5 sp.), Amazonia to Guatemala; Euptilotis (1 sp.), Mexico.

Remains of Trogon have been found in the Miocene deposits of France; and we are thus able to understand the existing distribution of the family. At that exceptionally mild period in the northern hemisphere, these birds may have ranged over all Europe and North America; but, as the climate became more severe they gradually became restricted to the tropical regions, where alone a sufficiency of fruit and insect-food is found all the year round.

{315}FAMILY 67.--ALCEDINIDÆ. (19 Genera, 125 Species.)

The Kingfishers are distributed universally, but very unequally, over the globe, and in this respect present some of the most curious anomalies to be found among birds. They have their metropolis in the eastern half of the Malay Archipelago (our first Australian sub-region), from Celebes to New Guinea, in which district no less than 13 out of the 19 genera occur, 8 of them being peculiar; and it is probable that in no other equally varied group of universal distribution, is so large a proportion of the generic forms confined to so limited a district. From this centre kingfishers decrease rapidly in every direction. In Australia itself there are only 4 genera with 13 species; the whole Oriental region has only 6 genera, 1 being peculiar; the Ethiopian also 6 genera, but 3 peculiar; and each of these have less than half the number of species possessed by the Australian region. The Palæarctic region possesses only 3 genera, all derived from the Oriental region; but the most extraordinary deficiency is shown by the usually rich Neotropical region, which possesses but a single genus, common to the larger part of the Eastern Hemisphere, and the same genus is alone found in the Nearctic region, the only difference being that the former possesses eight, while the latter has but a single species. These facts almost inevitably lead to the conclusion that America long existed without kingfishers; and that in comparatively recent times (perhaps during the Miocene or Pliocene period), a species of the Old World genus, Ceryle, found its way into North America, and spreading rapidly southward along the great river-valleys has become differentiated in South America into the few closely allied forms that alone inhabit that vast country--the richest in the world in {316}fresh-water fish, and apparently the best fitted to sustain a varied and numerous body of kingfishers.

The names of the genera, with their distribution and the number of species in each, as given by Mr. Sharpe in his excellent monograph of the family, is as follows:--

Alcedo (9 sp.), Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions (but absent from Madagascar), and extending into the Austro-Malayan sub-region; Corythornis (3 sp.), the whole Ethiopian region; Alcyone (7 sp.), Australia and the Austro-Malayan sub-region, with one species in the Philippine Islands; Ceryle (13 sp.), absent only from Australia, the northern half of the Palæarctic region, and Madagascar; Pelargopsis (9 sp.), the whole Oriental region; and extending to Celebes and Timor in the Austro-Malayan sub-region; Ceyx (11 sp.), the Oriental region and Austro-Malayan sub-region, but absent from Celebes, and only one species in continental India and Ceylon; Ceycopsis (1 sp.), Celebes; Myioceyx (2 sp.), West Africa; Ipsidina (4 sp.), Ethiopian region; Syma (2 sp.), Papua and North Australia; Halcyon (36 sp.), Australian, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions, and the southern part of the Palæarctic; Dacelo (6 sp.), Australia and New Guinea; Todirhamphus (3 sp.), Eastern Pacific Islands only; Monachalcyon (1 sp.), Celebes; Caridonax (1 sp.), Lombok and Flores; Carcineutes (2 sp.), Siam to Borneo and Java; Tanysiptera (14 sp.), Moluccas New Guinea, and North Australia (Plate X. Vol. I. p. 414); Cittura (2 sp.), Celebes group; Melidora (1 sp.), New Guinea.

FAMILY 68.--BUCEROTIDIÆ. (12 Genera, 50 Species.)

The Hornbills form an isolated group of generally large-sized birds, whose huge bills form their most prominent feature. They are popularly associated with the American Toucans, but have no close relationship to them, and are now generally {317}considered to show most resemblance, though still a very distant one, to the kingfishers. They are abundant in the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, and extend eastward to the Solomon Islands. Their classification is very unsettled, for though they have been divided into more than twenty genera they have not yet been carefully studied. The following grouping of the genera--referring to the numbers in the Hand List--must therefore be considered as only provisional:--

(1957 1958 1963) Buceros (6 sp.), all Indo-Malaya, Arakan, Nepal and the Neilgherries (Plate IX. Vol. I. p. 339); (1959-1961) Hydrocissa (7 sp.), India and Ceylon to Malaya and Celebes; (1962) Berenicornis (2 sp.), Sumatra and West Africa; (1964) Calao (3 sp.), Tennaserim, Malaya, Moluccas to the Solomon Islands; (1965) Aceros (1 sp.), South-east Himalayas; (1966 1967) Cranorrhinus (3 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, Celebes; (1968) Penelopides (1 sp.), Celebes; (1969-1971) Tockus (15 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1972) Rhinoplax (1 sp.), Sumatra and Borneo; (1973-1975) Bycanistes (6 sp.), West Africa with East and South Africa; (1976 1977) Meniceros (3 sp.), India and Ceylon to Tenasserim; (1978) Bucorvus (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa.

FAMILY 69.--UPUPIDÆ. (1 Genus, 6 Species.)

The Hoopoes form a small and isolated group of semi-terrestrial insectivorous birds, whose nearest affinities are with the Hornbills. They are most characteristic of the Ethiopian region, but extend into the South of Europe and into all the continental divisions of the Oriental region, as well as to Ceylon, and northwards to Pekin and Mongolia.

{318}FAMILY 70.--IRRISORIDÆ. (1 Genus, 12 Species.)

The Irrisors are birds of generally metallic plumage, which have often been placed with the Epunachidæ and near the Sun-birds, or Birds of Paradise, but which are undoubtedly allied to the Hoopoes. They are strictly confined to the continent of Africa, ranging from Abyssinia to the west coast, and southward to the Cape Colony. They have been divided into several sub-genera which it is not necessary here to notice (Plate IV. Vol. I. p. 261).

FAMILY 71.--PODARGIDÆ. (3 Genera, 20 Species.)

The Podargidæ, or Frog-mouths, are a family of rather large-sized nocturnal insectivorous birds, closely allied to the Goat-suckers, but distinguished by their generally thicker bills, and especially by hunting for their food on trees or on the ground, instead of seizing it on the wing. They abound most in the Australian region, but one genus extends over a large part of the Oriental region. The following are the genera with their distribution:--

Podargus (10 sp.), Australia, Tasmania, and the Papuan Islands (Plate XII. Vol. I. p. 441); Batrachostomus (6 sp.), the Oriental region (excluding Philippine Islands and China) and the northern Moluccas; Ægotheles (4 sp.), Australia, Tasmania, and Papuan Islands.

{319}FAMILY 72.--STEATORNITHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

This family contains a single bird--the Guacharo--forming the genus Steatornis, first discovered by Humboldt in a cavern in Venezuela, and since found in deep ravines near Bogota, and also in Trinidad. Although apparently allied to the Goat-suckers it is a vegetable-feeder, and is altogether a very anomalous bird whose position in the system is still undetermined.

FAMILY 73.--CAPRIMULGIDÆ. (17 Genera, 91 Species.)

The Goat-suckers, or Night-jars, are crepuscular insectivorous birds, which take their prey on the wing, and are remarkable for their soft and beautifully mottled plumage, swift and silent flight, and strange cries often imitating the human voice. They are universally distributed, except that they do not reach New Zealand or the remoter Pacific Islands. The South American genus, Nyctibius, differs in structure and habits from the other goat-suckers and should perhaps form a distinct family. More than half the genera inhabit the Neotropical region. The genera are as follows:--

Nyctibius (6 sp.), Brazil to Guatemala, Jamaica; Caprimulgus (35 sp.), Palæarctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions, with the Austro-Malay Islands and North Australia; Hydropsalis (8 sp.), Tropical South America to La Plata; Antrostomus (10 {320}sp.), La Plata and Bolivia to Canada, Cuba; Stenopsis (4 sp.), Martinique to Columbia, West Peru and Chili; Siphonorhis (1 sp.), Jamaica; Heleothreptus (1 sp.), Demerara; Nyctidromus (2 sp.), South Brazil to Central America; Scortornis (3 sp.), West and East Africa; Macrodipteryx (2 sp.), West and Central Africa; Cosmetornis (1 sp.), all Tropical Africa; Podager (1 sp.), Tropical South America to La Plata; Lurocalis (2 sp.), Brazil and Guiana; Chordeiles (8 sp.), Brazil and West Peru to Canada, Porto Rico, Jamaica; Nyctiprogne (1 sp.), Brazil and Amazonia; Eurostopodus (2 sp.), Australia and Papuan Islands; Lyncornis (4 sp.), Burmah, Philippines, Borneo, Celebes.

FAMILY 74.--CYPSELIDÆ. (7 Genera, 53 Species.)

The Swifts can almost claim to be a cosmopolitan group, but for their absence from New Zealand. They are most abundant both in genera and species in the Neotropical and Oriental regions. The following is the distribution of the genera:--

Cypselus (1 sp.), absent only from the whole of North America and the Pacific; Panyptila (3 sp.), Guatemala and Guiana, and extending into North-west America; Collocalia (10 sp.), Madagascar, the whole Oriental region and eastward through New Guinea to the Marquesas Islands; Dendrochelidon (5 sp.), Oriental region and eastward to New Guinea; Chætura (15 sp.), Continental America (excluding South Temperate), West Africa and Madagascar, the Oriental region, North China and the Amoor, Celebes, Australia; Hemiprocne (3 sp.), Mexico to La Plata, Jamaica and Hayti; Cypseloides (2 sp.), Brazil and Peru; Nephæcetes (2 sp.), Cuba, Jamaica, North-west America.

{321}FAMILY 75.--TROCHILIDÆ. (118 Genera, 390 Species.)

The wonderfully varied and beautiful Humming-Birds are confined to the American continent, where they range from Sitka to Cape Horn, while the island of Juan Fernandez has two peculiar species. Only 6 species, belonging to 3 genera, are found in the Nearctic region, and most of these have extended their range from the south. They are excessively abundant in the forest-clad Andes from Mexico to Chili, some species extending up to the limits of perpetual snow; but they diminish in number and variety in the plains, however luxuriant the vegetation. In place of giving here the names and distribution of the numerous genera into which they are now divided (which will be found in the tables of the genera of the Neotropical region), it may be more useful to present a summary of their distribution in the sub-divisions of the American continent, as follows:--

Sub-region I. = Patagonia & S. Andes. Sub-region II. = Tropical S. America. Sub-region III. = Tropical N. America. Sub-region IV. = Antilles. Nearctic region = Temperate N. America.

-------- Sub-regions -------- Nearctic I. II. III. IV. Regions. Genera in each Sub-region 10 90 41 8 3 Peculiar Genera 3 58 14 5 0 Species in each Sub-region 15 275 100 15 6

The island of Juan Fernandez has two species, and Masafuera, an island beyond it, one; the three forming a peculiar genus. The island of Tres Marias, about 60 miles from the west coast of Mexico, possesses a peculiar species of humming-bird, and the Bahamas two species; but none inhabit either the Falkland Islands or the Galapagos.

Like most groups which are very rich in species and in generic forms, the humming-birds are generally very local, small {322}generic groups being confined to limited districts; while single mountains, valleys, or small islands, often possess species found nowhere else. It is now well ascertained that the Trochilidæ are really insectivorous birds, although they also feed largely, but probably never exclusively, on the nectar of flowers. Their nearest allies are undoubtedly the Swifts; but the wide gap that now separates them from these, as well as the wonderful variety of form and of development of plumage, that is found among them, alike point to their origin, at a very remote period, in the forests of the once insular Andes. There is perhaps no more striking contrast of the like nature, to be found, than that between the American kingfishers--confined to a few closely allied forms of one Old World genus--and the American humming-birds with more than a hundred diversified generic forms unlike everything else upon the globe; and we can hardly imagine any other cause for this difference, than a (comparatively) very recent introduction in the one case, and a very high antiquity in the other.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Picariæ.

The very heterogeneous mass of birds forming the Order Picariæ, contains 25 families, 307 genera and 1,604 species. This gives about 64 species to each family, while in the Passeres the proportion is nearly double, or 111 species per family. There are, in fact, only two very large families in the Order, which happen to be the first and last in the series--Picidæ and Trochilidæ. Two others--Cuculidæ and Alcedinidæ--are rather large; while the rest are all small, seven of them consisting only of a single genus and from one to a dozen species. Only one of the families--Alcedinidæ--is absolutely cosmopolitan, but three others are nearly so, Caprimulgidæ and Cypselidæ being only absent from New Zealand, and Cuculidæ from the Canadian sub-region of North America. Eleven families inhabit the Old World only, while seven are confined to the New World, only one of these--Trochilidæ--being common to the Neotropical and Nearctic regions.

The Picariæ are highly characteristic of tropical faunas, for {323}while no less than 15 out of the 25 families are exclusively tropical, none are confined to, or have their chief development in, the temperate regions. They are best represented in the Ethiopian region, which possesses 17 families, 4 of which are peculiar to it; while the Oriental region has only 14 families, none of which are peculiar. The Neotropical region has also 14 families, but 6 of them are peculiar. The Australian region has 8, the Palæarctic 9 and the Nearctic 6 families, but none of these are peculiar. We may see a reason for the great specialization of this tropical assemblage of birds in the Ethiopian and Neotropical regions, in the fact of the large extent of land on both sides of the Equator which these two regions alone possess, and their extreme isolation either by sea or deserts from other regions,--an isolation which we know was in both cases much greater in early Tertiary times. It is, perhaps, for a similar reason that we here find hardly any trace of the connection between Australia and South America which other groups exhibit; for that connection has most probably been effected by a former communication between the temperate southern extremities of those two continents. The most interesting and suggestive fact, is that presented by the distribution of the Megalæmidæ and Trogonidæ over the tropics of America, Africa, and Asia. In the absence of palæontological evidence as to the former history of the Megalæmidæ, we are unable to say positively, whether it owes its present distribution to a former closer union between these continents in intertropical latitudes, or to a much greater northern range of the group at the period when a luxuriant sub-tropical vegetation extended far toward the Arctic regions; but the discovery of Trogon in the Miocene deposits of the South of France renders it almost certain that the latter is the true explanation in the case of both these families.

The Neotropical region, owing to its enormous family of humming-birds, is by far the richest in Picariæ, possessing nearly half the total number of species, and a still larger proportion of genera. Three families, the Bucerotidæ, Meropidæ and Coraciidæ are equally characteristic of the Oriental and {324}Ethiopian regions, a few outlying species only entering the Australian or the Palæarctic regions. One family (Todidæ) is confined to the West Indian Islands; and another (Leptosomidæ) consisting of but a single species, to Madagascar; parallel cases to the Drepanididæ among the Passeres, peculiar to the Sandwich Islands, and the Apterygidæ among the Struthiones, peculiar to New Zealand.

Order III.--PSITTACI.

The Parrots have been the subject of much difference of opinion among ornithologists, and no satisfactory arrangement of the order into families and genera has yet been reached. Professor Garrod has lately examined certain points in the anatomy of a large number of genera, and proposes to revolutionize the ordinary classifications. Until, however, a general examination of their whole anatomy, internal and external, has been made by some competent authority, it will be unsafe to adopt the new system, as we have as yet no guide to the comparative value of the characters made use of. I therefore keep as much as possible to the old groups, founded on external characters, only using the indications furnished by Professor Garrod's paper, to determine the position of doubtful genera.

FAMILY 76.--CACATUIDÆ. (5 Genera, 35 Species.)

The Cacatuidæ, Plyctolophidæ, or Camptolophidæ, as they have been variously termed, comprise all those crested parrots usually termed Cockatoos, together with one or two doubtful forms. They are very abundant in the Australian region, more especially in the Austro-Malayan portion of it, one species inhabiting {325}the Philippine Islands; but they do not pass further east than the Solomon Islands and are not found in New Zealand. The distribution of the genera is as follow:--

Cacatua (18 sp.), ranges from the Philippine Islands, Celebes and Lombok, to the Solomon Islands and to Tasmania; Calopsitta (1 sp.), Australia; Calyptorhynchus (8 sp.), is confined to Australia and Tasmania; Microglossus (2 sp.), (perhaps a distinct family) to the Papuan district and North Australia; Licmetis (3 sp.), Australia, Solomon Islands, and (?) New Guinea; Nasiterna (3 sp.), a minute form, the smallest of the whole order, and perhaps not belonging to this family, is only known from the Papuan and Solomon Islands.

FAMILY 77.--PLATYCERCIDÆ. (11 Genera, 57 Species.)

The Platycercidæ comprise a series of large-tailed Parrots, of weak structure and gorgeous colours, with a few ground-feeding genera of more sober protective tints; the whole family being confined to the Australian region. The genera are:--

(1996 1999 2000) Platycercus (14 sp.), Australia, Tasmania, and Norfolk Island; Psephotus (6 sp.), Australia; Polytelis (3 sp.), Australia; Nymphicus (1 sp.), Australia and New Caledonia; (2002 2003) Aprosmictus (6 sp.), Australia, Papua, Timor, and Moluccas; Pyrrhulopsis (3 sp.), Tonga and Fiji Islands; Cyanoramphus (14 sp.), New Zealand, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, and Society Islands; Melopsittacus (1 sp.), Australia; Euphema (7 sp.), Australia; Pezoporus (1 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Geopsittacus (1 sp.), West Australia. The four last genera are ground-feeders, and are believed by Professor Garrod to be allied to the Owl-Parrot of New Zealand (Stringops).

{326}FAMILY 78.--PALÆORNITHIDÆ. (8 Genera, 65 Species.)

I class here a group of birds brought together, for the most part, by geographical distribution as well as by agreement in internal structure, but which is nevertheless of a very uncertain and provisional character.

Palæornis (18 sp.), the Oriental region, Mauritius, Rodriguez, and Seychelle Islands, and a species in Tropical Africa, apparently identical with the Indian P. torquatus, and therefore--considering the very ancient intercourse between the two countries, and the improbability of the species remaining unchanged if originating by natural causes--most likely the progeny of domestic birds introduced from India. Prioniturus (3 sp.), Celebes and the Philippine Islands; (2061) Geoffroyus (5 sp.), Bouru to Timor and the Solomon Islands; Tanygnathus (5 sp.), Philippines, Celebes, and Moluccas to New Guinea; Eclectus (8 sp.), Moluccas and Papuan Islands; Psittinus (1 sp.), Tenasserim to Sumatra and Borneo; Cyclopsitta (8 sp.), Papuan Islands, Philippines and North-east Australia; Loriculus (17 sp.), ranges over the whole Oriental region to Flores, the Moluccas, and the Papuan island of Mysol; but most of the species are concentrated in the district including the Philippines, Celebes, Gilolo, and Flores, there being 1 in India, 1 in South China, 1 in Ceylon, 1 in Java, 1 in Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo, 3 in Celebes, 5 in the Philippines, and the rest in the Moluccas, Mysol, and Flores. This genus forms a transition to the next family.

{327}FAMILY 79.--TRICHOGLOSSIDÆ. (6 Genera, 57 Species.)

The Trichoglossidæ, or Brush-tongued Paroquets, including the Lories, are exclusively confined to the Australian region, where they extend from Celebes to the Marquesas Islands, and south to Tasmania. The genus Nanodes (= Lathamus) has been shown by Professor Garrod to differ from Trichoglossus in the position of the carotid arteries. I therefore make it a distinct genus but do not consider that it should be placed in another family. The genera here admitted are as follows:--

Trichoglossus (29 sp.), ranges over the whole Austro-Malay and Australian sub-regions, and to the Society Islands; (2047) Nanodes (1 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Charmosyna (1 sp.), New Guinea (Plate X. Vol. I. p. 414); Eos (9 sp.), Bouru and Sanguir Island north of Celebes, to the Solomon Islands, and in Puynipet Island to the north-east of New Ireland; (2039 2040) Lorius (13 sp.), Bouru and the Solomon Islands; (2041 2043) Coriphilus (4 sp.), Samoa, Tonga, Society and Marquesas Islands.

FAMILY 80.--CONURIDÆ. (7 Genera, 79 Species.)

The Conuridæ, which consist of the Macaws and their allies, are wholly confined to America, ranging from the Straits of Magellan to South Carolina and Nebraska, with Cuba and Jamaica. Professor Garrod places Pyrrhura (which has generally {328}been classed as a part of the genus Conurus) in a separate family, on account of the absence of the ambiens muscle of the knee, but as we are quite ignorant of the classificational value of this character, it is better for the present to keep both as distinct genera of the same family. The genera are:--

Ara (15 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico and Cuba; Rhyncopsitta (1 sp.), Mexico; Henicognathus (1 sp.), Chili; Conurus (30 sp.), the range of the family; Pyrrhura (16 sp.), Paraguay and Bolivia to Costa Pica; Bolborhynchus (7 sp.), La Plata, Bolivia and West Peru, with one species in Mexico and Guatemala; Brotogerys (9 sp.), Brazil to Mexico.

FAMILY 81.--PSITTACIDÆ.--(12 Genera, 87 Species.)

The Psittacidæ comprise a somewhat heterogeneous assemblage of Parrots and Paroquets of the Neotropical and Ethiopian regions, which are combined here more for convenience than because they are believed to form a natural group. The genera Chrysotis and Pionus have no oil-gland, while Psittacula and Agapornis have lost the furcula, but neither of these characters are probably of more than generic value. The genera are:--

Psittacus (2 sp.), West Africa; Coracopsis (5 sp.), Madagascar, Comoro, and Seychelle Islands; Pæocephalus (9 sp.), all Tropical and South Africa; (2063-2066) Caica (9 sp.), Mexico to Amazonia; Chrysotis (32 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico and the West Indian Islands; Triclaria (1 sp.), Brazil; Deroptyus (1 sp.), Amazonia; Pionus (9 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico; Urochroma (7 sp.), Tropical South America; Psittacula (6 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; Poliopsitta (2 sp.), Madagascar and West Africa; Agapornis (4 sp.), Tropical and South Africa.

