The _Leptosomus discolor_, which constit_The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2 With a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the Earth's surface

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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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{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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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(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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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{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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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{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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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{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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4

| | | | |

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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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1. 2 -- -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --| -- 2 -- 4

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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| | | | |

{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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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1 -- -- -- |-- -- -- --|-- 2 -- -- | 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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-- 2. 3 -- |1 -- -- -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2. 3. 4 |1 -- -- --

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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{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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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{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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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-- 2. 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- 2 -- -- |1. 2. 3 -- |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2 -- --

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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{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)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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The single genus _Dendraspis_, constituting the family, is confined to

Tropical Africa.

FAMILY 22.--ATRACTASPIDIDÆ. (1 Genus, 4 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.

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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.

The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2 With a study of the relations of living and extinct faunas as elucidating the past changes of the Earth's surface · 第 12 / 18 章

The _Leptosomus discolor_, which constitutes this family, is a bird of very