is but slightly connected with the preceding. The line separating this
region from the Indian passes between the islands of Bali and Lombok,
through the Strait of Macassar, between Borneo and Celebes, thence
northward between the Philippines and Sanguir and Pelew; including,
further on, the Ladrones, Hawaiians, all of Polynesia except the
northern outliers of the New Zealand group, and finally sweeping back to
encompass Australia. Here we find the curious egg-laying mammal,
Ornithorhynchus. But to pass at once to the birds. Here we find such
peculiar forms as the megapodes, cassowaries, sun-bitterns,
birds-of-paradise, lyre-birds, and many not so familiar. Of the higher
birds there are but few compared with Europe or America. It is evidently
a continent which has long been separated from the rest of the world.