{329}FAMILY 82.--NESTORIDÆ. (? 2 Genera, 6 Species.)

The present family is formed to receive the genus Nestor (5 sp.), confined to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. Its affinities are doubtful, but it appears to have relations with the American Conuridæ and the Australian Trichoglossidæ. With it is placed the rare and remarkable Dasyptilus (1 sp.), of New Guinea, of which however very little is known.

FAMILY 83.--STRINGOPIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

This family contains only the curious owl-like nocturnal Parrot of New Zealand, Stringops habroptilus (Plate XIII. Vol. I. p. 455). An allied species is said to inhabit the Chatham Islands, if not now extinct.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Psittaci.

Although the Parrots are now generally divided into several distinct families, yet they form so well marked and natural a group, and are so widely separated from all other birds, that we may best discuss their peculiarities of geographical distribution by treating them as a whole. By the preceding enumeration we find that there are about 386 species of known parrots, which are divided into 52 genera. They are pre-eminently a tropical group, for although a few species extend a considerable distance into the temperate zone, these are {330}marked exceptions to the rule which limits the parrot tribe to the tropical and sub-tropical regions, roughly defined as extending about 30° on each side of the equator. In America a species of Conurus reaches the straits of Magellan on the south, while another inhabits the United States, and once extended to the great lakes, although now confined to the south-eastern districts. In Africa parrots do not reach the northern tropic, owing to the desert nature of the country; and in the south they barely reach the Orange River. In India they extend to about 35° N. in the western Himalayas; and in the Australian region, not only to New Zealand but to Macquarie Islands in 54° S., the farthest point from the equator reached by the group. But although found in all the tropical regions they are most unequally distributed. Africa is poorest, possessing only 6 genera and 25 species; the Oriental region is also very poor, having but 6 genera and 29 species; the Neotropical region is much richer, having 14 genera and 141 species; while the smallest in area and the least tropical in climate--the Australian region, possesses 31 genera and 176 species, and it also possesses exclusively 5 of the families, Trichoglossidæ, Platycercidæ, Cacatuidæ, Nestoridæ, and Stringopidæ. The portion of the earth's surface that contains the largest number of parrots in proportion to its area is, undoubtedly, the Austro-Malayan sub-region, including the islands from Celebes to the Solomon Islands. The area of these islands is probably not one-fifteenth of that of the four tropical regions, yet they contain from one-fifth to one-fourth of all the known parrots. In this area too are found many of the most remarkable forms,--all the crimson lories, the great black Cockatoos, the pigmy Nasiterna, the raquet-tailed Prioniturus, and the bareheaded Dasyptilus.

The almost universal distribution of Parrots wherever the climate is sufficiently mild or uniform to furnish them with a perennial supply of food, no less than their varied details of organization, combined with a great uniformity of general type,--tell us, in unmistakable language, of a very remote antiquity. The only early record of extinct parrots is, however, in the Miocene of France, where remains apparently allied to the West {331}African Psittacus, have been found. But the origin of so widespread, isolated, and varied a group, must be far earlier than this, and not improbably dates back beyond the dawn of the Tertiary period. Some primeval forms may have entered the Australian region with the Marsupials, or not long after them; while perhaps at a somewhat later epoch they were introduced into South America. In these two regions they have greatly flourished, while in the two other tropical regions only a few types have been found, capable of maintaining themselves, among the higher forms of mammalia, and in competition with a more varied series of birds. This seems much more probable than the supposition that so highly organized a group should have originated in the Australian region, and subsequently become so widely spread over the globe.

Order IV.--COLUMBÆ.

FAMILY 84.--COLUMBIDÆ. (44 Genera, 355 Species.)

The Columbidæ, or Pigeons and Doves, are almost universally distributed, but very unequally in the different regions. Being best adapted to live in warm or temperate climates, they diminish rapidly northwards, reaching about 62° N. Latitude in North America, but considerably farther in Europe. Both the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions are very poor in genera and species of pigeons, those of the former region being mostly allied to Neotropical, and those of the latter to Oriental and Ethiopian types. The Ethiopian region is, however, itself very poor, and several of its peculiar forms are confined to the Madagascar sub-region. The Neotropical region is very rich in peculiar genera, though but moderately so in number of species. The Oriental {332}region closely approaches it in both respects; but the Australian region is by far the richest, possessing nearly double the genera and species of any other region, and abounding in remarkable forms quite unlike those of any other part of the globe. The following table gives the number of genera and species in each region, and enables us readily to determine the comparative richness and isolation of each, as regards this extensive family:--

Regions. No. of Genera. Peculiar Genera. No. of Species. Neotropical 13 9 75 Nearctic 5 1 7 Palæarctic 3 0 9 Ethiopian 6 1 37 Oriental 12 1 66 Australian 24 14 148

With the exception of Columba and Turtur, which have a wide range, Treron, common to the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, and Carpophaga, to the Oriental and Australian, most of the genera of pigeons are either restricted to or very characteristic of a single region.

The distribution of the genera here admitted is as follows:--

Treron (37 sp.), the whole Oriental region, and eastward to Celebes, Amboyna and Flores, also the whole Ethiopian region to Madagascar; Ptilopus (52 sp.), the Australian region (excluding New Zealand) and the Indo-Malay sub-region; Alectroenas (4 sp.), Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands; Carpophaga (50 sp.), the whole Australian and Oriental regions, but much the most abundant in the former; (2274) Ianthoenas (11 sp.), Japan, Andaman, Nicobar, and Philippine Islands, Timor and Gilolo to Samoa Islands; (2278) Leucomelæna (1 sp.), Australia; Lopholaimus (1 sp.), Australia; (2279 and 2283) Alsæcomus (2 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon and Tenasserim; Columba (46 sp.), generally distributed over all the regions except the Australian, one species however in the Fiji Islands; Ectopistes (1 sp.), east of North America with British Columbia; Zenaidura (2 sp.), Veragua to Canada and British Columbia; Oena (1 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Geopelia (6 sp.), Philippine Islands and Java to Australia; Macropygia (14 sp.), Nepal, Hainan, Nicobar, Java, {333}and Philippines to Australia and New Ireland; Turacoena (3 sp.), Celebes, Timor, and Solomon Islands; Reinwardtoenas (1 sp.), Celebes to New Guinea; Turtur (24 sp.), Palæarctic, Ethiopian and Oriental regions with Austro-Malaya; Chæmepelia (7 sp.), Brazil and Bolivia to Jamaica, California, and South-east United States; Columbula (2 sp.), Brazil and La Plata to Chili; Scardafella (2 sp.), Brazil and Guatemala; Zenaida (10 sp.), Chili and La Plata to Columbia and the Antilles, Fernando Noronha; Melopelia (2 sp.), Chili to Mexico and California; Peristera (4 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; Metriopelia (2 sp.), West America from Ecuador to Chili; Gymnopelia (1 sp.), West Peru and Bolivia; Leptoptila (11 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico and the Antilles; (2317 2318 and 2820) Geotrygon (14 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico and the Antilles; Aplopelia (5 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, St. Thomas and Princes Island; Chalocopelia (4 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Starnoenas (1 sp.), Cuba; Ocyphaps (1 sp.), Australia (Plate XII. Vol. I. p. 441); Petrophassa (1 sp.), North-west Australia; Chalocophaps (8 sp.), the Oriental region to New Guinea and Australia; Trugon (1 sp.), New Guinea; Henicophaps (1 sp.), Waigiou and New Guinea; Phaps (3 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Leucosarcia (1 sp.), East Australia; Phapitreron (2 sp.), Philippine Islands; Geophaps (2 sp.), North and East Australia; Lophophaps (3 sp.), Australia; Caloenas (1 sp.), scattered on the smaller islands from the Nicobars and Philippines to New Guinea; Otidiphaps (1 sp.), New Guinea; Phlogoenas (7 sp.), Philippine Islands and Celebes to the Marquesas Islands; Goura (2 sp.), New Guinea and the islands on the north-east (Plate X. Vol. I. p. 414).

FAMILY 84_a_.--DIDUNCULIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

{334}The Didunculus stigirostris, a hook-billed ground-pigeon, found only in the Samoa Islands, is so peculiar in its structure that it is considered to form a distinct family.

FAMILY 85.--DIDIDÆ.--(2 Genera, 3 Species.)

The birds which constitute this family are now all extinct; but as numerous drawings are in existence, taken from living birds some of which were exhibited in Europe, and a stuffed specimen, fragments of which still remain, was in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford down to 1755, they must be classed among recent, as opposed to geologically extinct species. The Dodo (Didus ineptus) a large, unwieldy, flightless bird, inhabited Mauritius down to the latter part of the 17th century; and an allied form, the Solitaire (Pezophaps solitaria), was found only in the island of Rodriguez, where it survived about a century later. Old voyagers mention a Dodo also in Bourbon, and a rude figure of it exists; but no remains of this bird have been found. Almost complete skeletons of the Dodo and Solitaire have, however, been recovered from the swamps of Mauritius and the caves of Rodriguez, proving that they were both extremely modified forms of pigeon. These large birds were formerly very abundant, and being excellent eating and readily captured, the early voyagers to these islands used them largely for food. As they could be caught by man, and very easily by dogs, they were soon greatly diminished in numbers; and the introduction of swine, which ran wild in the forests and fed on the eggs and young birds, completed their extermination.

The existence in the Mascarene Islands of a group of such remarkable terrestrial birds, with aborted wings, is parallel to that of the Apteryx and Dinornis in New Zealand, the Cassowaries of Austro-Malaya, and the short-winged Rails of New {335}Zealand, Tristan d'Acunha, and other oceanic islands; and the phenomenon is clearly dependent on the long-continued absence of enemies, which allowed of great increase of bulk and the total loss of the power of flight, without injury. In some few cases (the Ostrich for example) birds incapable of flight co-exist with large carnivorous mammalia; but these birds are large and powerful, as well as very swift, and are thus able to escape from some enemies and defend themselves against others. The entire absence of the smaller and more defenceless ground-birds from the adjacent island of Madagascar, is quite in accordance with this view, because that island has several small but destructive carnivorous animals.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Columbæ.

The striking preponderance of Pigeons, both as to genera and species, in the Australian region, would seem to indicate that at some former period it possessed a more extensive land area in which this form of bird-life took its rise. But there are other considerations which throw doubt upon this view. The western half of the Malay Archipelago, belonging to the Oriental region, is also rich in pigeons, since it has 43 species belonging to 11 genera, rather more than are found in all the rest of the Oriental region. Again, we find that the Mascarene Islands and the Antilles both possess more pigeons than we should expect, in proportion to those of the regions to which they belong, and to their total amount of bird-life. This looks as if islands were more favourable to pigeon-development than continents; and if we group together the Pacific and the Malayan Islands, the Mascarene group and the Antilles, we find that they contain together about 170 species of pigeons belonging to 24 out of the 47 genera here adopted; while all the great continents united only produce about the same number of species belonging (if we omit those peculiar to Australia) to only 20 genera. The great development of the group in the Australian region may, therefore, be due to its consisting mainly of islands, and not to the order having originated there, and thus having had a longer period in which to develop. I have elsewhere suggested (Ibis 1865, p. 366) {336}a physical cause for this peculiarity of distribution. Pigeons build rude, open nests, and their young remain helpless for a considerable period. They are thus exposed to the attacks of such arboreal quadrupeds or other animals as feed on eggs or young birds. Monkeys are very destructive in this respect; and it is a noteworthy fact that over the whole Australian region, the Mascarene Islands and the Antilles, monkeys are unknown. In the Indo-Malay sub-region, where monkeys are generally plentiful, the greatest variety of pigeons occurs in the Philippines, where there is but a single species in one island; and in Java, where monkeys are far less numerous than in Sumatra or Borneo. If we add to this consideration the fact, that mammalia and rapacious birds are, as a rule, far less abundant in islands than on continents; and that the extreme development of pigeon-life is reached in the Papuan group of islands, in which mammalia (except a few marsupials, bats, and pigs) are wholly absent, we see further reason to adopt this view. It is also to be noted that in America, comparatively few pigeons are found in the rich forests (comparable to those of the Australian insular region in which they abound), but are mostly confined to the open campos, the high Andes, and the western coast districts, from which the monkey-tribe are wholly absent.

This view is further supported by the great development of colour that is found in the pigeons of these insular regions, culminating in the golden-yellow fruit-dove of the Fiji Islands, the metallic green Nicobar-pigeon of Malaya, and the black and crimson Alectroenas of Mauritius. Here also, alone, we meet with crested pigeons, rendering the possessors more conspicuous; such as the Lopholaimus of Australia and the crowned Goura of New Guinea; and here too are more peculiar forms of terrestrial pigeons than elsewhere, though none have completely lost the power of flight but the now extinct Dididæ.

The curious liking of pigeons for an insular habitat is well shown in the genera Ianthoenas and Caloenas. The former, containing 11 species, ranges over a hundred degrees of longitude, and forty-five of latitude, extending into three regions, yet nowhere inhabits a continent or even a large island. It is {337}found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; in the Philippines, Gilolo, and the smaller Papuan Islands, and in Japan; yet not in any of the large Malay Islands or in Australia. The other genus, Caloenas, consists of but a single species, yet this ranges from the Nicobar Islands to New Guinea. It is not, however, as far as known, found on any of the large islands, but seems to prefer the smaller islands which surround them. We here have the general preference of pigeons for islands, further developed in these two genera into a preference for small islands; and it is probable that the same cause--the greater freedom from danger--has produced both phenomena.

Of the geological antiquity of the Columbæ we have no evidence; but their wide distribution, their varied forms, and their great isolation, all point to an origin, at least as far back as that we have assigned as probable in the case of the Parrots.

Order V.--GALLINÆ.

FAMILY 86.--PTEROCLIDÆ. (2 Genera, 16 Species.)

The Pteroclidæ, or Sand-grouse, are elegantly formed birds with pointed tails, and plumage of beautifully varied protective tints, characteristic of the Ethiopian region and Central Asia, though extending into Southern Europe and Hindostan. Being pre-eminently desert-birds, they avoid the forest-districts of all these countries, but abound in the most arid situations and on the most open and barren plains. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Pterocles (14 sp.), has the same range as the family; Syrrhaptes (2 sp.), normally inhabits Tartary, Thibet, and Mongolia to the country around Pekin, and occasionally visits Eastern Europe. But a few years back (1863) great numbers suddenly appeared in {338}Europe and extended westward to the shores of the Atlantic, while some even reached Ireland and the Færoes. (Plate III. Vol. I. p. 226.)

FAMILY 87.--TETRAONIDÆ. (29 Genera, 170 Species.)

The Tetraonidæ, including the Grouse, Partridges, Quails, and allied forms, abound in all parts of the Eastern continents; they are less plentiful in North America and comparatively scarce in South America, more than half the Neotropical species being found north of Panama; and in the Australian region there are only a few of small size. The Ethiopian region probably contains most species; next comes the Oriental--India proper from the Himalayas to Ceylon having twenty; while the Australian region, with 15 species, is the poorest. These facts render it probable that the Tetraonidæ are essentially denizens of the great northern continents, and that their entrance into South America, Australia, and even South Africa, is, comparatively speaking, recent. They have developed into forms equally suited to the tropical plains and the arctic regions, some of them being among the few denizens of the extreme north, as well as of the highest alpine snows. The genera are somewhat unsettled, and there is even some uncertainty as to the limits between this family and the next; but the following are those now generally admitted:--

Ptilopachus (1 sp.), West Africa; Francolinus (34 sp.), all Africa, South Europe, India to Ceylon, and South China; Ortygornis (3 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon, Sumatra, and Borneo; Peliperdix (1 sp.), West Africa; Perdix (3 sp.), the whole Continental Palæarctic region; Margaroperdix (1 sp.), Madagascar; Oreoperdix (1 sp.), Formosa; Arborophila (8 sp.), the Oriental Continent and the Philippines; Peloperdix (4 sp.), Tenasserim and Malaya; Coturnix (21 sp.), Temperate Palæarctic, Ethiopian and {339}Oriental regions, and the Australian to New Zealand; Rollulus (2 sp.), Siam to Sumatra, Borneo, and Philippines; Caloperdix (1 sp.), Malacca and Sumatra; Odontophorus (17 sp.), Brazil and Peru to Mexico; Dendrortyx (3 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; Cyrtonyx (3 sp.), Guatemala to New Mexico; Ortyx (8 sp.), Honduras and Cuba to Canada; Eupsychortyx (6 sp.), Brazil and Ecuador to Mexico; Callipepla (3 sp.), Mexico to California; Lophortyx (2 sp.), Arizona and California; Oreortyx (1 sp.), California and Oregon (Plate XVIII., Vol. II. p. 128); Lerwa (1 sp.), Snowy Himalayas and East Thibet; Caccabis (10 sp.), Palæarctic region to Abyssinia, Arabia and the Punjaub; Tetraogallus (4 sp.), Caucasus and Himalayas to Altai Mountains; Tetrao (7 sp.), northern parts of Palæarctic and Nearctic regions; Centrocercus (1 sp.), Rocky Mountains; Pediocætes (2 sp.), North and North-west America (Plate XVIII. Vol. II. p. 128); Cupidonia (1 sp.), East and North-Central United States and Canada; Bonasa (3 sp.), north of Nearctic and Palæarctic regions; Lagopus (6 sp.), Arctic Zone and northern parts of Nearctic and Palæarctic regions.

FAMILY 88.--PHASIANIDÆ. (18 Genera, 75 Species.)

The Phasianidæ, including the Pea-fowl, Pheasants, and Jungle-fowl, the Turkeys, and the Guinea-fowl, are very widely distributed, but are far more abundant than elsewhere in the Eastern parts of Asia, both tropical and temperate. Leaving out the African guinea-fowls and the American turkeys, we have 13 genera and 63 species belonging to the Oriental and Palæarctic regions. These are grouped by Mr. Elliot (whose arrangement we mainly follow) in 5 sub-families, of which 3--Pavonniæ, Euplocaminæ, and Gallinæ--are chiefly Oriental, while the Lophophorniæ and Phasianinæ are mostly Palæarctic or from the highlands on the {340}borders of the two regions. The genera adopted by Mr. Elliot in his Monograph are the following:--

PAVONINÆ, 4 genera.--Pavo (2 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon, Siam, to South-west China and Java; Argusianus (4 sp.), Siam, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo (Plate IX. Vol. I. p. 339); Polyplectron (5 sp.), Upper Assam to South-west China and Sumatra; Crossoptilon (4 sp.), Thibet and North China. (Plate III. Vol. I. p. 226.)

LOPHOPHORINÆ, 4 genera.--Lophophorus (3 sp.), High woody region of Himalayas from Cashmere to West China; Tetraophasis (1 sp.), East Thibet; Ceriornis (5 sp.), Highest woody Himalayas from Cashmere to Bhotan and Western China (Plate VII. Vol. I. p. 331); Pucrasia (3 sp.), Lower and High woody Himalayas from the Hindoo Koosh to North-west China.

PHASIANINÆ, 2 genera.--Phasianus (12 sp.), Western Asia to Japan and Formosa, south to near Canton and Yunan, and the Western Himalayas, north to the Altai Mountains; Thaumalea (3 sp.), North-western China and Mongolia. (Plate III. Vol. I. p. 226.)

EUPLOCAMINÆ, 2 genera.--Euplocamus (12 sp.), Cashmere, along Southern Himalayas to Siam, South China and Formosa, and to Sumatra and Borneo; Ithaginis (2 sp.), High Himalayas from Nepal to North-west China.

GALLINÆ, 1 genus.--Gallus (4 sp.), Cashmere to Hainan, Ceylon, Borneo, Java, and eastwards to Celebes and Timor. (Central India, Ceylon, and East Java, have each a distinct species of Jungle-fowl.)

MELEAGRINÆ, 1 genus.--Meleagris (3 sp.), Eastern and Central United States and south to Mexico, Guatemala and Yucatan.

AGELASTINÆ, 2 genera.--Phasidus (1 sp.), West Africa; Agelastes (1 sp.), West Africa.

NUMIDINÆ, 2 genera.--Acryllium (1 sp.), West Africa; Numida (9 sp.), Ethiopian region, east to Madagascar, south to Natal and Great Fish River.

{341}FAMILY 89.--TURNICIDÆ. (2 Genera, 24 Species.)

The Turnicidæ are small Quail-like birds, supposed to have remote affinities with the American Tinamous, and with sufficient distinctive peculiarities to constitute a separate family. They range over the Old World, from Spain all through Africa and Madagascar, and over the whole Oriental region to Formosa, and then north again to Pekin, as well as south-eastward to Australia and Tasmania. The genus Turnix (23 sp.), has the range of the family; Ortyxelos (1 sp.), inhabits Senegal; but the latter genus may not belong to this family.

FAMILY 90.--MEGAPODIIDÆ. (4 Genera, 20 Species.)

The Megapodiidæ, or Mound-makers and Brush-turkeys, are generally dull-coloured birds of remarkable habits and economy, which have no near allies, but are supposed to have a remote affinity with the South American Curassows. They are highly characteristic of the Australian region, extending into almost every part of it except New Zealand and the remotest Pacific islands, and only sending two species beyond its limits,--a Megapodius in the Philippine Islands and North-west Borneo, and another in the Nicobar Islands, separated by about 1,800 miles from its nearest ally in Lombok. The Philippine species offers little difficulty, for these birds are found on the smallest {342}islands and sand-banks, and can evidently pass over a few miles of sea with ease; but the Nicobar bird is a very different case, because none of the numerous intervening islands offer a single example of the family. Instead of being a well-marked and clearly differentiated form, as we should expect to find it if its remote and isolated habitat were due to natural causes, it so nearly resembles some of the closely-allied species of the Moluccas and New Guinea, that, had it been found with them, it would hardly have been thought specifically extinct. I therefore believe that it is probably an introduction by the Malays, and that, owing to the absence of enemies and general suitability of conditions, it has thriven in the islands and has become slightly differentiated in colour from the parent stock. The following is the distribution of the genera at present known:--

Talegallus (2 sp.), New Guinea and East Australia; Megacephalon (1 sp.), East Celebes; Lipoa (1 sp.), South Australia; Megapodius (16 sp.), Philippine Islands and Celebes, to Timor, North Australia, New Caledonia, the Marian and Samoa Islands, and probably every intervening island,--also a species (doubtfully indigenous) in the Nicobar Islands.

FAMILY 91.--CRACIDÆ, (12 Genera, 53 Species.)

(Messrs. Sclater and Salvin's arrangement is here followed).

The Cracidæ, or Curassows and Guans, comprise the largest and handsomest game-birds of the Neotropical region, where they take the place of the grouse and pheasants of the Old World. They are almost all forest-dwellers, and are a strictly Neotropical family, only one species just entering the Nearctic region as far as New Mexico. They extend southward to Paraguay and the extreme south of Brazil, but none are found in the {343}Antilles, nor west of the Andes south of the bay of Guayaquil. The sub-families and genera are as follows:--

CRACINÆ, 4 genera.--Crax (8 sp.), Mexico to Paraguay (Plate XV., Vol. II. p. 28); Nothocrax (1 sp.), Guiana, Upper Rio Negro, and Upper Amazon; Pauxi (1 sp.), Guiana to Venezuela; Mitua (2 sp.), Guiana and Upper Amazon.

PENELOPINÆ, 7 genera.--Stegnolæma (1 sp.), Columbia and Ecuador; Penelope (14 sp.), Mexico to Paraguay and to western slope of Ecuadorian Andes; Penelopina (1 sp.), Guatemala; Pipile (3 sp.), Venezuela to Eastern Brazil; Aburria (1 sp), Columbia; Chamæpetes (2 sp.), Costa Rica to Peru; Ortalida (18 sp.), New Mexico to Paraguay, also Tobago.

OREOPHASINÆ, 1 genus.--Oreophasis (1 sp.), Guatemala.

It thus appears that the Cracinæ are confined to South America east of the Andes, except one species in Central America; whereas nine Penelopinæ and Oreophasis are found north of Panama. The species of the larger genera are strictly representative, each having its own distinct geographical area, so that two species of the same genus are rarely or never found in the same locality.

FAMILY 92.--TINAMIDÆ. (9 Genera, 39 Species.)

The Tinamous are a very remarkable family of birds, with the general appearance of partridges or hemipodes, but with the tail either very small or entirely wanting. They differ greatly in their organization from any of the Old World Gallinæ, and approach, in some respects, the Struthiones or Ostrich tribe. They are very terrestrial in their habits, inhabiting the forests, open plains, and mountains of the Neotropical region, from Patagonia and Chili to Mexico; but, like the Cracidæ, they are absent from the Antilles. Their colouring is very sober and protective, as is the case with so many ground-birds, and they are seldom adorned {344}with crests or other ornamental plumes, so prevalent in the order to which they belong. The sub-families and genera, according to the arrangement of Messrs. Sclater and Salvin, are as follows:--

TINAMINÆ, 7 genera.--Tinamus (7 sp.), Mexico to Paraguay; Nothocercus (3 sp.), Costa Rica to Venezuela and Ecuador; Crypturus (16 sp.), Mexico to Paraguay and Bolivia; Rhynchotus (2 sp.), Bolivia and South Brazil to La Plata; Nothoprocta (4 sp.), Ecuador to Bolivia and Chili; Nothura (4 sp.), Brazil and Bolivia to Patagonia; Taoniscus (1 sp.), Brazil to Paraguay.

TINAMOTINÆ, 2 genera.-- Calodromas (1 sp.), La Plata and Patagonia; Tinamotis (1 sp.), Andes of Peru and Bolivia.

General Remarks on the Distribution of Gallinæ.

There are about 400 known species of Gallinaceous birds grouped into 76 genera, of which no less than 65 are each restricted to a single region. The Tetraonidæ are the only cosmopolitan family, and even these do not extend into Temperate South America, and are very poorly represented in Australia. The Cracidæ and Tinamidæ are strictly Neotropical, the Megapodiidæ almost as strictly Australian. There remains the extensive family of the Phasianidæ, which offers some interesting facts. We have first the well-marked sub-families of the Numidinæ and Meleagrinæ, confined to the Ethiopian and Nearctic regions respectively, and we find the remaining five sub-families, comprising about 60 species, many of them the most magnificent of known birds, spread over the Oriental and the south-eastern portion of the Palæarctic regions. This restriction is remarkable, since there is no apparent cause in climate or vegetation why pheasants should not be found wild throughout southern Europe, as they were during late Tertiary and Post-Tertiary times. We have also to notice the remarkable absence of the Pheasant tribe from Hindostan and Ceylon, where the peacock and jungle-fowl are their sole representatives. These two forms also alone extend to Java, whereas in the adjacent islands of Borneo and Sumatra we have Argusianus, Polyplectron, and Euplocamus. The common jungle-fowl (the origin of our domestic poultry) is the only {345}species which enters the Australian region as far as Celebes and Timor, and another species (Gallus æneus) as far as Flores, and it is not improbable that these may have been introduced by man and become wild.

We have very little knowledge of the extinct forms of Gallinæ, but what we have assures us of their high antiquity, since we find such distinct groups as the jungle-fowl, partridges, and Pterocles, represented in Europe in the Miocene period; while the Turkey, then as now, appears to have been a special American type.

Order VI.--OPISTHOCOMI.

FAMILY 93.--OPISTHOCOMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Hoazin (Opisthocomus cristatus) is the sole representative of this family and of the order Opisthocomi. It inhabits the eastern side of Equatorial America in Guiana and the Lower Amazon; and at Pará is called "Cigana" or gipsy. It is a large, brown, long-legged, weakly-formed and loosely-crested bird, having such anomalies of structure that it is impossible to class it along with any other family. It is one of those survivors, which tell us of extinct groups, of whose past existence we should otherwise, perhaps, remain for ever ignorant.

Order VII.--ACCIPITRES.

FAMILY 94.--VULTURIDÆ. (10 Genera, 25 Species.)

{346}Vultures range over all the great continents south of the Arctic Circle, being only absent from the Australian region, the Malay Islands, Ceylon, and Madagascar. The Old and New World forms are very distinct, belonging to two well-marked divisions, often ranked as families. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Sub-family I. VULTURINÆ (6 genera, 16 species), confined to the Old World.--Vultur (1 sp.), Spain and North Africa through Nepal to China north of Ningpo; Gyps (5 sp.), Europe south of 59°, Africa, except the western sub-region, India, Siam, and Northern China; Pseudogyps (2 sp.), North-east Africa and Senegal, India and Burmah; Otogyps (2 sp.), South Europe, North-east and South Africa, India, and Siam; Lophogyps (1 sp.), North-east and South Africa and Senegal; Neophron (4 sp.), South Europe, India and the greater part of Africa.

Sub-family II. SARCORHAMPHINÆ (4 genera, 9 species), confined to the New World.--Sarcorhamphus (2 sp.), "The Condor," Andes of South America, and southern extremity below 41° south latitude; Cathartes (1 sp.), America from 20° south latitude to Trinidad and Mexico; Catharistes (1 sp.), America from 40° north to 40° south latitude, but not on Pacific coast of United States; Pseudogryphis (5 sp.), South America and Falkland Islands, and to 49° north latitude in North America, also Cuba and Jamaica.

FAMILY 95.--SERPENTARIIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The singular Secretary Bird (Serpentarius) is found over a large part of Africa. Its position is uncertain, as it has affinities both with the Accipitres, through Polyboroides (?) and with Cariama, which we place near the Bustards. (Plate IV. Vol. I. p. 261.)

{347}FAMILY 96.--FALCONIDÆ. (69 Genera, 325 Species.)

The Falconidæ, including the various groups of Hawks, Kites, Buzzards, Eagles, and Falcons, are absolutely cosmopolitan, ranging far into the arctic zone and visiting the most remote oceanic islands. They are abundant in all the great continents and larger islands, preferring open to woody regions. They are divided into several sub-families, the range of some of which are restricted. For this family as well as the preceding I follow the arrangement of Mr. Sharpe's British Museum Catalogue, and shall give the approximate distribution of each sub-family, as well as of the several genera.

Sub-family I. POLYBORINÆ (2 genera, 10 species), the Neotropical region with California and Florida, Tropical and South Africa.--Polyborus (2 sp.), South America, and to California and Florida; Ibycter (8 sp.), Tierra del Fuego to Honduras and Guatemala.

Cariama and Serpentarius, which Mr. Sharpe puts here, are so anomalous that I think it better to class them in separate families--Serpentariidæ among the Accipitres, and Cariamidæ near the Bustards.

Sub-family II. ACCIPITRINÆ (10 genera, 87 species).--Cosmopolitan.--Polyboroides (2 sp.), Africa and Madagascar; Circus (15 sp.), Old and New Worlds, widely scattered, but absent from Eastern Equatorial America, and the Malay Archipelago except Celebes; Micrastur (7 sp.), and Geranospiza (2 sp.), Tropical parts of Neotropical region; Urotriorchis (1 sp.), West Africa; Erythrocnema (1 sp.), Chili and La Plata to California and Texas; Melierax (5 sp.), Africa except West African sub-region; Astur (30 sp.), cosmopolitan, except the Temperate South American sub-region; {348}Nisoides (1 sp.), Madagascar; Eutriorchis (1 sp.), Madagascar; Accipiter (23 sp.), cosmopolitan, except Eastern Oceania.

Sub-family III. BUTEONINÆ (13 genera, 51 sp.), cosmopolitan, except the Malay and Pacific Islands.--Urospizias (1 sp.), East and Central Australia; Heterospizias (1 sp.), Tropical South America east of the Andes; Tachytriorchis (2 sp.), Paraguay to California; Buteo (18 sp.), cosmopolitan, except the Australian region and the Indo-Malayan sub-region; Archibuteo (4 sp.), North America to Mexico and the cooler parts of the Palæarctic region; Buteola (1 sp.), Veragua to the Amazon Valley; Asturina (7 sp.), Paraguay and Bolivia to South-east United States; Busarellus (1 sp.), Brazil to Guiana; Buteogallus (1 sp.), Guiana and Columbia; Urubutinga (12 sp.), South Brazil and Bolivia to Mexico; Harpyhaliæetus (1 sp.), Chili and North Patagonia to Veragua; Morphnus (1 sp.), Amazonia to Panama; Thrasaëtus (1 sp.), Paraguay and Bolivia to Mexico.

Sub-family IV. AQUILINÆ (31 genera, 94 species), cosmopolitan.--Gypaëtus (2 sp.), south of Palæarctic region from Spain to North China, Abyssinia, and South Africa; Uroaëtus (1 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Aquila (9 sp.), Nearctic, Palæarctic, and Ethiopian regions and India; Nisaëtus (4 sp.), Africa and South Europe, India, Ceylon, and Australia; Lophotriorchis (2 sp.), Indo-Malay sub-region, and Bogotá in South America; Neopus (1 sp.), India and Ceylon to Burmah, Java, Celebes and Ternate; Spiziastur (1 sp.), Guatemala to Brazil; Spizaëtus (10 sp.), Central and South America, Africa, India, and Ceylon, to Celebes and New Guinea, Formosa, and Japan; Lophoaëtus (1 sp.), all Africa; Asturinula (1 sp.), Africa, except extreme south; Herpetotheres (1 sp.), Bolivia and Paraguay to Southern Mexico; Dryotriorchis (1 sp.), West Africa; Circaëtus (5 sp.) Africa to Central Europe, the Indian Peninsula, Timor; Spilornis (6 sp.), Oriental region and Celebes; Butastur (4 sp.), Oriental region to New Guinea and North-east Africa; Helotarsus (2 sp.), Africa south of the Sahara; Haliæetus (7 sp.), cosmopolitan, except the Neotropical region; Gypohierax (1 sp.), West Africa and Zanzibar; Haliastur (2 sp.), Indian Peninsula to Ceylon, New {349}Caledonia, and Australia; Nauclerus (= Elanoides) (1 sp.), Brazil to Southern United States; Elanoides (= Nauclerus) (1 sp.), Western and North-eastern Africa; Milvus (6 sp.), the Old World and Australia; Lophoictinia (1 sp.), Australia; Rostrhamus (3 sp.), Antilles and Florida to Brazil and Peru; Leptodon (4 sp.), Central America to South Brazil and Bolivia; Gypoictinia (1 sp.), South and West Australia; Elanus (5 sp.), Africa, India, and Malay Archipelago to Australia, South America to California; Gampsonyx (1 sp.), Trinidad to Brazil; Henicopernis (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; Machærhamphus (2 sp.), South-west Africa, Madagascar, and Malacca; Pernis (3 sp.), Palæarctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions.

Sub-family V. FALCONINÆ (11 genera, 80 species), cosmopolitan.--Baza (10 sp.), India and Ceylon to the Moluccas and North Australia, West Coast of Africa, Natal, and Madagascar; Harpagus (3 sp.), Central America to Brazil and Peru; Ictinia (2 sp.), Brazil to Southern United States; Hierax (= Microhierax, Sharpe), (4 sp.), Eastern Himalayas to Borneo and Philippines; Poliohierax (2 sp.), East Africa and Burmah; Spiziapteryx (1 sp.), La Plata; Harpa (1 sp.), New Zealand and the Auckland Islands; Falco (27 sp.), cosmopolitan, except the Pacific Islands; Hierofalco (6 sp.), Nearctic and Palæarctic regions; Hieracidea (2 sp.), Australia; Cerchneis (22 sp.), cosmopolitan, except Oceania.

FAMILY 97.--PANDIONIDÆ. (2 Genera, 3 Species.)

The Pandionidæ, or Fishing Hawks, are universally distributed, with the exception of the Southern Temperate parts of South America. The genera are:--

Pandion (1 sp.), the range of the entire family; Polioaëtus (2 sp.), India through Malay Archipelago to Celebes and Sandwich Islands.

{350}FAMILY 98.--STRIGIDÆ. (23 Genera, 180 Species.)

The Strigidæ, or Owls, form an extensive and well-known family of nocturnal birds, which, although invariably placed next the Hawks, are now believed to be not very closely allied to the other Accipitres. They range over the whole globe, extending to the extreme polar regions and to the remotest oceanic islands. Their classification is very unsettled, and we therefore place the genera, for convenience, in the order in which they follow each other in the Hand List of Birds. Those adopted by most ornithologists are the following:--

Surnia (1 sp.), the Arctic regions of both hemispheres; Nyctea (1 sp.), South Carolina to Greenland and Northern Europe; Athene (40 sp.), the Eastern hemisphere to New Zealand and the Solomon Islands; Ninox (7 sp.), the Oriental region, North China and Japan; Glaucidium (7 sp.), Neotropical region, California, and Oregon, Europe to North China; Micrathene (1 sp.), Mexico and Arizona; Pholeoptynx (2 sp.), Neotropical region, Texas, and North-west America; Bubo (16 sp.), universally distributed, excluding the Australian region; Ketupa (3 sp.), the Oriental region, Palestine; Scotopelia (2 sp.), West and South Africa; Scops (30 sp.), universally distributed, excluding Australia and Pacific Islands; Gymnoglaux (2 sp.), Antilles; Lophostrix (2 sp.), Lower Amazon to Guatemala; Syrnium (22 sp.), all regions but the Australian; Ciccaba (10 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico; Nyctalatinus (1 sp.), Columbia; Pulsatrix (2 sp.), Brazil and Peru to Guatemala; Asio (6 sp.), all regions but the Australian, Sandwich Islands; Nyctalops (1 sp.), Cuba and Mexico to Brazil and Monte Video; Pseudoscops (1 sp.), Jamaica; Nyctala (4 sp.), the North Temperate zone; Strix (18 sp.), universally distributed; Phodilus (1 sp.), Himalayas and Malaya.

{351}In Mr. Sharpe's Catalogue (published while this work was passing through the press) the genera of Owls are reduced to 19, arranged in two families--Strigidæ, containing our last two genera, and Bubonidæ, comprising the remainder. The species are increased to 190; but some genera are reduced, as Strix, which is said to contain only 5 species.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Accipitres.

The Birds of Prey are so widely distributed over the world's surface that their general distribution calls for few remarks. Of the four families all but one are cosmopolites, Vultures alone being absent from the Australian region, as well as from Indo-Malaya and Madagascar. If we take the sub-families, we find that each region has several which are confined to it. The only parts of the world where there is a marked deficiency of Accipitres is in the islands of the Pacific; and it may be noted, as a rule, that these birds are more abundant in continents than in islands. There is not so much difference between the number of Birds of Prey in tropical and temperate regions, as is found in most other groups of land-birds. North America and Europe have about 60 species each, while India has about 80, and South America about 120. The total number of Accipitres is 550 comprised in 104 genera, and 4 (or perhaps more properly 5) families. In this estimate I have not included the Serpentariidæ, containing the Secretary Bird of Africa, as there is some doubt whether it really belongs to the Order.

Order VIII.--GRALLÆ.

FAMILY 99.--RALLIDÆ. (18 Genera, 153 Species.)

The Rails are among the most widely distributed families of birds, many of the genera being cosmopolitan, and several of the {352}species ranging over half the globe. They are found in many remote islands; and in some of these--as the Gallinula of Tristan d'Acunha, and the Notornis of Lord Howe's Island and New Zealand,--they have lost the power of flight. The classification of the Rallidæ is not satisfactory, and the following enumeration of the genera must only be taken as affording a provisional sketch of the distribution of the group:--

Rallus (18 sp.), Porzana (24 sp.), Gallinula (17 sp.), and Fulica (10 sp.), have a world-wide range; Ortygometra (1 sp.), ranges over the whole North Temperate zone; Porphyrio (14 sp.), is more especially Oriental and Australian, but occurs also in South America, in Africa, and in South Europe; Eulabeornis (15 sp.), is Ethiopian, Malayan, and Australian; Himantornis (1 sp.), is West African only; Aramides (24 sp.), is North and South American; Rallina (16 sp.), is Oriental, but ranges eastward to Papua; Habroptila (1 sp.), is confined to the Moluccas; Pareudiastes (1 sp.), the Samoa Islands; Tribonyx (4 sp.), is Australian, and has recently been found also in New Zealand; Ocydromus (4 sp.); Notornis (2 sp.), (Plate XIII. Vol. I. p. 455); and Cabalus (1 sp.), are peculiar to the New Zealand group.

The sub-family, Heliornithinæ (sometimes classed as a distinct family) consists of 2 genera, Heliornis (1 sp.), confined to the Neotropical region; and Podica (4 sp.), the Ethiopian region excluding Madagascar, and with a species (perhaps forming another genus) in Borneo.

Extinct Rallidæ.--Remains of some species of this family have been found in the Mascarene Islands, and historical evidence shows that they have perhaps been extinct little more than a century. They belong to the genus Fulica, and to two extinct genera, Aphanapteryx and Erythromachus. The Aphanapteryx was a large bird of a reddish colour, with loose plumage, and perhaps allied to Ocydromus. Erythromachus was much smaller, of a grey-and-white colour, and is said to have lived chiefly on the eggs of the land-tortoises. (See Ibis, 1869, p. 256; and Proc. Zool. Soc., 1875, p. 40.)

{353}FAMILY 100.--SCOLOPACIDÆ. (21 Genera, 121 Species.)

The Scolopacidæ, comprehending the Snipes, Sandpipers, Curlews, and allied genera, are perhaps as truly cosmopolitan as any family of birds, ranging to the extreme north and visiting the remotest islands. The genera of universal distribution are the following:--

Numenius (16 sp.); Limosa (6 sp.); Totanus (12 sp.); Tringoides, (6 sp.); Himantopus (6 sp.); Tringa (20 sp.); and Gallinago (24 sp.). Those which have a more or less restricted distribution are:--

Ibidorhyncha (1 sp.), Central Asia and the Himalayas (Plate VII. Vol. I. p. 331); Helodromas (1 sp.), Palæarctic region and North India; Terekia (1 sp.), East Palæarctic, wandering to India and Australia; Recurvirostra (6 sp.), Nearctic region to the High Andes, South Palæarctic, East and South Africa, Hindostan and Australia; Micropelama (1 sp.), North America to Chili; Machetes (1 sp.), Palæarctic region and Hindostan (Plate I. Vol. I. p. 195); Ereunetes (3 sp.), Nearctic and Neotropical; Eurinorhynchus (1 sp.), North-east Asia and Bengal; Calidris (1 sp.), all regions but Australian; Macrorhamphus (3 sp.), Palæarctic and Nearctic, visits Brazil and India; Scolopax (4 sp.), the whole Palæarctic region, to India, Java, and Australia; Philohela (1 sp.), East Nearctic; Rhynchæa (4 sp.), Ethiopian and Oriental, Australia, and Temperate South America; Phalaropus (3 sp.), North Temperate zone, and West Coast of America to Chili.

{354}FAMILY 101.--CHIONIDIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Sheath-bills, Chionis (2 sp.), are curious white birds, whose thick bill has a horny sheath at the base. Their nearest ally is Hæmatopus, a genus of Charadriidæ. These birds are confined to the Antarctic Islands, especially the Falkland Islands, the Crozets and Kerguelen's Land.

FAMILY 102.--THINOCORIDÆ. (2 Genera, 6 Species.)

The Thinocoridæ, or Quail-snipes, are small birds, confined to Temperate South America. They have much the appearance of Quails but are more nearly allied to Plovers. The two genera are:--

Attagis (4 sp.), Falkland Islands, Straits of Magellan, Chili, Bolivia, and the High Andes of Peru and Ecuador; Thinocorus (2 sp.), La Plata, Chili, and Peru. (Plate XVI. Vol. II. p. 40.)

FAMILY 103.--PARRIDÆ. (2 Genera, 11 Species.)

{355}The Parridæ, or Jacanas, are remarkable long-toed birds, often of elegant plumage, frequenting swamps and marshes, and walking on the floating leaves of aquatic plants. They are found in all the tropics. Parra (10 sp.), has the distribution of the family; Hydrophasianus (1 sp.), is confined to the Oriental region.

FAMILY 104.--GLAREOLIDÆ. (3 Genera, 20 Species.)

This family, comprising the Pratincoles and Coursers, is universally distributed over the Old World and to Australia.

Glareola (9 sp.), has the distribution of the family; Pluvianus (1 sp.), is confined to North Africa; Cursorius (10 sp.), ranges over Africa, South Europe and India.

The position of the genus Glareola is uncertain, for though generally classed here, Prof. Lilljeborg considers it to be an aberrant form of the Caprimulgidæ! It differs, in its insectivorous habits and in many points of external structure, from all its allies, and should probably form a distinct family.

FAMILY 105.--CHARADIIDÆ. (19 Genera, 101 Species.)

The extensive family of the Plovers and their numerous allies, ranges over the whole globe. The genera now usually admitted into this family are the following:--

Oedicnemus (9 sp.), is only absent from North America; Æsacus (2 sp.), India to Ceylon, Malay Islands and Australia; {356}Vanellus (3 sp.), Palæarctic and Neotropical regions; Chætusia (15 sp.), the whole Eastern Hemisphere; Erythrogonys (1 sp.), Australia; Hoplopterus (10 sp.), widely scattered, but absent from North America; Squatarola (1 sp), all the regions; Charadrius (14 sp.), cosmopolitan; Eudromias (5 sp.), Eastern Hemisphere and South Temperate America; Ægialitis (22 sp.), cosmopolitan; Oreophilus (1 sp.), South Temperate America; Thinornis (2 sp.), New Zealand; Anarhynchus (1 sp.), New Zealand (Plate XIII. Vol I. p. 455); Hæmatopus (9 sp.), cosmopolitan; Strepsilas (2 sp.) almost cosmopolitan; Aphriza (1 sp.), West Coast of America; Pluvianellus (1 sp.), Straits of Magellan; Dromas (1 sp.), India, Madagascar, and North-east Africa; Pedionomus (1 sp.), Australia. This last genus has usually been placed with the Turnicidæ.

FAMILY 106.--OTIDIDÆ. (2 Genera, 26 Species.)

The Otididæ, or Bustards, occur in all parts of the Old World and Australia where there are open tracts, being only absent from Madagascar and the Malay Archipelago.

Otis (2 sp.), ranges over most of the Palæarctic region; while Eupodotis (24 sp.), has the range of the family, but is most abundant in the Ethiopian region, which contains three-fourths of the whole number of species.

FAMILY 107.--GRUIDÆ. (3 Genera, 16 Species.)

{357}The Gruidæ, or Cranes, are found in all the regions except the Neotropical.

Grus (12 sp.) inhabits the southern and western United States, the whole Palæarctic region, South-east Africa, India, and Australia; Anthropoides (2 sp.), Europe, North and South Africa and India; Balearica (2 sp.), the Ethiopian region (except Madagascar).

FAMILY 108.--CARIAMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The genus Cariama (2 sp.), consists of remarkable crested birds inhabiting the mountains and open plains of Brazil and La Plata. In the British Museum Catalogue of the Birds of Prey, they are classed as aberrant Falconidæ, but their anomalous characters seem to require them to be placed in a distinct family, which seems better placed among the Waders.

FAMILY 109.--ARAMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Guaraünas are birds which have somewhat the appearance of Herons, but which are usually classed with the Rails. They are now, however, considered to form a distinct family. The only genus, Aramus (2 sp.), inhabits the Neotropical region, from Mexico and Cuba to Central Brazil.

{358}FAMILY 110.--PSOPHIIDÆ. (1 Genus, 6 Species.)

The remarkable and beautiful birds called Trumpeters, are confined to the various parts of the Amazon valley; and it is an interesting fact, that the range of each species appears to be bounded by some of the great rivers. Thus, Psophia crepitans inhabits the interior of Guiana as far as the south bank of the Rio Negro; on the opposite or north bank of the Rio Negro Psophia ochroptera is found; beyond the next great rivers, Japura and Iça, Psophia napensis occurs; on the south bank of the Amazon, west of the Madeira, we have the beautiful Psophia leucoptera; east of the Madeira this is replaced by Psophia viridis, while near Pará, beyond the Tapajoz, Xingu and Tocantins, there is another species, Psophia obscura. Other species may exist in the intervening river districts; but we have here, apparently, a case of a number of well-marked species of birds capable of flight, yet with their range in certain directions accurately defined by great rivers. (Plate XV. Vol. II. p. 28.)

FAMILY 111.--EURYPYGIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Eurypygidæ, or Sun-Bitterns, are small heron-like birds with beautifully-coloured wings, which frequent the muddy and wooded river-banks of tropical America. The only genus, Eurypyga (2 sp.), ranges from Central America to Brazil.

{359}FAMILY 112.--RHINOCHETIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The genus Rhinochetus (1 sp.), consists of a singular bird called the Kagu, which inhabits New Caledonia, an island which may be placed with almost equal propriety in our 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Australian sub-regions. It is a bird of a bluish ash-colour, with a loose plumage, partaking something of the appearance of Rail, Plover, and Heron, but with peculiarities of structure which require it to be placed in a distinct family. Its anatomy shows that its nearest allies are the South American genera, Eurypyga and Psophia.

FAMILY 113.--ARDEIDÆ. (5 Genera, 80 Species.)

The well-known Herons and Bitterns are found in every part of the globe, and everywhere closely resemble each other. Omitting the minuter sub-divisions, the genera are as follows:--

Ardea (60 sp.), cosmopolitan; Botaurus (6 sp.), almost cosmopolitan; Tigrisoma (4 sp.), Tropical America and West Africa; Nycticorax (9 sp.), cosmopolitan; Cancroma (1 sp.), Tropical America.

{360}FAMILY 114.--PLATALEIDÆ. (6 Genera, 30 Species.)

The Plataleidæ, including the Spoonbills and Ibises, have been classed either with the Herons or the Storks, but have most affinity with the latter. Though not very numerous they are found over the greater part of the globe, except the colder zones and the Pacific Islands. The following is the distribution of the genera:--

Platalea (6 sp.), all the warmer parts of the globe except the Moluccas and Pacific Islands; Ibis (2 sp.), Temperate North America and Tropical South America; Falcinellus (2 sp.), almost cosmopolitan; Geronticus (19 sp.), all Tropical countries and Temperate South America; Scopus (1 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; Balæniceps (1 sp.), the Upper Nile. This last genus the "Shoe-bird," or boat-billed heron, perhaps forms a distinct family.

FAMILY 115.--CICONIIDÆ. (5 Genera, 20 Species.)

The Ciconiidæ, or Storks, are mostly an Old World family, only three species inhabiting the Neotropical, and one, the Nearctic region. They are also absent from the islands of the Pacific, the Antilles, and, with one exception, from Madagascar. The genera are as follows:--

Ciconia (6 sp.), ranges through the Palæarctic, Ethiopian and {361}Oriental regions as far as Celebes, and in South America; Mycteria (4 sp.), inhabits Africa, India, Australia and the Neotropical region; Leptopiltus (3 sp.), the Ethiopian and Oriental regions to Java; Tantalus (5 sp.), the Ethiopian, Oriental and Neotropical regions, and the South-east of North America; Anastomus (2 sp.), the Ethiopian region, and India to Ceylon.

FAMILY 116.--PALAMEDEIDÆ. (2 Genera, 3 Species.)

The Palamedeidæ, or Screamers, are curious semi-aquatic birds of doubtful affinities, perhaps intermediate between Gallinæ and Anseres. They are peculiar to South America. The genera are:--

Palamedea (1 sp.), which inhabits the Amazon valley; Chauna (2 sp.), La Plata, Brazil and Columbia,

FAMILY 117.--PHOENICOPTERIDÆ. (1 Genus, 8 Species.)

The Flamingoes (Phoenicopterus) seem peculiar to the Ethiopian and Neotropical regions, ranging from the former into India and South Europe. America has four species, inhabiting Chili and La Plata, the Galapagos, Mexico and the West Indian islands; the others range over all Africa, South Europe, India and Ceylon. These singular birds are placed by some authors near the Spoonbills and Ibises, by others with the Geese. Professor Huxley considers them to be "completely {362}intermediate between the Anserine birds on the one side and the Storks and Herons on the other." The pterolysis according to Nitzsch is "completely stork-like."

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Grallæ, or Wading and Running Birds.

The Waders, as a rule, are birds of very wide distribution, the four largest families Rallidæ, Scolopacidæ, Charadriidæ and Ardeidæ, being quite cosmopolitan, as are many of the genera. But there are also a number of small families of very restricted distribution, and these all occur in the two most isolated regions, the Neotropical and the Australian. The Neotropical region is by far the richest in varied forms of Waders, having representatives of no less than 15 out of the 19 families, while 7 are altogether peculiar to it. The Australian region has 11 families, with 1 peculiar. The other two tropical regions each possess 11 families, but none are peculiar. The Palæarctic region has 10, and the Nearctic 7 families. No less than three families--Chionididæ, Thinocoridæ, and Cariamidæ--are confined to the Temperate regions and highlands of South America; while four others,--Aramidæ, Psophiidæ, Eurypygidæ and Palamedeidæ,--are found in Tropical America only; and these present such an array of peculiar and interesting forms as no other part of the globe can furnish. The Phoenicopteridæ or Flamingoes, common to the Tropical regions of Asia, Africa and America, but absent from Australia, is the only other feature of general interest presented by the distribution of the Waders.

The Order contains about 610 species, which gives about 32 species to each family, a smaller average than in the Gallinæ or Accipitres, and only about one-fourth of the average number in the Passeres. This is partly due to the unusual number of very small families, and partly to the wide average range of the species, which prevents that specialization of forms that occurs in the more sedentary groups of birds.

{363}Order IX.--ANSERES.

FAMILY 118.--ANATIDÆ. (40 Genera, 180 Species.)

The Anatidæ, comprehending the Ducks, Geese, and Swans with their allies, are of such universal distribution that there is probably no part of the globe where some of them are not occasionally found. They are, however, most abundant in temperate and cold regions; and, contrary to what occurs in most other families, the most beautifully-coloured species are extra-tropical, and some even arctic. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Anseranas (1 sp.), Australia; Plectropterus (2 sp.), Tropical Africa; Sarkidiornis (1 sp.), South America, Africa, and India; Chenalopex (1 sp.), Amazonia; Callochen (1 sp.), South Europe, North, East, and South Africa; Cereopsis (1 sp.), Australia; Anser (13 sp.), Palæarctic and Nearctic regions to Central America and the Antilles; Bernicla (12 sp.), Temperate regions of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; Chloephaga (5 sp.), South Temperate America and Aleutian Islands; Nettapus (4 sp.), Tropical Africa and Madagascar, India and Ceylon to Malaya and Australia; Cygnus (10 sp.), Temperate regions of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; Dendrocygna (10 sp.), Tropical and sub-tropical regions; Tadorna (3 sp.), Palæarctic and Australian regions; Casarca (5 sp.), Palæarctic, Oriental, Ethiopian, and Australian regions, to New Zealand; Aix (2 sp.), Temperate North America and Eastern Asia; Mareca (4 sp.), Palæarctic region, North America, Temperate South America, and Australia; Dafila (3 sp.), all America and the Palæarctic region; Anas (16 sp.), cosmopolitan; Querquedula (17 sp.), {364}cosmopolitan; Chaulelasmus (2 sp.), Palæarctic region and North America; Spatula (5 sp.), all Temperate regions; Malacorhynchus (1 sp.), Australia; Cairina (1 sp.), Tropical South America; Branta (1 sp.), Palæarctic region and India; Fuligula (5 sp.), North Temperate regions and New Zealand; Æthya (5 sp.), Palæarctic and Nearctic regions, India, Australia, and South Africa; Metopiana (1 sp.), South Temperate America; Bucephala (4 sp.), Nearctic and Palæarctic regions; Harelda (2 sp.), Northern Palæartic and Nearctic regions; Hymenolaimus (1 sp.), New Zealand; Camptolaimus (1 sp.), North-east of North America; Micropterus (1 sp.), Temperate South America; Somateria (5 sp.), Arctic and sub-arctic regions; Oedemia (5 sp.), Nearctic and Palæarctic regions; Biziura (1 sp.), Australia; Thalassornis (1 sp.), South Africa; Erismatura (6 sp.), all America, South-east Europe and South Africa; Nesonetta (1 sp.), Auckland Islands; Merganetta (3 sp.), Andes of Columbia to Chili; Mergus (6 sp.), Palæarctic and Nearctic regions, Brazil, and the Auckland Islands.

FAMILY 119.--LARIDÆ. (13 Genera, 132 Species.)

The Laridæ, or Gulls and Terns, are true cosmopolites, inhabiting the shores and islands of every zone; and most of the genera have also a wide range. They are therefore of little use in the study of geographical distribution. The genera are as follows:--

Stercorarius (6 sp.), cosmopolitan, most abundant in cold and temperate zones; Rhodostethia (1 sp), North America; Larus (60 sp.), cosmopolitan; Xema (1 sp.), North Temperate zone; Creagrus (1 sp.), North Pacific; Pagophila (1 sp.), Arctic seas; Rissa (3 sp.), Arctic and Northern seas; Sterna (36 sp.), cosmopolitan; Hydrochelidon (12 sp.), Tropical and Temperate zones; {365}Gygis (1 sp.), Indian Ocean and Tropical Pacific Islands; Anous (6 sp.), Tropical and Temperate zones; Nænia (1 sp.), South Temperate America; Rhynchops (3 sp.), Tropical America, Africa, and India.

FAMILY 120.--PROCELLARIIDÆ. (6 Genera, 96 Species.)

The Procellariidæ, comprising the Shearwaters, Petrels, and Albatrosses, are universally distributed, but some of the genera are local.

Puffinus (20 sp.), Procellaria (18 sp.), and Fulmarus (40 sp.), are cosmopolitan; Prion (5 sp.) and Pelecanoides (3 sp.), belong to the South Temperate and Antarctic regions; Diomedia (10 sp.), comprises the Albatrosses, which are tropical, occasionally wandering into temperate seas.

FAMILY 121.--PELECANIDÆ. (6 Genera, 61 Species.)

The Pelecanidæ, comprising the Gannets, Pelicans, Darters, and Frigate-Birds, although universally distributed, are more abundant in tropical and temperate regions.

Sula (8 sp.) and Phalacrocorax (35 sp.), are cosmopolitan; Pelecanus (9 sp.) is tropical and temperate; Fregetta (2 sp.) and Phaeton (3 sp.) are confined to Tropical seas; Ptotus (4 sp.) to Tropical and warm Temperate zones.

{366}FAMILY 122.--SPHENISCIDÆ. (3 Genera, 18 Species.)

The Penguins are entirely confined to the Antarctic and South Temperate regions, except two species which are found on the coast of Peru and the Galapagos. They are most plentiful in the southern parts of South America, Australia, New Zealand, and most of the Antarctic islands, and one or two species are found at the Cape of Good Hope. The genera as given in the Hand List are:--

Spheniscus (1 sp.), South Africa and Cape Horn; Eudyptes (15 sp.), with the range of the family; Aptenodytes (2 sp.), Antarctic Islands.

FAMILY 123.--COLYMBIDÆ. (1 Genus, 4 Species.)

The Northern Divers are confined to the Arctic and North Temperate Seas. The only genus, Colymbus, has one species confined to the West Coast of North America, the others being common to the two northern continents.

FAMILY 124.--PODICIPIDÆ. (2 Genera, 33 Species.)

{367}The Grebes are universally distributed. The genera are Podiceps (26 sp.), cosmopolitan; and Podilymbus (2 sp.), confined to North and South America. Some ornithologists group these birds with the Colymbidæ.

FAMILY 125.--ALCIDÆ. (7 Genera, 28 Species.)

The Alcidæ, comprising the Auks, Guillemots, and Puffins, are confined to the North Temperate and Arctic regions, where they represent the Penguins of the Antarctic lands. One of the most remarkable of these birds, the Great Auk, formerly abundant in the North Atlantic, is now extinct. The genera are as follows:--

Alca (2 sp.), North Atlantic and Arctic seas; Fratercula (4 sp.), Arctic and North Temperate zones; Ceratorhina (2 sp.), North Pacific; Simorhynchus (8 sp.), North Pacific; Brachyrhamphus (3 sp.), North Pacific to Japan and Lower California; Uria (8 sp.), Arctic and North Temperate zones; Mergulus (1 sp.), North Atlantic and Arctic Seas. The last three genera constitute the family Uriidæ, of some ornithologists.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Anseres.

The Anseres, or Swimmers, being truly aquatic birds, possess, as might be expected, a large number of cosmopolitan families and genera. No less than 5 out of the 8 families have a world-wide distribution, and the others are characteristic either of the North or the South Temperate zones. Hence arises a peculiarity of distribution to be found in no other order of birds; the Temperate being richer than the Tropical regions. The Nearctic and Palæarctic regions each have seven families of Anseres, two of which, the Colymbidæ and Alcidæ, are peculiar to them. The Ethiopian, Australian, and Neotropical regions, which all {368}extend into the South Temperate zone, have six families, with one peculiar to them; while the Oriental region, which is wholly tropical, possesses the five cosmopolitan families only.

There are about 78 genera and 552 species of Anseres, giving 69 species to a family, a high number compared with the Waders, and due to there being only one very small family, the Colymbidæ. The distribution of the Anseres, being more determined by temperature than by barriers, the great regions which are so well indicated by the genera and families of most other orders of birds, hardly limit these, except in the case of the genera of Anatidæ.

Order X.--STRUTHIONES.

FAMILY 126.--STRUTHIONIDÆ. (2 Genera, 4 Species.)

The Ostriches consist of two genera, sometimes formed into distinct families. Struthio (2 sp.) inhabits the desert regions of North, East, and South Africa, as well as Arabia and Syria. It therefore just enters the Palæarctic region. Rhea (3 sp.) inhabits Temperate South America, from Patagonia to the confines of Brazil.

FAMILY 127.--CASUARIIDÆ. (2 Genera, 11 Species.)

The Cassowaries and Emeus are confined to the Australian region. The Emeus, Dromæus (2 sp.), are found only on the {369}main-land of Australia (Plate XII. Vol. I. p. 441). Casuarius (9 sp.) inhabits the islands from Ceram to New Britain, with one species in North Australia; it is most abundant in the Papuan Islands.

FAMILY 128.--APTERYGIDÆ. (1 Genus, 4 Species.)

The species of Apteryx are entirely confined to the two larger islands of New Zealand. They are supposed to have some remote affinity with Ocydromus, a genus of Rails peculiar to Australia and New Zealand; but they undoubtedly form one of the most remarkable groups of living birds (Plate XIII. Vol. I. p. 445).

Struthious Birds recently extinct.

A number of sub-fossil remains of birds, mostly large and some of gigantic size, having affinities to the Apteryx and, less closely, to the Cassowaries, have been discovered in New Zealand. These are all classed by Professor Owen in the genus Dinornis and family Dinornithidæ; but Dr. Haast, from the study of the rich collections in the Canterbury (New Zealand) Museum, is convinced that they belong to two distinct families and several genera. His arrangement is as follows. (See Ibis, 1874, p. 209).

FAMILY 129.--DINORNITHIDÆ. (2 Genera, 7 Species.)

Dinornis (5 sp.); Meionornis (2 sp.).

These had no hind toe, and include the largest species. Professor Newton thinks that they were absolutely wingless, being the only birds in which the fore limbs are entirely wanting.

{370}FAMILY 130.--PALAPTERYGIDÆ. (2 Genera, 4 Species.)

Palapteryx (2 sp.); Euryapteryx (2 sp.).

These had a well-developed hind toe, and rudimentary wings.

FAMILY 131.--ÆPYORNITHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

A gigantic Struthious bird (Æpyornis), belonging to a distinct family, inhabited Madagascar.

It was first made known by its enormous eggs, eight times the bulk of those of the ostrich, which were found in a sub-fossil condition. Considerable portions of skeletons have since been discovered, showing that these huge birds formed an altogether peculiar family of the order.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Struthiones.

With the exception of the Ostrich, which has spread northward into the Palæarctic region, the Struthious birds, living and extinct, are confined to the Southern hemisphere, each continent having its peculiar forms. It is a remarkable fact that the two most nearly allied genera, Struthio and Rhea, should be found in Africa and South Temperate America respectively. Equally remarkable is the development of these large forms of wingless birds in Australia and the adjacent islands, and especially in New Zealand, where we have evidence which renders it probable that about 20 species recently coexisted. This points to the conclusion that New Zealand must, not long since, have formed a much more extensive land, and that the diminution of its area by subsidence has been one of the causes--and perhaps the main one--in bringing about the extinction of many of the larger species of these wingless birds.

The wide distribution of the Struthiones may, as we have already suggested (Vol. I., p. 287.), be best explained, by supposing them to represent a very ancient type of bird, developed at a time when the more specialized carnivorous mammalia had {371}not come into existence, and preserved only in those areas which were long free from the incursions of such dangerous enemies. The discovery of Struthious remains in Europe in the Lower Eocene only, supports this view; for at this time carnivora were few and of generalized type, and had probably not acquired sufficient speed and activity to enable them to exterminate powerful and quick-running terrestrial birds. It is, however, at a much more remote epoch that we may expect to find the remains of the earlier forms of this group; while these Eocene birds may perhaps represent that ancestral wide-spread type which, when isolated in remoter continents and islands, became modified into the American and African ostriches, the Emeus and Cassowaries of Australia, the Dinornis and Æpyornis of New Zealand.

{372}CHAPTER XIX.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF REPTILES AND AMPHIBIA.

REPTILIA.

Order I.--OPHIDIA.

FAMILY 1.--TYPHLOPIDÆ.--(4 Genera, 70 Species.)

The Typhlopidæ, or Blind Burrowing Snakes, are widely scattered over the warmer regions of the earth, but are most abundant in the Oriental and Australian regions, and least so in the Neotropical. They are absent from the Nearctic region; and in the Palæarctic are found only in South-eastern Europe and Japan.

The most extensive genus is Typhlops, comprising over 60 species, and having a range almost as extensive as the entire family. The other well characterised genera are:--

Typhlina (1 sp.), ranging from Penang to Java and Hong Kong; Typhline (1 sp.), the Cape of Good Hope; Dibamus (1 sp.), New Guinea.

{373}FAMILY 2.--TORTRICIDÆ. (3 Genera, 5 Species.)

The Tortricidæ, or Short-tailed Burrowing Snakes, are a small family, one portion of which ranges from India to Cambodja, and through the Malay islands as far as Celebes and Timor; these form the genus Cylindrophis. Another portion inhabits America, and consists of:--

Charina (1 sp.), found in California and British Columbia; and Tortrix (1 sp.), in Tropical America.

We have here a case of discontinuous distribution, indicating, either very imperfect knowledge of the group, or that it is the remnant of a once extensive family, on the road to extinction.

FAMILY 3.--XENOPELTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The curious nocturnal carnivorous Snake, forming the genus Xenopeltis, and the sole representative of this family, ranges from Penang to Cambodja, and through the Malay Islands to Celebes.

FAMILY 4.--UROPELTIDÆ. (5 Genera, 18 Species.)

{374}The Uropeltidæ, or Rough-tailed Burrowing Snakes, are strictly confined to Ceylon and the adjacent parts of Southern India, and would almost alone serve to mark out our second Oriental sub-region. The genera are:--

Rhinophis (7 sp.), Ceylon; Uropeltis (1 sp.), Ceylon; Silybura (8 sp.), Anamally Hills and Neilgherries; Plecturus (3 sp.), Neilgherries and Madras; and Melanophidium (1 sp.), the Wynand.

FAMILY 5.--CALAMARIIDÆ. (32 Genera, 75 Species.)

The Calamariidæ, or Dwarf Ground Snakes, are found in all warm parts of the globe, extending north into the United States as far as British Columbia and Lake Superior; but they are absent from the Palæarctic region, with the exception of a species found in Persia. The species are in a very confused state. The best characterised genera are the following:--

Calamaria (20 sp.), Persia, India to Java and the Philippine Islands, Celebes, and New Guinea; Rhabdosoma (18 sp.), Mexico and South America, and also the Malay Islands as far east as Amboyna, Timor, and New Guinea; Typhlocalamus (1 sp.), Borneo; Macrocalamus (1 sp.), India; Aspidura (3 sp.), India and Ceylon; Haplocerus (1 sp.), Ceylon; Streptophorus (3 sp.), Central and South America;--with a host of others of less importance or ill-defined.

FAMILY 6.--OLIGODONTIDÆ. (4 Genera, 40 Species.)

{375}The Oligodontidæ are a small family of Ground Snakes which have been separated from the Calamariidæ, and, with the exception of a few species, are confined to the Oriental region. The best characterised genera are:--

Oligodon (12 sp.), India, Ceylon, and Philippines; and, Simotes (24 sp.), India to China and Borneo. In addition to these, Achalinus is founded on a single species from Japan; and Teleolepis consists of three species from North and South America.

FAMILY 7.--COLUBRIDÆ. (50 Genera, 270 Species.)

The Colubrine Snakes are universally distributed over the globe, and they reach the extreme northern limits of the order. They are, however, almost absent from Australia, being there represented only by a few species of Tropidonotus and Coronella in the northern and eastern districts. This great family consists of four divisions or sub-families: the Coronellinæ (20 genera, 100 species), the Colubrinæ (16 genera, 70 species), the Dryadinæ (7 genera, 50 species), and the Natricinæ (7 genera, 50 species). The more important genera of Colubridæ are the following:--

Ablabes, Coronella, Ptyas, Coluber, and Tropidonotus--all have a very wide distribution, but the two last are absent from South America, although Tropidonotus reaches Guatemala; Tomodon, Xenodon, Liopis, Stenorhina, Erythrolampus, Elapochrus, Callirhinus, Enophrys, and Dromicus--are confined to the Neotropical region; Hypsirhynchus, Cryptodacus, Jaltris, and Coloragia, are confined to the West Indian Islands; Chilomeniscus, Conophis, Pituophis, and Ischcognathus, to North America, the latter going as far south as Guatemala; Compsosoma, Zamenis, Zaocys, Atretium, Xenochrophys, and Herpetoreas, are peculiarly Oriental, but Zamenis extends into South Europe; {376}Lytorhynchus, Rhamnophis, Herpetethiops and Grayia, are Ethiopian; Rhinechis is peculiar to Europe; Megablabes to Celebes, and Styporhynchus to Gilolo; Cyclophis, is found in the Oriental region, Japan, and North America; Spilotes, in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions; Xenelaphis in the Oriental, Ethiopian, and Palæarctic regions; Philodryas, Heterodon and Herpetodryas in America and Madagascar, the latter genus being also found in China.

FAMILY 8.--HOMALOPSIDÆ. (24 Genera, 50 Species.)

The Homalopsidæ, or Fresh-water Snakes, have been separated from the Hydridæ by Dr. Günther, and they include some groups which have been usually classed with the Natricinæ. They are especially characteristic of the Oriental region, where considerably more than half the genera and species are found; next comes the Neotropical region which has 6 species; while none of the other regions have more than 4 or 5. It is to be observed that the Ethiopian species occur in West Africa only, and mostly constitute peculiar genera, so that in this family the separation of the Ethiopian and Oriental regions is very well marked. The best characterised genera of the family are the following:--

Cantoria (10 sp.), ranging from Europe to Japan, the Philippines, and Timor, with one species in Guinea; Hypsirhina (6 sp.), Bengal, China, and Borneo; Fordonia (3 sp.), Rangoon to Borneo and Timor; Homalopsis (2 sp.), Cambodja to Java; Cerberus (2 sp.), Ceylon and Siam, the Malay Islands, New Guinea, and North Australia; Herpeton (1 sp.), Siam; Ferania (1 sp.), Bengal to Penang; Pythonopsis (1 sp.), Borneo; Myron (2 sp.), India and North Australia; Homalophis (1 sp.), Borneo; Hipistes (1 sp.), Penang; Xenodermus (1 sp.), Java; Neusterophis and Limnophis, with one species each, are peculiar to West {377}Africa; Helicops (2 sp.), North and South America; Farancia and Dimodes, with one species each, are from New Orleans; and a few others imperfectly known from Tropical America.

FAMILY 9.--PSAMMOPHIDÆ. (5 Genera, 20 Species.)

The Psammophidæ, or Desert Snakes, are a small group characteristic of the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, but more abundant in the former. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--

Psammophis (16 sp.), ranges from West Africa to Persia and Calcutta; Coelopeltis (1 sp.), North and West Africa; Mimophis (1 sp.), Madagascar; Psammodynastes (2 sp.), Sikhim to Cochin China, Borneo and the Philippine Islands; and Dromophis (1 sp.), Tropical Africa.

FAMILY 10.--RACHIODONTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Rachiodontidæ are a small and very isolated group of snakes of doubtful affinities. The only genus, Dasypeltis (2 sp.), is confined to West and South Africa.

{378}FAMILY 11.--DENDROPHIDÆ. (7 Genera, 35 Species.)

The Dendrophidæ, or Tree Snakes, are found in all the Tropical regions, but are most abundant in the Oriental. The genera are distributed as follows:--

Dendrophis ranges from India and Ceylon to the Pelew Islands and North Australia, and has one species in West Africa; Ahætulla is almost equally divided between Tropical Africa and Tropical America; Gonyosoma ranges from Persia to Java and the Philippines; Chrysopelea is found in India, Borneo, the Philippines, Amboyna, and Mysol; Hapsidrophis and Bucephalus are confined to Tropical Africa; and Ithycyphus (1 sp.), is peculiar to Madagascar.

FAMILY 12.--DRYIOPHIDÆ. (5 Genera, 15 Species.)

The Dryiophidæ, or Whip Snakes, are a very well characterised family of slender, green-coloured, arboreal serpents, found in the three tropical regions but absent from Australia, although they just enter the Australian region in the island of Celebes. In Africa they are confined to the West Coast and Madagascar. The genera are:--

Dryiophis (4 sp.), Tropical America and West Africa; Tropidococcyx (1 sp.), Central India; Tragops (4 sp.), Bengal to China, the Philippines, Java, and Celebes; Passerita (2 sp.), Ceylon {379}and the Indian Peninsula; and Langaha (2 sp.), confined to Madagascar.

FAMILY 13.--DIPSADIDÆ. (11 Genera, 45 Species.)

The Dipsadidæ, or Nocturnal Tree Snakes, are distinguished from the last family by their dark colours and nocturnal habits. They are about equally abundant in the Oriental and Neotropical regions, less so in the Ethiopian, while only a single species extends to North Australia. The following are the best known genera:--

Dipsas, comprising all the Oriental species with one in Asia-Minor, and a few from the Moluccas, New Guinea, North Australia, West Africa, and Tropical America; Thamnodyastes, Tropidodipsas, and several others, from Tropical America; Dipsadoboa, from West Africa and Tropical America; Leptodeira, from Tropical and South Africa, South America, and Mexico; and Pythonodipsas, from Central Africa.

FAMILY 14.--SCYTALIDÆ. (3 Genera, 10 Species.)

It is doubtful how far the three genera which constitute this family form a natural assemblage. We can therefore draw no safe conclusions from the peculiarity of their distribution--Scytale and Oxyrhopus being confined to Tropical America; while Hologerrhum inhabits the Philippine Islands.

{380}FAMILY 15.--LYCODONTIDÆ. (11 Genera, 35 Species.)

The Lycodontidæ, or Fanged Ground Snakes, are confined to the Ethiopian and Oriental regions, over the whole of which they range, except that they are absent from Madagascar and extend eastward to New Guinea. The genera have often a limited distribution:--

Lycodon ranges from India and Ceylon to China, the Philippines, and New Guinea; Tetragonosoma, the Malay Peninsula and Islands; Leptorhytaon and Ophites, India; Cercaspis, Ceylon; and Cyclocorus, the Philippines. The African genera are Boædon, Lycophidion, Holuropholis, Simocephalus, and Lamprophis, the latter being found only in South Africa. The species are nearly equally abundant in both regions, but no genus is common to the two.

FAMILY 16.--AMBLYCEPHALIDÆ. (5 Genera, 12 Species.)

The Amblycephalidæ, or Blunt Heads, are very singularly distributed, being nearly equally divided between Tropical America and the eastern half of the Oriental region, as will be seen by the following statement of the distribution of the genera:--

Amblycephalus (1 sp.), Malay Peninsula to Borneo and the Philippines; Pareas (3 sp.), Assam, China, Java, and Borneo; {381}Asthenodipsas (1 sp.), Malacca; Leptognathus (6 sp.), Central and South America; and Anoplodipsas (1 sp.), supposed to come from New Caledonia, and, if so, furnishing a link, though a very imperfect one, between the disconnected halves of the family.

FAMILY 17.--PYTHONIDÆ. (21 Genera, 46 Species.)

The Pythonidæ, comprising the Rock Snakes, Pythons, and Boas, are confined to the tropics, with the exception of one species in California. They are very abundant in the Neotropical region, where nearly half the known species occur; the Australian region comes next, while the Oriental is the least prolific in these large serpents. The genera which have been described are very numerous, but they are by no means well defined. The following are the most important:--

Python is confined to the Oriental region; Morelia, Liasis, and Nardoa are Australian and Papuan; Enygrus is found in the Moluccas, New Guinea and the Fiji Islands; Hortulia is African; Sanzinia is peculiar to Madagascar; Boa, Epicrates, Corallus, Ungalia, and Eunectes are Tropical American; Chilabothrus is peculiar to Jamaica and Mexico; and Lichanotus to California.

An extinct species belonging to this family has been found in the Brown-coal formation of Germany, of Miocene age.

FAMILY 18.--ERYCIDÆ. (3 Genera, 6 Species.)

{382}The Erycidæ, or Land Snakes, form a small but natural family, chiefly found in the desert zone on the confines of the Palæarctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions. They range from South Europe to West Africa and to Sikhim. The three genera are distributed as follows:--

Cursoria (1 sp.), Afghanistan; Gongylophis (1 sp.), India and Sikhim; Eryx (4 sp.), has the range of the entire family.

FAMILY 19.--ACROCHORDIDÆ. (2 Genera, 3 Species)

The Acrochordidæ, or Wart Snakes, form a small and isolated group, found only in two sub-divisions of the Oriental region--the South Indian and the Malayan, and in New Guinea.

Acrochordus, inhabits Penang, Singapore, and Borneo; Chersydrus, Southern India and the Malay Peninsula, with a species recently discovered in New Guinea.

FAMILY 20.--ELAPIDÆ. (23 Genera, 100 Species.)

The Elapidæ, or Terrestrial venomous Colubrine Snakes, are an extensive group, spread over the tropics of the whole world, but especially abundant in Australia, where half the known species occur, some of them being the most deadly of venomous serpents. In the Oriental region they are also abundant, containing amongst other forms, the well-known Cobras. The American species are almost equally numerous, but they all belong to one {383}genus, and they are annulated with rings of various colours in a manner quite distinct from any other members of this family. The genera, which are all very distinct, are distributed as follows:--

Diemenia, Acanthophis, Hoplocephalus, Brachiurophis, Tropidechis, Pseudechis, Cacophis, Pseudonaje, Denisonia, and Vermicella, are Australian, the first two ranging to the Moluccas and New Guinea; Ogmodon occurs in the Fiji Islands; Naja, Bungarus, Ophiophagus, Pseudonaje, Xenurelaps, Doliophis, Megærophis, and Callophis are Oriental, one species of the latter genus being found in Japan, while an Ophiophagus has been discovered in New Guinea; Cyrtophis, Elapsoidea, and Poecilophis are African: Elaps is American, ranging as far north as South Carolina, but not to the West Indian Islands.

FAMILY 21.--DENDRASPIDIDÆ. (1 Genus, 5 Species.)

The single genus Dendraspis, constituting the family, is confined to Tropical Africa.

FAMILY 22.--ATRACTASPIDIDÆ. (1 Genus, 4 Species.)

This small family, consisting of the genus Atractaspis, is also confined to Africa, but has hitherto only been found in the West and South.

{384}FAMILY 23.--HYDROPHIDÆ. (8 Genera, 50 Species.)

The Hydrophidæ, or Sea Snakes, are a group of small-sized marine serpents, abundant in the Indian and Australian seas, and extending as far west as Madagascar, and as far east as Panama. They are very poisonous, and it is probable that many species remain to be discovered. The genera are distributed as follows:--

Hydrophis (37 sp.), ranging from India to Formosa and Australia; Platurus (2 sp.), from the Bay of Bengal to New Guinea and New Zealand; Aipysurus (3 sp.), Java to New Guinea and Australia; Disteira (1 sp.), unknown locality; Acalyptus (1 sp.), South-west Pacific; Enhydrina (1 sp.), Bay of Bengal to New Guinea; Pelamis (1 sp.), Madagascar to New Guinea, New Zealand, and Panama; Emydocephalus (1 sp.), Australian Seas.

FAMILY 24.--CROTALIDÆ. (11 Genera, 40 Species.)

The Crotalidæ, or Pit Vipers, including the deadly Rattlesnakes, form a well-marked family of fanged serpents, whose distribution is very interesting. They abound most in the Oriental region, at least 5 of the genera and 20 species being found within its limits, yet they are quite unknown in the Ethiopian region--a parallel case to that of the Bears and Deer. A few species are peculiar to the eastern portion of the Palæarctic region, while {385}the Nearctic is actually richer than the Neotropical region both in genera and species. This would point to the conclusion, that the group originated in the Indo-Chinese sub-region and spread thence north-east to North America, and so onward to South America, which, having been the last to receive the group, has not had time to develop it largely, notwithstanding its extreme adaptability to Reptilian life. The genera are divided among the several regions as follows:--

Craspedocephalus (7 sp.), Tropical America and the West Indian Islands; Cenchris, Crotalophorus, Uropsophorus, and Crotalus, inhabiting North America from Canada and British Columbia to Texas, one species (Crotalus horridus) extending into South America; Trimeresurus (16 sp.), all India from Ceylon to Assam, Formosa, the Philippines and Celebes; Peltopelor and Hypnale (1 sp. each), peculiar to India; Calloselasma (1 sp.), Siam; Atropos (1 sp.), Java and Borneo; Halys (3 sp.), peculiar to Tartary, Thibet, Japan, North China, and Formosa.

FAMILY 25.--VIPERIDÆ. (3 Genera, 22 Species.)

The Viperidæ, or True Vipers, are especially characteristic of the Palæarctic and Ethiopian regions, only one species being found over a large part of the Oriental region, and another reaching Central India. They are especially abundant in Africa, and the Palæarctic confines in South-western Asia. The common Viper ranges across the whole Palæarctic region from Portugal to Saghalien Island, reaching to 67° North Latitude, in Scandinavia, and to 58° in Central Siberia. The genera, according to Dr. Strauch's synopsis, are distributed as follows:--

Vipera (17 sp.), which has the range of the family, extending over the whole of the Palæarctic and Ethiopian regions, except Madagascar, and as far as Ceylon, Siam, and Java, in the Oriental {386}region; Echis (2 sp.), inhabiting North Africa to Persia and to Continental India; and Atheris (3 sp.), confined to West Africa.

Remarks on the General Distribution of Ophidia.

The Ophidia, being preeminently a Tropical order--rapidly diminishing in numbers as we go north in the Temperate Zone, and wholly ceasing long before we reach the Arctic Circle--we cannot expect the two Northern regions to exhibit any great variety or peculiarity. Yet in their warmer portions they are tolerably rich; for, of the 25 families of snakes, 6 are found in the Nearctic region, 10 in the Palæarctic, 13 in the Australian, 16 in the Neotropical, 17 in the Ethiopian, and no less than 22 in the Oriental, which last is thus seen to be by far the richest of the great regions in the variety of its forms of Ophidian life. The only regions that possess altogether peculiar families of this order, are the Ethiopian (3), and the Oriental (2); the usually rich and peculiar Neotropical region not possessing exclusively, any family of snakes; and what is still more remarkable, the Neotropical and Australian regions together, do not possess a family peculiar to them. Every family inhabiting these two regions is found also in the Oriental; and this fact, taken in connection with the superior richness of the latter region both in families and genera, would indicate that the Ophidia had their origin in the northern hemisphere of the Old World (the ancient Palæarctic region) whence they spread on all sides, in successive waves of migration, to the other regions. The distribution of the genera peculiar to, or highly characteristic of, the several regions is as follows:--

The Nearctic possesses 9; four of these belong to the Colubridæ, one to the Pythonidæ, and four to the Crotalidæ. The Palæarctic region has only 2 peculiar genera, belonging to the Colubridæ and Crotalidæ. The Ethiopian has 25, belonging to 11 families; four to Colubridæ, five to Lycodontidæ, and three to Elapidæ. The Oriental has no less than 50, belonging to 15 families; five are Colubridæ, five Uropeltidæ, twelve Homalopsidæ, six Lycodontidæ, three Amblycephalidæ, eight Elapidæ, and four {387}Crotalidæ. The Australian has 16, belonging to three families only; eleven being Elapidæ, and four Pythonidæ. The Neotropical has about 24, belonging to eight families; ten are Colubridæ, six Pythonidæ, and the rest Dipsadidæ, Scytalidæ, Amblycephalidæ, Elapidæ, and Crotalidæ.

We find then, that in the Ophidia, the regions adopted in this work are remarkably distinct; and that, in the case of the Oriental and Ethiopian, the difference is strongly marked, a very large number of the genera being confined to each region. It is interesting to observe, that in many cases the affinity seems to be rather between the West Coast of Africa and the Oriental region, than between the East Coast and the plains of India; thus the Homalopsidæ--a highly characteristic Oriental family--occur on the West Coast of Africa only; the Dryiophidæ, which range over the whole Oriental region, only occur in Madagascar and West Africa in the Ethiopian; the genus Dipsas is found over all the Oriental region and again in West Africa. A cause for this peculiarity has been suggested in our sketch of the past history of the Ethiopian region, Vol. I. p. 288. In the Lycodontidæ, which are strictly confined to these two regions, the genera are all distinct, and the same is the case with the more widely distributed Elapidæ; and although a few desert forms, such as Echis and the Erycidæ, are common to Africa and the dry plains of India, this is evidently due to favourable climatic conditions, and cannot neutralise the striking differences in the great mass of the family and generic forms which inhabit the two regions. The union of Madagascar with the South-western part of the Oriental region under the appellation Lemuria, finds no support in the distribution of Ophidia; which, however, strikingly accords with the views developed in the Third Part of this work, as to the great importance and high antiquity of the Euro-Asiatic continent, as the chief land-centre from which the higher organisms have spread over the globe.

Fossil Ophidia.--The oldest known remains of Ophidia occur in the Eocene formation in the Isle of Sheppey; others are found in the Miocene (Brown Coal) of Germany, and in some Tertiary beds in the United States. Most of these appear to have been {388}large species belonging to the Pythonidæ, so that we are evidently still very far from knowing anything of the earliest forms of this order. In some of the later Tertiary deposits the poison fangs of venomous species have been found; also a Colubrine snake from the Upper Miocene of the South of France.

Order II.--LACERTILIA.

FAMILY 26.--TROGONOPHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The single species of Trogonophis, forming this family, is found only in North Africa.

FAMILY 27.--CHIROTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

Chirotes, the genus which constitutes this family, inhabits Mexico, and has also been found in Missouri, one of the Southern United States.

FAMILY 28.--AMPHISBÆNIDÆ. (1 Genus, 13 Species.)

{389}The Amphisbænidæ, which, in the opinion of Dr. Günther, are all comprised in the genus Amphisbæna, inhabit Spain and Asia Minor, North and Tropical Africa, South America as far as Buenos-Ayres and the West Indian Islands.

FAMILY 29.--LEPIDOSTERNIDÆ. (3 Genera, 6 Species.)

The small family of Lepidosternidæ has nearly the same distribution as the last, indicating a curious relationship between the Tropical parts of Africa and America. Lepidosternon and Cephalopeltis are American genera, while Monotrophis is African.

FAMILY 30.--VARANIDÆ. (3 Genera, 30 Species.)

The Varanidæ, or Water Lizards, are most abundant in the Oriental region, whence they extend into the Austro-Malay Islands as far as New Guinea, and into Australia. Several species are found in Africa. Psammosaurus (1 sp.), is found in North Africa and North-western India; Monitor (18 sp.), has the range of the family; while Hydrosaurus (8 sp.) ranges from Siam to the Philippines, New Guinea, and Australia.

{390}FAMILY 31.--HELODERMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The genus Heloderma, which constitutes this family, is found in Mexico.

FAMILY 32.--TEIDÆ. (12 Genera, 74 Species.)

The Teidæ, or Teguexins--a group of Lizards allied to the European Lacertidæ, but with differently formed superciliary scales--are highly characteristic of the Neotropical region, abounding almost everywhere from Patagonia to the Antilles and Mexico, and extending northwards to California on the west and to Pennsylvania on the east. The most extensive genus is Ameiva, containing nearly 60 species and having the range of the entire family; Teius (3 sp.), inhabits Brazil and Mendoza; Callopistes (2 sp.), Chili; Centropyx (3 sp.), Paraguay to Alabama; Dicrodon (Peru); Monoplocus (Western Ecuador); with Acrantus, Acanthopyga, Emminia, Crocodilurus, Custa, and Ada, which each consist of a single species, and all inhabit Tropical America.

FAMILY 33.--LACERTIDÆ. (18 Genera, 80 Species.)

{391}The Lacertidæ, or Land Lizards, are small-sized, terrestrial, non-burrowing lizards, very characteristic of the Palæarctic region, which contains more than half the known species, and of the adjacent parts of the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, but extending also to South Africa, to Java, and even to Australia. The best-defined genera are the following:--

Lacerta (10 sp.), ranging over all Central and South Europe to Poland, and farther north in Russia and Siberia, eastward to Persia, and southward to North and West Africa; Zootoca (8 sp.), has nearly the same range in Europe as the last genus, but has representatives in Madeira, South Africa, and Australia; Tachydromus (7 sp.) is widely scattered in Chinese Asia, Japan, Borneo, and West Africa; Acanthodactylus (10 sp.) is most abundant in North Africa, but has a species in South Africa, and two in Central India; Eremias (18 sp.) is found all over Africa, and also in the Crimea, Persia, Tartary and China; Psammodromus (2 sp.), is confined to Spain, France, and Italy; Ophiops (6 sp.), inhabits India, Persia, and Asia Minor to South Russia. Less strongly marked and perhaps less natural genera are the following:--

Thetia (1 sp.), Algiers; Teira (1 sp.), Madeira; Nucras (4 sp.), Caucasus and South Africa; Notopholis (4 sp.), South Europe and South Africa; Algira (3 sp.), North and South Africa; Scrapteira (1 sp.), Nubia; Aspidorhinus (1 sp.), Caspian district; Messalina (4 sp.), North Africa, Persia, and North-west India Cabrita (1 sp.), Central India; Pachyrhynchus (1 sp.), Benguela.

FAMILY 34.--ZONURIDÆ. (15 Genera, 52 Species.)

The Zonuridæ, or Land Lizards, characterised by a longitudinal fold of skin on each side of the body, have a very remarkable {392}distribution. Their head-quarters is the Ethiopian region, which contains more than half the known genera and species, most of which are found in South Africa and several in Madagascar. Next to Africa the largest number of genera and species are found in Mexico and Central America, with a few in the Antilles, South America, and California, and even as far north as British Columbia. Three of the genera form a distinct sub-group--the Glass Snakes,--the four species composing it being located in North Africa, North America, South-eastern Europe, and the Khasya Hills.

The prominent fact in the distribution of this family is, that the mass of the genera and species form two groups, one in South Africa, the other in Mexico,--countries between which it would be difficult to imagine any means of communication. We have here, probably, an example of a once much more extensive group, widely distributed over the globe, and which has continued to maintain itself only in those districts especially adapted to its peculiar type of organization. This must undoubtedly have been the case with the genus Pseudopus, whose two species now inhabit South-eastern Europe and the Khasya Hills in Assam respectively.

The genera are,--Cordylus, Pseudocordylus, Platysaurus, Cordylosaurus, Pleurostrichus, and Saurophis, confined to South Africa; Zonurus, South and East Africa and Madagascar; Gerrhosaurus, ranges over the whole Ethiopian region; Cicigna is confined to Madagascar; Gerrhonotus (22 sp.), ranges from British Columbia, California, and Texas, to Cuba and South America, but is most abundant in Mexico and Central America; Abronia and Barissia, are two genera of doubtful distinctness, peculiar to Mexico; Ophisaurus (the Glass Snake) is found in the Southern United States as far as Virginia; the allied genus Hyalosaurus in North Africa; and Pseudopus, as above stated, in South-east Europe and the Khasya Hills.

{393}FAMILY 35.--CHALCIDÆ. (3 Genera, 8 Species.)

The Chalcidæ are a small group of Lizards characteristic of Tropical America, one species extending into the United States.

The genera are Chalcis (6 sp.), ranging from Central America to Chili; two other species, which have been placed in distinct genera, inhabit North America and Peru.

FAMILY 36.--ANADIADÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The single species of Anadia, constituting this family, inhabits Tropical America.

FAMILY 37.--CHIROCOLIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The genus Heterodactylus, which constitutes this family, inhabits Brazil.

{394}FAMILY 38.--IPHISADÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The single species of Iphisa, has been found only at Para in Equatorial America.

FAMILY 39.--CERCOSAURIDÆ. (1 Genus, 5 Species.)

The genus Cercosaura, is known only from Brazil and Ecuador.

FAMILY 40.--CHAMÆSAURIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

This family, consisting of a single species of the genus Chamæsaura, is confined to South Africa.

{395}FAMILY 41.--GYMNOPTHALMIDÆ . (5 Genera, 14 Species.)

The Gymnopthalmidæ, or Gape-eyed Scinks, so called from their rudimentary eyelids, form a small group, which is widely and somewhat erratically distributed, as will be seen by the following account of the distribution of the genera:--

Lerista (1 sp.) and three other species for which Dr. Gray has established the genera--Morethria (1 sp.), and Menetia (2 sp.), are confined to Australia; Cryptoblepharus (4 sp.), is found in West Australia, Timor, New Guinea, the Fiji Islands, and Mauritius; Ablepharus (4 sp.), inhabits Eastern and South-eastern Europe, Persia, Siberia, West Africa, and the Bonin Islands; and Gymnopthalmus (3 sp.), is found in Brazil and the West Indies.

FAMILY 42.--PYGOPODIDÆ. (2 Genera, 3 Species.)

This small family of two-legged Lizards, comprising the genera Pygopus and Delma, is found only in Australia proper and Tasmania.

{396}FAMILY 43.--APRASIADÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The genus Aprasia, constituting this family, is found in West and South Australia.

FAMILY 44.--LIALIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

This family is also confined to Australia, the single genus, Lialis, inhabiting the Western and Northern districts.

FAMILY 45.--SCINCIDÆ. (60 Genera, 300 Species.)

The Scincidæ, or Scinks, are an extensive family of smooth-scaled lizards, frequenting dry and stony places, and almost universally distributed over the globe, being only absent from the cold northern and southern zones. The family itself is a very natural one, and it contains many natural genera; but a large number have been established which probably require careful revision. The following include the more important and the best established groups:--

{397}Scincus (2 sp.), North Africa and Arabia; Hinulia (20 sp.), most of the Australian and Oriental regions; Cyclodina (1 sp.), Hombronia (1 sp.), and Lygosomella (1 sp.), all from New Zealand; Keneuxia (1 sp.), Philippines, Moluccas, and Papuan Islands; Elania (1 sp.) New Guinea; Carlia (2 sp.), North Australia and New Guinea; Mocoa (16 sp.), Australia and New Zealand, with species in Borneo, West Africa, and Central America; Lipinia (3 sp.), Philippine Islands and New Guinea; Lygosoma (12 sp.), Australia, New Caledonia, Pelew and Philippine Islands; Tetradactylus (1 sp.), Hemierges (2 sp.), Chelomeles (2 sp.), Omolepida (1 sp.), Lissolepis (1 sp.), Siaphos (1 sp.), Rhodona (3 sp.) Anomalpus (1 sp.), Soridia (2 sp.), and Ophioscincus (1 sp.) all confined to Australia; Cophoscincus (3 sp.), Philippine Islands, Celebes, and Queensland; Plestiodon (18 sp.), China and Japan, Africa, and America as far north as Pennsylvania and Nebraska; Eumeces (30 sp.), South Palæarctic, Oriental and Australian regions, to New Ireland and North Australia; Mabouya (20 sp.), Oriental region, Austro-Malaya, North Australia, the Neotropical region, and to Lat. 42° 30' in North America; Amphixestus (1 sp.), Borneo; Hagria (1 sp.), and Chiamela (1 sp.), India; Senira (1 sp.), Philippine Islands; Brachymeles (2 sp.), Philippine Islands and Australia; Ophiodes (1 sp.), Brazil; Anguis (3 sp.), West Palæarctic region and South Africa; Tribolonotus (1 sp.), New Guinea; Tropidophorus (2 sp.), Cochin-China and Philippine Islands; Norbea (2 sp.), Borneo and Australia; Trachydosaurus (1 sp.), Australia; Cyclodus (8 sp.), Australia, Aru Islands, and Ceram; Silubosaurus (2 sp.), Egerina (2 sp.), and Tropidolepisma (6 sp.), all peculiar to Australia; Heteropus (7 sp.), Australia, Austro-Malaya, and Bourbon; Pygomeles (1 sp.), Madagascar; Dasia (1 sp.), Malaya; Euprepes (70 sp.), Ethiopian and Oriental regions, Austro-Malaya, South America (?); Celestus (9 sp.), peculiar to the Antilles, except a species in Costa Rica; Diploglossus (7 sp.), the Neotropical region;--with a number of other genera founded on single species from various parts of the world.

{398}FAMILY 46.--OPHIOMORIDÆ. (2 Genera, 2 Species.)

The snake-like Lizard constituting the genus Ophiomorus, is found in Southern Russia, Greece, and Algeria; while Zygnopsis having four weak limbs, has been recently discovered by Mr. Blanford in South Persia. The family is therefore confined to our Mediterranean sub-region.

FAMILY 47.--SEPIDÆ. (7 Genera, 22 species.)

The Sepidæ, or Sand-Lizards, are a very natural group, almost confined to the Ethiopian region, but extending into the desert country on the borders of the Oriental region, and into the south of the Palæarctic region as far as Palestine, Madeira, Spain, Italy, and even the South of France. The genera are:--

Seps (10 sp.), South Europe, Madeira, Teneriffe, Palestine, North Africa, South Africa and Madagascar; Sphenops (2 sp.), North Africa, Syria, West Africa; Scelotes (3 sp.), Angola to South Africa, Madagascar; Thyrus (1 sp.), Bourbon and Mauritius; Amphiglossus (1 sp.), Madagascar; Sphenocephalus (1 sp.), Afghanistan; and Sepsina (4 sp.), South-west Africa.

{399}FAMILY 48.--ACONTIADÆ. (3 Genera, 7 Species.)

This small family of snake-like Lizards has a very curious distribution, being found in South and West Africa, Madagascar, Ceylon, and Ternate in the Moluccas. Acontias (4 sp.), is found in the four first-named localities; Nessia (2 sp.), is confined to Ceylon; Typhloscincus (1 sp.), to Ternate.

FAMILY 49.--GECKOTIDÆ. (50 Genera, 200 Species.)

The Geckoes, or Wall-Lizards, form an extensive family, of almost universal distribution in the warmer parts of the globe; and they must have some exceptional means of dispersal, since they are found in many of the most remote islands of the great oceans,--as the Galapagos, the Sandwich Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, the Loo-Choo and the Seychelle Islands, the Nicobar Islands, Mauritius, Ascension, Madeira, and many others. The following are the larger and more important genera:--

Oëdura (3 sp.), Australia; Diplodactylus (8 sp)., Australia, South Africa, and California; Phyllodactylus (8 sp.), widely scattered in Tropical America, California, Madagascar, and Queensland; Hemidactylus (40 sp.), all tropical and warm countries; Peropus (12 sp.), the Oriental region, Papuan Islands, Mauritius, and Brazil; Pentadactylus (7 sp.), Oriental region and Australia; Gecko (12 sp.), Oriental region to New Guinea and {400}North Australia; Gehyra (5 sp.), Australia, New Guinea and Fiji Islands; Tarentola (7 sp.), North Africa, North America, Madeira, Borneo, South Africa; Phelsuma (6 sp.), Madagascar, Bourbon, and Andaman Islands; Pachydactylus (5 sp.), South and West Africa, and Ascension Island; Sphærodactylus (5 sp.), the Neotropical region; Naultinus, (6 sp.), New Zealand; Goniodactylus (5 sp.), Australia, Timor, South America and Algiers; Heteronota (4 sp.), Australia, Fiji Islands, New Guinea and Borneo; Cubina (4 sp.), the Neotropical region; Gymnodactylus (16 sp.), all warm countries except Australia; Phyllurus (3 sp.), Australia; Stenodactylus (4 sp.), North and West Africa, and Rio Grande in North America.

The remaining genera mostly consist of single species, and are pretty equally distributed over the various parts of the world indicated in the preceding list. Madagascar, the Seychelle Islands, Chili, the Sandwich Islands, South Africa, Tahiti, the Philippine Islands, New Caledonia, and Australia--all have peculiar genera, while two new ones have recently been described from Persia.

FAMILY 50.--IGUANIDÆ. (56 Genera, 236 Species.)

The extensive family of the Iguanas is highly characteristic of the Neotropical region, in every part of which the species abound, even as far as nearly 50° South Latitude in Patagonia. They also extend northwards into the warmer parts of the Nearctic region, as far as California, British Columbia, and Kansas on the west, and to 43° North Latitude in the Eastern States. A distinct genus occurs in the Fiji Islands, and one has been described as from Australia, and another from Madagascar, but there is some doubt about these. The most extensive genera are:--

Anolius (84 sp.), found in most parts of Tropical America and {401}north to California; Tropidolepis (15 sp.), which has nearly the same range; Leiocephalus (14 sp.), Antilles, Guayaquil, and Galapagos Islands; Leiolæmus (14 sp.), Peru to Patagonia; Sceloporus (9 sp.), from Brazil to California and British Columbia, and on the east to Florida; Proctotretus (6 sp.), Chili and Patagonia; Phrynosoma (8 sp), New Mexico, California, Oregon and British Columbia, Arkansas and Florida; Iguana (5 sp.), Antilles and South America; Cyclusa (4 sp.), Antilles, Honduras, and Mexico.

Among the host of smaller genera may be noted:--

Brachylophus, found in the Fiji Islands; Trachycephalus and Oreocephalus, peculiar to the Galapagos; Oreodeira, said to be from Australia; Diplolæmus and Phymaturus, found only in Chili and Patagonia; and Callisaurus, Uta, Euphryne, Uma, and Holbrookia, from New Mexico and California. All the other genera are from various parts of Tropical America.

FAMILY 51.--AGAMIDÆ. (42 Genera, 156 Species.)

The extensive family Agamidæ--the Eastern representative of the Iguanas--is highly characteristic of the Oriental region, which possesses about half the known genera and species. Of the remainder, the greater part inhabit the Australian region; others range over the deserts of Central and Western Asia and Northern Africa, as far as Greece and South Russia. One genus extends through Africa to the Cape of Good Hope, and there are three peculiar genera in Madagascar, but the family is very poorly represented in the Ethiopian region. Many of these creatures are adorned with beautifully varied and vivid colours, and the little "dragons" or flying-lizards are among the most interesting forms in the entire order. The larger genera are distributed as follows:--

{402}Draco (18 sp.), the Oriental region, excluding Ceylon; Otocryptis (4 sp.), Ceylon, North India, Malaya; Ceratophora (3 sp.), Ceylon; Gonyocephalus (8 sp.), Papuan Islands, Java, Borneo, Pelew Islands; Dilophyrus (7 sp.), Indo-Malaya and Siam; Japalura (6 sp.), Himalayas, Borneo, Formosa, and Loo Choo Islands; Sitana (2 sp.), Central and South India and Ceylon; Bronchocela (3 sp.), Indo-Malaya, Cambodja, and Celebes; Calotes (12 sp.), Continental India to China, Philippine Islands; Oriocalotes (2 sp.), Himalayas; Acanthosaura (5 sp.), Malacca and Siam; Tiaris (3 sp.), Andaman Islands, Borneo, Philippine and Papuan Islands; Physignathus (3 sp.), Cochin-China and Australia; Uromastix (5 sp.), South Russia, North Africa, Central India; Stellio (5 sp.), Caucasus and Greece to Arabia, High Himalayas and Central India; Trapelus (5 sp.), Tartary, Egypt, and Afghanistan; Phrynocephalus (10 sp.), Tartary and Mongolia, Persia and Afghanistan; Lophura (2 sp.), Amboyna and Pelew Islands; Grammatophorus (14 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Agama (14 sp.), North Africa to the Punjaub, South Africa. The remaining genera each consist of a single species. Eight are peculiar to Australia, one to the Fiji Islands, one to the Aru Islands, three to Ceylon, five to other parts of the Oriental region, one to Persia, and one to South Russia.

FAMILY 52.--CHAMÆLEONIDÆ. (1 Genus, 30 Species.)

The Chamæleons are an almost exclusively Ethiopian group, only one species, the common Chamæleon, inhabiting North Africa and Western Asia as far as Central India and Ceylon. They abound all over Africa, and peculiar species are found in Madagascar and Bourbon, as well as in the Island of Fernando Po.

{403}General Remarks on the Distribution of the Lacertilia.

The distribution of the Lacertilia is, in many particulars, strikingly opposed to that of the Ophidia. The Oriental, instead of being the richest is one of the poorest regions, both in the number of families and in the number of peculiar genera it contains; while in both these respects the Neotropical is by far the richest. The distribution of the families is as follows:--

The Nearctic region has 7 families, none of which are peculiar to it; but it has 3 peculiar genera--Chirotes, Ophisaurus, and Phrynosoma.

The Palæarctic region has 12 families, with two (Ophiomoridæ and Trogonophidæ, each consisting of a single species) peculiar; while it has 6 peculiar or very characteristic genera, Trogonophis in North Africa, Psammodromus in South Europe, Hyalosaurus in North Africa, Scincus in North Africa and Arabia, Ophiomorus in East Europe and North Africa, and Phrynocephalus in Siberia, Tartary, and Afghanistan. We have here a striking amount of diversity between the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions with hardly a single point of resemblance.

The Ethiopian region has 13 families, only one of which (the Chamæsauridæ, consisting of a single species) is altogether peculiar; but it possesses 21 peculiar or characteristic genera, 9 belonging to the Zonuridæ, 2 to the Sepidæ, 7 to the Geckotidæ, and 3 to the Agamidæ.

The Oriental region has only 8 families, none of which are peculiar; but there are 28 peculiar genera, 6 belonging to the Scincidæ, 1 to the Acontiadæ, 5 to the Geckotidæ, and 16 to the Agamidæ. Many lizards being sand and desert-haunters, it is not surprising that a number of forms are common to the borderlands of the Oriental and Ethiopian regions; yet the Sepidæ, so abundant in all Africa, do not range to the peninsula of India; and the equally Ethiopian Zonuridæ have only one Oriental species, found, not in the peninsula but in the Khasya Hills. The Acontiadæ alone offer some analogy to the distribution of the Lemurs, being found in Africa, Madagascar, Ceylon, and the Moluccas.

The Australian region has 11 families, 3 of which are {404}peculiar; and it has about 40 peculiar genera in ten families, about half of these genera belonging to the Scincidæ. Only 3 families of almost universal distribution are common to the Australian and Neotropical regions, with one species of the American Iguanidæ in the Fiji Islands, so that, as far as this order is concerned, these two regions have little resemblance.

The Neotropical region has 15 families, 6 of which are peculiar to it, and it possesses more than 50 peculiar genera. These are distributed among 12 families, but more than half belong to the Iguanidæ, and half the remainder to the Teidæ,--the two families especially characteristic of the Neotropical region. All the Nearctic families which are not of almost universal distribution are peculiarly Neotropical, showing that the Lacertilia of the former region have probably been derived almost exclusively from the latter.

On the whole the distribution of the Lacertilia shows a remarkable amount of specialization in each of the great tropical regions, whence we may infer that Southern Asia, Tropical Africa, Australia, and South America, each obtained their original stock of this order at very remote periods, and that there has since been little intercommunication between them. The peculiar affinities indicated by such cases as the Lepidosternidæ, found only in the tropics of Africa and South America, and Tachydromus in Eastern Asia and West Africa, may be the results either of once widely distributed families surviving only in isolated localities where the conditions are favourable,--or of some partial and temporary geographical connection, allowing of a limited degree of intermixture of faunas. The former appears to be the more probable and generally efficient cause, but the latter may have operated in exceptional cases.

Fossil Lacertilia.

These date back to the Triassic period, and they are found in most succeeding formations, but it is not till the Tertiary period that forms allied to existing genera occur. These are at present too rare and too ill-defined to throw much light on the geographical distribution of the order.

{405}Order III.--RHYNCOCEPHALINA.

FAMILY 53.--RHYNCOCEPHALIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The singular and isolated genus Hatteria--the "Tuatara" or fringed lizard--which alone constitutes this family, has peculiarities of structure which separate it from both lizards and crocodiles, and mark it out as an ancestral type, as distinct from other living reptiles as the Marsupials are from other Mammalia. It is confined to New Zealand, and is chiefly found on small islands near the north-east coast, being very rare, if not extinct, on the main land. A fossil reptile named Hyperodapedon, of Triassic age, has been found in Scotland and India, and is supposed by Professor Huxley to be more nearly allied to Hatteria than to any other living animal.

Order IV.--CROCODILIA.

FAMILY 54.--GAVIALIDÆ. (2 Genera, 3 Species.)

The Gavials are long-snouted Crocodiles with large front teeth, and canines fitting in notches of the upper jaw. They consist of two genera, Gavialis (1 sp.), inhabiting the Ganges; Tomistoma (2 sp.), found in the rivers of Borneo and North Australia.

{406}FAMILY 55.--CROCODILIDÆ. (1 Genus, 12 Species.)

The true Crocodiles, which have the canines in notches, and the large front teeth in pits in the upper jaw, are widely distributed over the tropical regions of the globe, inhabiting all the rivers of Africa, the shores and estuaries of India, Siam, and eastward to North Australia. Other forms inhabit Cuba, Yucatan, and Guatemala, to Ecuador and the Orinooko. Four species are Asiatic, one exclusively Australian, three African, and four American. These have been placed in distinct groups, but Dr. Günther considers them all to form one genus, Crocodilus.

FAMILY 56.--ALLIGATORIDÆ. (1 Genus, 10 Species.)

The Alligators, which are distinguished by having both the large front teeth and the canines fitting into pits of the upper jaw, are confined to the Neotropical, and the southern part of the Nearctic regions, from the lower Mississippi and Texas through all Tropical America, but they appear to be absent from the Antilles. They are all placed by Dr. Günther in the single genus, Alligator.

General Remarks on the Distribution of Crocodilia.

These animals, being few in number and wholly confined to the tropical and sub-tropical regions, are of comparatively {407}little interest as regards geographical distribution. America possesses both Crocodiles and Alligators; India, Crocodiles and Gavials; while Africa has Crocodiles only. Both Crocodiles and Gavials are found in the northern part of the Australian region, so that neither of the three families are restricted to a single region.

Fossil Crocodilia.

The existing families of the order date back to the Eocene period in Europe, and the Cretaceous in North America. In the south of England, Alligators, Gavials and Crocodiles, all occur in Eocene beds, indicating that the present distribution of these families is the result of partial extinction, and a gradual restriction of their range--a most instructive fact, suggesting the true explanation of a large number of cases of discontinuous distribution which are sometimes held to prove the former union of lands now divided by the deepest oceans. In more ancient formations, a number of Crocodilian remains have been discovered which cannot be classed in any existing families, and which, therefore, throw no light on the existing distribution of the group.

Order V.--CHELONIA.

FAMILY 57.--TESTUDINIDÆ. (14 Genera, 126 Species.)

The Testudinidæ, including the land and many fresh-water tortoises, are very widely distributed over the Old and New worlds, but are entirely absent from Australia. They are especially abundant in the Nearctic region, as far north as Canada and British Columbia, and almost equally so in the {408}Neotropical and Oriental regions; in the Ethiopian there is a considerable diminution in the number of species, and in the Palæarctic they are still less numerous, being confined to the warmer parts of it, except one species which extends as far north as Hungary and Prussia. The genera are:--

Testudo (25 sp.), most abundant in the Ethiopian region, but also extending over the Oriental region, into South Europe, and the Eastern States of North America; Emys (64 sp.), abundant in North America and over the whole Oriental region, less so in the Neotropical and the Palæarctic regions; Cinosternon (13 sp.), United States and California, and Tropical America; Aromochelys (4 sp.), confined to the Eastern States of North America; Staurotypus (2 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; Chelydra (1 sp.), Canada to Louisiana; Claudius (1 sp.), Mexico; Dermatemys (3 sp.), South America, Guatemala, and Yucatan; Terrapene (4 sp.), Maine to Mexico, Sumatra to New Guinea, Shanghae and Formosa--a doubtfully natural group; Cinyxis (3 sp.), Pyxis (1 sp.), Chersina (4 sp.), are all Ethiopian; Dumerilia (1 sp.), is from Madagascar only.

FAMILY 58.--CHELYDIDÆ. (10 Genera, 44 Species.)

The Chelydidæ, or fresh-water tortoises with imperfectly retractile heads, have a remarkable distribution in the three great southern continents of Africa, Australia, and South America; the largest number of species being found in the latter country. The genera are:--

Peltocephalus (1 sp.), Podocnemis (6 sp.), Hydromedusa (4 sp.), Chelys (1 sp.), and Platemys (16 sp.), inhabiting South America from the Orinooko to the La Plata, the latter genus occurring also in Australia and New Guinea; Chelodina (5 sp.), Chelemys (1 sp.), and Elseya (2 sp.) from Australia; while Sternotheres {409}(6 sp.), and Pelomedusa (3 sp.), inhabit Tropical and South Africa and Madagascar.

FAMILY 59.--TRIONYCHIDÆ. (3 Genera, 25 Species.)

The distribution of the Trionychidæ, or Soft Tortoises, is very different from that of the Chelydidæ, yet is equally interesting. They abound most in the Oriental region, extending beyond it to Northern China and Japan. In the Nearctic region they are only found in the Eastern States, corresponding curiously to the distribution of plants, in which the affinity of Japan to the Eastern States is greater than to California. The Trionychidæ are also found over the Ethiopian region, but not in Madagascar.

The genera are,--Trionyx (17 sp.), which extends over the whole area of the family as above indicated; Cycloderma (5 sp.), peculiar to Africa; Emyda (3 sp.), the peninsula of India, Ceylon, and Africa.

FAMILY 60.--CHELONIIDÆ. (2 Genera, 5 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--All the warm and tropical Seas.

The Marine Turtles are almost universally distributed. Dermatochelys (1 sp.), is found in the temperate seas of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; Chelone (4 sp.), ranges over all the tropical seas--C. viridis, the epicureans' species, inhabiting the Atlantic, while C. imbricata which produces the "tortoiseshell" of commerce is found in the Indian and Pacific oceans.

{410}Remarks on the Distribution of the Chelonia.

The four families into which the Chelonia are classed have all of them a wide distribution, though none are universal. The Ethiopian region seems to be the richest, as it possesses 3 of the four families, while no other region has more than 2; and it also possesses 7 peculiar genera. Next comes the Neotropical region with 2 families and 6 peculiar genera; the Australian with 3, and the Nearctic with 2 peculiar genera; while the Oriental and Palæarctic regions possess none that are peculiar. There are about 30 genera and 200 species in the whole order.

Fossil Chelonia.--The earliest undoubted remains of this order occur in the Upper Oolite. These belong to the Cheloniidæ and Emydidæ, which are also found in the Chalk. In the Tertiary beds Chelonia are more abundant, and the Trionychidæ now appear. The Testudinidæ are first met with in the Miocene formation of Europe and the Eocene of North America, the most remarkable being the gigantic Colossochelys Atlas of the Siwalik Hills. It appears, therefore, that the families of the order Chelonia were already specialised in the Secondary period, a fact which, together with their more or less aquatic habits, sufficiently accounts for their generally wide distribution. Species of Testudo, Emys, and Trionyx, are found in the Upper Miocene of the south of France.

{411}AMPHIBIA.

Order I.--PSEUDOPHIDIA.

FAMILY 1.--CÆCILIADÆ. (4 Genera, 10 Species.)

The Cæciliadæ are a curious group of worm-like Amphibia sparingly scattered over the three great tropical regions. The genera are,--Cæcilia, which inhabits West Africa, Malabar and South America; Siphonopsis, peculiar to Brazil and Mexico; Ichthyopsis, from Ceylon and the Khasya Mountains; and Rhinatrema from Cayenne.

Order II.--URODELA.

FAMILY 2.--SIRENIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

The genus Siren, consisting of eel-like Batrachians with two anterior feet and permanent branchiæ, inhabits the South-Eastern States of North America from Texas to Carolina.

{412}FAMILY 3.--PROTEIDÆ. (2 Genera, 4 Species.)

The Proteidæ have four feet and persistent external branchiæ. The two genera are,--Proteus (1 sp.), found only in caverns of Central Europe; and Menobranchus, which are like newts in form, and inhabit the Eastern States of North America.

FAMILY 4.--AMPHIUMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The genus Amphiuma, or Murænopsis, consists of slender eel-like creatures with four rudimentary feet, and no external branchiæ. The species inhabit the Southern United States from New Orleans to Carolina.

FAMILY 5.--MENOPOMIDÆ. (2 Genera, 4 Species.)

There are large Salamanders of repulsive appearance, found only in Eastern Asia and the Eastern United States. The genera are,--Sieboldia (2 sp.), Japan and north-west China; Menopoma = Protonopsis (2 sp.), Ohio and Alleghany rivers.

{413}FAMILY 6.--SALAMANDRIDÆ. (20 Genera, 85 Species.)

The Salamandridæ, of which our common Newts are characteristic examples, form an extensive family highly characteristic of the North Temperate regions, a few species only extending into the Neotropical region along the Andes to near Bogota, and one into the Oriental region in Western China. The genera, as arranged by Dr. Strauch, are as follows:--

Salamandra (2 sp.), Central and South Europe and North Africa; Pleurodeles (1 sp.), Spain, Portugal, and Morocco; Bradybates (1 sp.), Spain; Triton (16 sp.), all Europe except the extreme north, Algeria, North China and Japan, Eastern States of North America, California and Oregon; Chioglossa (2 sp.), Portugal and South Europe; Salamandrina (1 sp.), Italy to Dalmatia; Ellipsoglossa (2 sp.), Japan; Isodactylium (2 sp.), East Siberia; Onychodactylus (1 sp.), Japan; Amblystoma (21 sp.), Nearctic region from Canada and Oregon to Mexico, most abundant in Eastern States; Ranodon (1 sp.), Tartary and North-east China; Dicamptodon (1 sp.), California; Plethodon (5 sp.), Massachusetts to Louisiana, and Vancouver's Island to California; Desmognathus (4 sp.), Eastern United States south of latitude 43°; Anaides (1 sp.), Oregon and Northern California; Hemidactylium (2 sp.), South-eastern United States and Southern California; Heredia (1 sp.), Oregon and California; Spelerpes (18 sp.), Eastern United States from Massachusetts to Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Andes of Bogota, with a species in South Europe; Batrachoseps (2 sp.), South-eastern United States and California; Tylotriton (1 sp.), Yunan in West China.

{414}Order III.--ANURA.

FAMILY 7.--RHINOPHRYNIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Rhinophrynidæ are Toads with imperfect ears and a tongue which is free in front. The single species of Rhinophrynus, is a native of Mexico.

FAMILY 8.--PHRYNISCIDÆ. (5 Genera, 13 Species.)

The Phryniscidæ, or Toads with imperfect ears and tongue fixed in front, are widely distributed over the warmer regions of the earth, but are most abundant in the Neotropical region and Australia, while only single species occur in the Old World. The genera are:--

Phryniscus (7 sp.), from Costa Rica to Chili and Monte Video; Brachycephalus (1 sp.), Brazil; Pseudophryne (3 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Hemisus (1 sp.), Tropical Africa; Micrhyla (1 sp.), Java.

FAMILY 9.--HYLAPLESIDÆ. (1 Genus, 5 Species.)

{415}The Hylaplesidæ are Toads with perfect ears, and they seem to be confined to the Neotropical region. The only genus, Hylaplesia (5 sp.), inhabits Brazil, Chili, and the Island of Hayti.

FAMILY 10.--BUFONIDÆ. (6 Genera, 64 Species.)

The rather extensive family of the Bufonidæ, which includes our common Toad, and is characterised by prominent neck glands and tongue fixed in front, is almost universally distributed, but is very rare in the Australian region; one species being found in Celebes and one in Australia. The genera are:--

Kalophrynus (2 sp.), Borneo; Bufo (58 sp.), has the range of the entire family, except Australia; Otilophus (1 sp.), South America; Peltaphryne (1 sp.), Porto Rico; Pseudobufo (1 sp.), Malay Peninsula; Schismaderma (1 sp.), Natal; Notaden (1 sp.), East Central Australia.

FAMILY 11.--XENORHINIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Xenorhinidæ may be characterised as Toads with perfect ears and tongue free in front. The only species of Xenorhina is a native of New Guinea.

{416}FAMILY 12.--ENGYSTOMIDÆ. (15 Genera, 31 Species.)

The Engystomidæ are Toads without neck-glands and with the tongue tied in front. They are most abundant in the Oriental and Neotropical regions, especially in the latter, which contains about half the known species, with isolated species in Australia, Africa, and the Southern States of North America. They appear to be the remnant of a once extensive and universally distributed group, which has maintained itself in two remote regions, but is dying out everywhere else. The genera are:--

Engystoma (9 sp.), Carolina to La Plata, with one species in South China; Diplopelma (3 sp.), South India to China and Java; Cacopus (2 sp.), Central India; Glyphoglossus (1 sp.), Pegu; Callula (4 sp.), Sikhim, Ceylon, China, and Borneo; Brachymerus (1 sp.), South Africa; Adenomera (1 sp.), Brazil; Pachybatrachus (1 sp.), Australia; Breviceps (2 sp.), South and West Africa; Chelydobatrachus (1 sp.), West Australia; Hypopachus (1 sp.), Costa Rica; Rhinoderma (1 sp.), Chili; Atelopus (1 sp.), Cayenne and Peru; Copea (1 sp.), South America; Paludicola (1 sp.), New Granada.

FAMILY 13.--BOMBINATORIDÆ. (8 Genera, 9 Species.)

The Bombinatoridæ are a family of Frogs which have imperfect ears and no neck-glands, and they have a very peculiar and {417}interesting distribution, being confined to Central and South Europe, the southern part of South America, and New Zealand. They consist of many isolated groups forming five separate sub-families. The genera are:--

Bombinator, Central Europe and Italy; Pelobates and Didocus, Central Europe and Spain; Telmatobius (2 sp.), Peru and Brazil; Alsodes, Chonos Archipelago; Cacotus, Chili; Liopelma, New Zealand; Nannophryne, Straits of Magellan.

FAMILY 14.--PLECTROMANTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Plectromantidæ, which are Frogs with neck-glands, and the toes but not the fingers dilated, consists of a single species of the genus Plectromantis. It inhabits the region west of the Andes, and south of the Equator.

FAMILY 15.--ALYTIDÆ. (5 Genera, 37 Species.)

The Alytidæ are Frogs with neck-glands and undilated toes. They are most abundant in the Ethiopian region, with a few species in the Nearctic and Australian regions, and one in Europe and Brazil respectively. The genera are:--

Alytes (1 sp.), Central Europe; Scaphiopus (5 sp.), California to Mexico and the Eastern States; Hyperolius (29 sp.), all Africa, and two in New Guinea and North Australia; Helioporus (1 sp.), in Australia; Nattereria (1 sp.), Brazil.

{418}FAMILY 16.--PELODRYADÆ. (3 Genera, 7 Species.)

The Pelodryadæ are Tree Frogs with neck-glands, and are confined to the Australian and Neotropical regions. The genera are:--

Phyllomedusa (3 sp.), South America to Paraguay; Chirodryas, Australia; and Pelodryas (3 sp.), Moluccas, New Guinea and Australia.

FAMILY 17.--HYLIDÆ. (11 Genera, 94 Species.)

The Hylidæ are glandless Tree Frogs with a broadened sacrum. They are most abundant in the Neotropical region, which contains more than two-thirds of the species; about twenty species are Australian; six or seven are Nearctic, reaching northward to Great Bear Lake; while one only is European, and one Oriental. The genera are:--

Hyla (62 sp.), having the range of the whole family; Hylella (1 sp.), Ololygon (1 sp.), Pohlia (2 sp.), Triprion (1 sp.), Opisthodelphys (1 sp.), and Nototrema (4 sp.), are South American; while Trachycephalus (8 sp.), is peculiar to the Antilles, except one South American species; Pseudacris (1 sp.), ranges from Georgia, United States, to Great Bear Lake; Litoria (7 sp.), is Australian and Papuan, except one species in Paraguay; Ceratohyla (4 sp.), is only known from Ecuador.

{419}FAMILY 18.--POLYPEDATIDÆ. (24 Genera, 124 Species.)

The Polypedatidæ, or glandless Tree Frogs with narrowed sacrum, are almost equally numerous in the Oriental and Neotropical regions, more than forty species inhabiting each, while in the Ethiopian there are about half this number, and the remainder are scattered over the other three regions, as shown in the enumeration of the genera:--

Ixalus (16 sp.), Oriental, except one in Japan, and one in Western Polynesia; Rhacophorus (7 sp.), and Theloderma (1 sp.), are Oriental; Hylarana (10 sp.), Oriental, to the Solomon Islands and Tartary, Nicobar Islands, West Africa, and Madagascar; Megalixalus (1 sp.), Seychelle Islands; Leptomantis (1 sp.), Philippines; Platymantis (5 sp.), New Guinea, Philippines, and Fiji Islands; Cornufer (2 sp.), Java and New Guinea; Polypedates (19 sp.), mostly Oriental, but two species in West Africa, one Madagascar, two Japan, one Loo-Choo Islands, and one Hong Kong; Hylambates (3 sp.), Hemimantis (1 sp.), and Chiromantis (1 sp.), are Ethiopian; Rappia (13 sp.), is Ethiopian, and extends to Madagascar and the Seychelle Islands; Acris (2 sp.), is North American; Elosia (1 sp.), Epirhixis (1 sp.), Phyllobates (9 sp.), Hylodes (26 sp.), Hyloxalus (1 sp.), Pristimantis (1 sp.), Crossodactylus (1 sp.), Calostethus (1 sp.), Strabomantis (1 sp.), and Leiyla (1 sp.), are Neotropical, the last two being Central American, while species of Hylodes and Phyllobates are found in the West Indian Islands.

{420}FAMILY 19.--RANIDÆ. (26 Genera, 150 Species.)

The Ranidæ, or true Frogs, are characterised by having simple undilated toes, but neither neck-glands nor dilated sacrum. They are almost cosmopolitan, extending to the extreme north and south from the North Cape to Patagonia, and they are equally at home in the tropics. They are perhaps most abundant in South America, where a large number of the genera and species are found; the Ethiopian region comes next, while they are rather less abundant in the Oriental and Australian regions; the Nearctic region has much less (about 12 species), while the Palæarctic has only five, and these two northern regions only possess the single genus Rana. The genera are distributed as follows:--

Rana (60 sp.), ranges all over the world, except Australia and South America, although it extends into New Guinea and into Mexico and Central America; it is most abundant in Africa. Pyxicephalus (7 sp.), extends over the whole Ethiopian region, Hindostan, the Himalayas, and Japan; Cystignathus (22 sp.), is mainly Neotropical, but has three species Ethiopian. All the other genera are confined to single regions. The Neotropical genera are:--Odontophrynus (1 sp.), Pseudis (1 sp.), Pithecopsis (1 sp.), Ensophleus (1 sp.), Limnocharis (1 sp.), Hemiphractus (1 sp.), all Tropical South American east of Andes; Ceratophrys (5 sp.), Panama to La Plata; Cycloramphus (1 sp.), West Ecuador and Chili; Pleurodema (6 sp.), Venezuela to Patagonia; Leiuperus (12 sp.), Mexico and St. Domingo to Patagonia; Hylorhina (1 sp.), Chiloe. The Australian genera are:--Myxophyes (1 sp.), Queensland; Platyplectrum (2 sp.), Queensland and West Australia; Neobatrachus (1 sp.), South Australia; Limnodynastes (7 sp.), and Crinia (11 sp.), Australia and Tasmania. The {421}Oriental genera are:--Dicroglossus (1 sp.), Western Himalayas; Oxyglossus (2 sp.), Siam to Java, Philippines and China; Hoplobatrachus (1 sp.), Ceylon; Phrynoglossus (1 sp.), Siam. The Ethiopian genera are:--Phrynobatrachus (1 sp.), Stenorhynchus (1 sp.), both from Natal.

FAMILY 20.--DISCOGLOSSIDÆ, (14 Genera, 18 Species.)

The Discoglossidæ, or Frogs with a dilated sacrum, are remarkable for the number of generic forms scattered over a large part of the globe, being only absent from the Nearctic and the northern half of the Neotropical regions, and also from Hindostan and East Africa. The genera are:--

Chiroleptes (4 sp.), Australia; Calyplocephalus (1 sp.), allied to the preceding, from Chili; Cryptotis (1 sp.), Australia; Asterophys (2 sp.), New Guinea and Aru Islands; Xenophrys (1 sp.), Eastern Himalayas; Megalophrys (2 sp.), Ceylon and the Malay Islands; Nannophrys (1 sp.), Ceylon; Pelodytes (1 sp.), France only; Leptobrachium (1 sp.), Java; Discoglossus (1 sp.), Vienna to Algiers; Laprissa (1 sp.), Latonia (1 sp.), Palæarctic region; Arthroleptis (2 sp.), West Africa and the Cape; Grypiscus (1 sp.), South Brazil.

FAMILY 21.--PIPIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

{422}The Pipidæ are toads without a tongue or maxillary teeth, and with enormously dilated sacrum. The only species of Pipa is a native of Guiana.

FAMILY 22.--DACTYLETHRIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

The Dactylethridæ are Toads with maxillary teeth but no tongue, and with enormously dilated sacrum. The species of Dactylethra are natives of West, East, and South Africa.

General Remarks on the Distribution of the Amphibia.

The Amphibia, as here enumerated, consist of 22 families, 152 genera, and nearly 700 species. Many of the families have a very limited range, only two (Ranidæ and Polypedatidæ) being nearly universal; five more extend each into five regions, while no less than thirteen of the families are confined to one, two, or three regions each. By far the richest region is the Neotropical, possessing 16 families (four of them peculiar) and about 50 peculiar or very characteristic genera. Next comes the Australian, with 11 families (one of which is peculiar) and 16 peculiar genera. The Nearctic region has no less than 9 of the families (two of them peculiar to it) and 15 peculiar genera, 13 of which are tailed Batrachians which have here their metropolis. The other three regions have 9 families each; the Palæarctic has no peculiar family but no less than 15 peculiar genera; the Ethiopian 1 family and 12 genera peculiar to it; and the Oriental, 19 genera but no family confined to it.

It is evident, therefore, that each of the regions is well characterised by its peculiar forms of Amphibia, there being only a few genera, such as Hyla, Rana, and Bufo which have a wide range. The connection of the Australian and Neotropical {423}regions is well shown in this group, by the Phryniscidæ, Hylidæ, and Discoglossidæ, which present allied forms in both; as well as by the genus Liopelma of New Zealand, allied to the Bombinatoridæ of South America, and the absence of the otherwise cosmopolitan genus Rana from both continents. The affinity of the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions is shown by the Proteidæ, which are confined to them, as well as by the genus Triton and almost the whole of the extensive family of the Salamandridæ. The other regions are also well differentiated, and there is no sign of a special Ethiopian Amphibian fauna extending over the peninsula of India, or of the Oriental and Palæarctic regions merging into each other, except by means of genera of universal distribution.

Fossil Amphibia.--The extinct Labyrinthodontia form a separate order, which existed from the Carboniferous to the Triassic period. No other remains of this class are found till we reach the Tertiary formation, when Newts and Salamanders as well as Frogs and Toads occur, most frequently in the Miocene deposits. The most remarkable is the Andrias scheuchzeri from the Miocene of Oeningen, which is allied to Sieboldia maxima the great salamander of Japan.

{424}CHAPTER XX.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES OF FISHES, WITH THE RANGE OF SUCH GENERA AS INHABIT FRESH WATER.

SUB-CLASS I.--TELEOSTEI.

Order I.--ACANTHOPTERYGII.

FAMILY 1.--GASTEROSTEIDÆ. (1 Genus, 11 Species.)

"Fresh-water or marine scaleless fishes, with elongate compressed bodies and with isolated spines before the dorsal fin."

DISTRIBUTION.--Palæarctic and Nearctic regions.

The species of Gasterosteus, commonly called Sticklebacks, are found in rivers, lakes, estuaries, and seas, as far south as Italy and Ohio. Four species occur in Britain.

FAMILY 2.--BERYCIDÆ. (10 Genera, 55 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with elevated compressed bodies covered with toothed scales, and large eyes."

DISTRIBUTION.--Tropical and temperate seas of both hemispheres.

Their northern limit is the Mediterranean and Japan. Most abundant in the Malayan seas.

{425}FAMILY 3.--PERCIDÆ. (61 Genera, 476 Species.)

"Marine or fresh-water carnivorous fishes, with oblong bodies covered with toothed scales."

DISTRIBUTION.--Seas, rivers and lakes, of all regions.

The genera which inhabit fresh-waters are the following:--

Perca (3 sp.), inhabits the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions as far south as Ohio and Switzerland; one species, the common perch, is British. Percichthys (5 sp.), Chili and Patagonia, with one species in Java; Paralabrax (2 sp.), California; Labrax (8 sp.), six species are marine, inhabiting the shores of Europe and North America, one being British, two species inhabit the rivers of the northern United States; Lates (2 sp.), Nile and large rivers of India and China; Acerina (3 sp.), Europe, from England to Russia and Siberia; Percarina (1 sp.), River Dniester; Lucioperca (6 sp.), North America and Europe; Pileoma (2 sp.), North America, Texas to Lake Erie; Boleosoma (3 sp.), Texas to Lake Superior; Aspro (2 sp.), Central Europe; Huro (1 sp.), Lake Huron; Percilia, (1 sp.), Rio de Maypu in Chili; Centrarchus (10 sp.), North America and Cuba; Bryttus (8 sp.), South Carolina to Texas; Pomotis (8 sp.), North America, Lake Erie to Texas.

Of the exclusively marine genera a species of Polyprion and one of Serranus are British. The latter genus has nearly 150 species spread over the globe, but is most abundant in the Tropics. Mesoprion is another extensive genus confined to the Tropics. Apogon abounds from the Red Sea to the Pacific, but has one species in the Mediterranean and one in the coast of Brazil.

FAMILY 4.--APHREDODERIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

"Fresh-water fish, with oblong body covered with toothed scales, and wide cleft mouth."

DISTRIBUTION.--Atlantic States of North America.

{426}FAMILY 5.--PRISTIPOMATIDÆ. (25 Genera, 206 Species.)

"Marine carnivorous fishes, with compressed oblong bodies, and without molar or cutting teeth."

DISTRIBUTION.--Seas of temperate and tropical regions, a few only entering fresh water.

Of the more extensive genera, nine, comprising more than half the species, are confined to the Indian and Australian seas, while only one large genus (Hæmulon) is found in the Atlantic on the coast of Tropical America. The extensive Pacific genus, Diagramma, has one species in the Mediterranean. One genus is confined to the Macquarie River in Australia. A species of Dentex has occurred on the English coast, and this seems to be the extreme northern range of the family, which does not regularly extend beyond the coast of Portugal, and in the East to Japan. Australia seems to form the southern limit.

FAMILY 6.--MULLIDÆ. (5 Genera, 34 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with elongate slightly compressed bodies covered with large scales, and two dorsal fins at a distance from each other."

DISTRIBUTION.--All tropical seas, except the West Coast of America, extending into temperate regions as far as the Baltic, Japan, and New Zealand.

Two species of Mullus (Mullets) are British, and these are the only European fish belonging to the family.

FAMILY 7.--SPARIDÆ. (22 Genera, 117 Species.)

"Herbivorous or carnivorous marine fishes, with oblong compressed bodies covered with minutely serrated scales, and with one dorsal fin."

DISTRIBUTION.--Seas of temperate and tropical regions, a few entering rivers.

{427}Cantharus, Pagellus, and Chrysophrys, have occurred on the English Coast. Haplodactylus is confined to the West Coast of South America, and Australia; Sargus to the temperate and warm parts of the Atlantic and the shores of East Africa; Pagellus to the western coasts of Europe and Africa.

The other large genera have a wider distribution.

FAMILY 8.--SQUAMIPENNES. (12 Genera, 124 Species.)

"Carnivorous marine fishes, with compressed and elevated bodies, and scaly vertical fins."

DISTRIBUTION.--The seas between the tropics, most abundant in the Oriental and Australian regions, a few entering rivers or extending beyond the tropics.

The extensive genus Chætodon (67 sp.), ranges from the Red Sea to the Sandwich Islands, and from Japan to Western Australia, while two species are found in the West Indies. Holacanthus (36 sp.), has a similar distribution, one species only occurring in the West Indies and on the coast of South America. Only one genus (Pomacanthus), with a single species, is confined to the West Atlantic.

FAMILY 9.--CIRRHITIDÆ. (8 Genera, 34 Species.)

"Carnivorous marine fishes, with a compressed oblong body, covered with cycloid scales."

DISTRIBUTION.--The tropical and south temperate waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, from Eastern Africa to Western America. Absent from the Atlantic.

FAMILY 10.--TRIGLIDÆ. (50 Genera, 259 Species.)

"Carnivorous, mostly marine fishes, with oblong compressed or subcylindrical bodies, and wide cleft mouths. They live at the bottom of the water."

DISTRIBUTION.--All seas, some entering fresh water, and a few inhabiting exclusively the fresh waters of the Arctic regions.

{428}They are divided by Dr. Günther into four groups. The Heterolepidina (comprising 4 genera and 12 species) are confined to the North Pacific. The Scorpænina (23 genera, 113 species) have an almost universal distribution, but the genera are each restricted to one or other of the great oceans. Sebastes has occurred on the English coast. The Cottina (28 genera, 110 species) have also a universal distribution; the numerous species of Cottus are found either in the seas or fresh waters of Europe and North America; four species are British, as well as seven species of the wide-spread genus Trigla. Ptyonotus (1 sp.) is confined to Lake Ontario. The Cataphracti (5 genera, 23 species) have also a wide range; one genus, Agonus, is found in the British seas, and also in Kamschatka and on the coast of Chili. Peristethus is also British.

FAMILY 11.--TRACHINIDÆ (24 Genera, 90 Species.)

"Carnivorous marine fishes, with elongate bodies, living at the bottom, near the shore."

DISTRIBUTION.--Almost or quite universal.

Trachinus is a British genus. A species of Aphritis inhabits the fresh waters of Tasmania, while its two allies are found on the coasts of Patagonia.

FAMILY 12. SCIÆNIDÆ. (13 Genera, 102 Species.)

"Marine or fresh-water fishes, with compressed and rather elongate bodies, covered with toothed scales."

DISTRIBUTION.--Temperate and tropical regions, but absent from Australia.

Larimus is found in the Atlantic, and in African and American rivers. Corvina, Sciæna, and Otilothus are also marine and fresh-water, both in the Atlantic and Pacific. The other genera are of small extent and more restricted range. Umbrina and Sciæna have occurred in British seas.

{429}FAMILY 13.--POLYNEMIDÆ. (3 Genera, 23 Species.)

"Marine or fresh-water fishes, with compressed oblong bodies and entire or ciliated scales."

DISTRIBUTION.--Tropical seas and rivers of both the great oceans, but most abundant in the Pacific.

FAMILY 14.--SPHYRENIDÆ. (1 Genus, 15 Species.)

"Carnivorous marine fishes, with elongate sub-cylindrical bodies covered with small cycloid scales."

DISTRIBUTION.--The warm and tropical seas of the globe.

FAMILY 15.--TRICHIURIDÆ. (7 Genera, 18 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with elongate compressed bodies covered with minute scales or naked."

DISTRIBUTION.--All the tropical and sub-tropical seas.

FAMILY 16.--SCOMBRIDÆ. (20 Genera, 108 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with elongate compressed bodies, scaled or naked."

DISTRIBUTION.--All the temperate and tropical oceans. Mostly inhabiting the open seas.

Scomber, (the Mackerel) Thynnus, Naucrates, Zeus, Centrolophus, Brama, and Lampris, are genera which have occurred in the British seas.

FAMILY 17.--CARANGIDÆ. (27 Genera, 171 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with compressed oblong or elevated bodies covered with small scales or naked."

DISTRIBUTION.--All temperate and tropical seas; some species occur in both the great oceans, ranging from New York to Australia.

Trachurus and Capros are genera which occur in British seas.

{430}FAMILY 18.--XIPHIIDÆ. (2 Genera, 8 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with elongate compressed body and a produced sword-shaped upper jaw."

DISTRIBUTION.--Mediterranean, and open seas between or near the Tropics.

Xiphias (the Sword-fish) has occurred on the English coast.

FAMILY 19.--GOBIIDÆ. (24 Genera, 294 Species.)

"Carnivorous fishes, with elongate low, naked, or scaly bodies, living at the bottom of the shallow seas or fresh waters of temperate or tropical regions. Individuals of the same species often differ in inhabiting exclusively fresh or salt water."

DISTRIBUTION.--All temperate and tropical regions, from Scotland and Japan to New Zealand. Species of Gobius, Latrunculus, and Callionymus occur in Britain. Several genera are confined to the East Indian seas and rivers, but none seem peculiar to America. The genus Periopthalmus consists of the curious, large-headed, projecting-eyed fishes, so abundant on the muddy shores of African and Eastern tidal rivers, and which seem to spend most of their time out of water, hunting after insects, &c.

FAMILY 20.--DISCOBOLI. (2 Genera, 11 Species.)

"Carnivorous fishes, with oblong naked or tubercular bodies, living at the bottom of shallow seas, and attaching themselves to rocks by means of a ventral disc."

DISTRIBUTION.--All northern seas, as far south as Belgium, England, and San Francisco.

Species of both genera (Cyclopterus and Liparis) occur in British seas.

{431}FAMILY 21.--OXUDERCIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

"A marine fish, with an elongate sub-cylindrical body and no ventral fins."

DISTRIBUTION.--Macao, China.

FAMILY 22.--BATRACHIDÆ. (3 Genera, 12 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with sub-cylindrical body and broad depressed head."

DISTRIBUTION.--The coasts of nearly all tropical and south temperate regions, ranging from New York and Portugal to Chili and Tasmania.

FAMILY 23.--PEDICULATI. (8 Genera, 40 Species.)

"Marine carnivorous fishes, with very large heads and without scales."

DISTRIBUTION.--Seas of all temperate and tropical regions, extending south to New Zealand and north to Greenland.

A species of Lophius (the Fishing-frog or Sea-Devil) is found in British seas. The genus Antennarius, comprising two-thirds of the species, is wholly tropical.

FAMILY 24.--BLENNIDÆ. (33 Genera, 201 Species.)

"Carnivorous fishes, with long sub-cylindrical naked bodies, living at the bottom of shallow water in seas, or tidal rivers."

DISTRIBUTION.--All seas from the Arctic regions to New Zealand, Chili, and the Cape of Good Hope.

Species of Anarrhichas, Blennius, Blenniops, Centronotus and Zoarces occur in British seas. Chasmodes (3 sp.) is confined to the Atlantic coasts of Temperate North America; Petroscirtes (26 sp.) to the tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans; and Stichæus (9 sp.) to the Arctic Seas.

{432}FAMILY 25.--ACANTHOCLINIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

"A carnivorous marine fish, with long flat body and very long dorsal fin."

DISTRIBUTION.--Coasts of New Zealand.

FAMILY 26.--COMEPHORIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

"An elongate, naked, large-headed fish, with two dorsal fins."

DISTRIBUTION.--Lake Baikal.

Dr. Günther remarks, that this fish approaches the Scombrina (Mackerel) in several characters. These are exclusively marine fishes, while Lake Baikal is fresh-water, and is situated among mountains, at an elevation of nearly 2000 feet, and more than a thousand miles from the ocean!

FAMILY 27.--TRACHYPTERIDÆ. (3 Genera, 16 Species.)

"Deep sea fishes, with elongate, much compressed, naked bodies."

DISTRIBUTION.--Europe, East Indies, West Coast of South America, New Zealand. Dr. Günther remarks, that little is known of these fishes, from their being so seldom thrown on shore, and then rapidly decomposing. The Ribbon-fish (Regalecus banksii) has occurred frequently on our shores. They have soft bones and muscles, small mouths, and weak dentition.

FAMILY 28.--LOPHOTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

"A marine fish, with elongate compressed naked body, and high crested head."

DISTRIBUTION.--Mediterranean Sea and Japan.

{433}FAMILY 29.--TEUTHIDIDÆ. (1 Genus, 29 Species.)

"Marine, herbivorous fishes, with compressed, oblong, small-scaled bodies."

DISTRIBUTION.--Eastern tropical seas, from Bourbon and the Red Sea to the Marianne and Fiji Islands.

FAMILY 30.--ACRONURIDÆ. (5 Genera, 64 Species.)

"Marine, herbivorous fishes, with compressed, minutely-scaled bodies."

DISTRIBUTION.--All tropical seas, but most abundant in the Malay region, and extending to Japan and New Zealand.

FAMILY 31.--HOPLEGNATHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with compressed elevated bodies, covered with very small toothed scales."

DISTRIBUTION.--Seas of Australia, China, and Japan.

FAMILY 32.--MALACANTHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with elongate bodies covered with very small scales, and with very long dorsal and anal fins."

DISTRIBUTION.--Atlantic coasts of Tropical America, Mauritius, and New Guinea.

FAMILY 33.--NANDIDÆ. (6 Genera, 14 Species.)

"Marine or fresh-water carnivorous fishes, with oblong, compressed, scaly bodies."

DISTRIBUTION.--From the Red Sea to the coasts of China and Australia; and the fresh waters of the Neotropical and Oriental regions. Badis, Nandus, and Catopra inhabit the {434}rivers of India and the Malay Islands; Acharnes the rivers of British Guiana.

FAMILY 34.--POLYCENTRIDÆ. (2 Genera, 3 Species.)

"Fresh-water carnivorous fishes, with compressed elevated scaly bodies, and many-spined dorsal and anal fins."

DISTRIBUTION.--Rivers of Tropical America.

FAMILY 35.--LABYRINTHICI. (9 Genera, 25 Species.)

"Fresh-water fishes, with compressed oblong bodies, and capable of living for some time out of water or in dried mud."

DISTRIBUTION.--Fresh waters of South Africa and the East Indies from the Mauritius to China, the Philippines, Celebes, and Amboyna.

FAMILY 36.--LUCIOCEPHALIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

"Fresh-water fish, with elongate scaled body, and a dilated branchial membrane."

DISTRIBUTION.--Rivers of Borneo, Biliton, and Banca.

FAMILY 37.--ATHERINIDÆ. (3 Genera, 39 Species.)

"Marine or fresh-water carnivorous fishes, with subcylindrical scaled bodies, and feeble dentition."

DISTRIBUTION.--All temperate and tropical seas, from Scotland and New York to the Straits of Magellan and Tasmania.

Atherina presbyter occurs in British seas. Species of Atherina and Atherinichthis are found in fresh-water lakes and rivers in Europe, America, and Australia.

{435}FAMILY 38.--MUGILIDÆ. (3 Genera, 78 Species.)

"Fresh-water and marine fishes, with oblong compressed bodies, cycloid scales, and small mouths, often without teeth."

DISTRIBUTION.--Coasts and fresh waters of all temperate and tropical regions.

Mugil (66 sp.) is mostly marine, and is very widely distributed; several species (Grey Mullets) occur on the British coasts. Agonostoma (9 sp.) is confined to the fresh waters of the West Indies, Central America, New Zealand, Australia, Celebes, and the Comoro Islands. Myxus (3 sp.) is marine, and occurs both in the Atlantic and Pacific.

FAMILY 39.--OPHIOCEPHALIDÆ. (2 Genera, 26 Species.)

"Fresh-water fishes, with elongate subcylindrical scaled bodies; often leaving the water for a considerable time."

DISTRIBUTION.--Rivers of the Oriental region:--India, Ceylon, China, Malay Islands to Philippines and Borneo.

FAMILY 40.--TRICHONOTIDÆ. (2 Genera, 2 Species.)

"Marine carnivorous fishes, with elongate subcylindrical bodies, cycloid scales, and eyes directed upwards."

DISTRIBUTION.--Coasts of Celebes, Ceram, and New Zealand.

FAMILY 41.--CEPOLIDÆ. (1 Genus, 7 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with very long, compressed, band-like bodies, covered with small cycloid scales."

DISTRIBUTION.--Temperate seas of Western Europe and Eastern Asia, and one species in the Malayan Seas.

Cepola rubescens (the Band fish) ranges from Scotland to the Mediterranean. All the other species but one are from Japan.

{436}FAMILY 42.--GOBIESOCIDÆ. (9 Genera, 21 Species.)

"Carnivorous marine fishes, elongate, anteriorly depressed and scaleless, with dorsal fin on the tail."

DISTRIBUTION.--Temperate and tropical seas; Scandinavia to the Cape, California to Chili, West Indies, Red Sea, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji Islands.

Three species of Lepadogaster have occurred in the English Channel.

FAMILY 43.--PSYCHROLUTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

"A large-headed, elongate, naked marine fish, with small teeth, and dorsal fin on the tail."

DISTRIBUTION.--West Coast of North America (Vancouver's Island.)

FAMILY 44.--CENTRISCIDÆ. (2 Genera, 7 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with compressed, oblong or elevated bodies, elongate tubular mouth and no teeth."

DISTRIBUTION.--West Coast of Europe and Africa, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean to Java, Philippines, and Japan.

A species of Centriscus has occurred on the South Coast of England, and another species is found both at Madeira and Japan.

FAMILY 45.--FISTULARIDÆ. (2 Genera, 4 Species.)

"Marine fishes, very elongate, with long tubular mouth and small teeth."

DISTRIBUTION.--Tropical seas, both in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, and as far east as the New Hebrides.

{437}FAMILY 46.--MASTACEMBELIDÆ. (2 Genera, 9 Species.)

"Fresh-water fishes, with eel-like bodies and very long dorsal fin."

DISTRIBUTION.--Rivers of the Oriental region, one species from Ceram (?).

FAMILY 47.--NOTACANTHI. (1 Genus, 5 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with elongate bodies covered with very small scales, and snout protruding beyond the mouth."

DISTRIBUTION.--Greenland, Mediterranean, and West Australia.

Order II.--ACANTHOPTERYGII PHARYNGOGNATHI.

FAMILY 48.--POMACENTRIDÆ. (8 Genera, 143 Species.)

"Marine fishes, with short compressed bodies covered with toothed scales, and with feeble dentition."

DISTRIBUTION.--Tropical parts of Pacific and Indian Ocean, less numerous in Tropical Atlantic, a few reaching the Mediterranean, Japan, and South Australia. Pomacentrus, Glyphidodon, and Heliastes are Atlantic genera.

FAMILY 49.--LABRIDÆ. (46 Genera, 396 Species.)

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