The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2

Chapter XXII: Part IV: Geographical Zoology (4)

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

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

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

_Extinct Macropodidæ._--Many species of the genera _Macropus_ and _Hypsiprymnus_ have been found in the cave-deposits and other Post-Tertiary strata of Australia. Among the extinct genera are _Protemnodon_ and _Sthenurus_, which are more allied to the tree-kangaroos of New Guinea than to living Australian species; the gigantic _Diprotodon_, a kangaroo nearly as large as an elephant; and _Nototherium_, of smaller size.

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

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

The Phalangistidæ not only range over all Australia and Tasmania, but over the whole of the Austro-Malayan sub-region from New Guinea to the Moluccas and Celebes. The distribution of the genera is as follows:--_Phascolarctos_ (1 sp.), the koala, East Australia; _Phalangista_ (5 sp.), East, South, and West Australia, and Tasmania; _Cuscus_ (8 sp.), woolly phalangers, New Guinea, North Australia, Timor, Moluccas and Celebes; _Petaurista_ (1 sp.) large flying phalanger, East Australia; _Belideus_ (5 sp.), flying opossums, South, East, and North Australia, New Guiana and Moluccas; _Acrobata_ (1 sp.), pigmy flying opossum, South and East Australia; _Dromicia_ (5 sp.), dormouse-phalangers, West and East Australia, and Tasmania; _Tarsipes_ (1 sp.), West Australia.

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

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

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

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

_General Remarks on the Distribution of Marsupialia._

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

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

_Order XIII.--MONOTREMATA._

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

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

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

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

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

_Remark on the Distribution of the Monotremata._

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

{255}CHAPTER XVIII.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF BIRDS.

_Order I.--PASSERES._

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

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

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

(1143) _Brachypteryx_ (8 sp.), Nepaul to Java and Ceylon (this may belong to the Timaliidæ); _Turdus_ (100 sp.) has the range of the whole family, abounding in the Palæarctic, Oriental and Neotropical regions, while it is less plentiful in the Nearctic and Ethiopian, and very scarce in the Australian; (934) _Oreocincla_ (11 sp.), Palæarctic and Oriental regions, Australia and Tasmania; (942) _Rhodinocichla_ (1 sp.), Venezuela; (946) _Melanoptila_ (1 sp.), Honduras; (947 948) _Catharus_ (10 sp.) Mexico to Equador; (949 950) _Margarops_ (4 sp.), Hayti and Porto Rico to St. Lucia; (951) _Nesocichla_ (1 sp.), Tristan d'Acunha; (952) _Geocichla_ (8 sp.), India to Formosa and Celebes, Timor and North Australia; (954 955) _Monticola_ (8 sp.), Central Europe to South Africa and to China, Philippine Islands, Gilolo and Java; (956) _Orocætes_ (3 sp.), Himalayas and N. China; _Zoothera_ (3 sp.) Himalayas, Aracan, Java, and Lombok; _Mimus_ (20 sp.) Canada to Patagonia, West Indies and Galapagos; (962) _Oreoscoptes_ (1 sp.), Rocky Mountains and Mexico; (963) _Melanotis_ (2 sp.), South Mexico and Guatemala; (964) _Galeoscoptes_ (1 sp.), Canada and Eastern United States to Cuba and Panama; (965 966) _Mimocichla_ (5 sp.), Greater Antilles; (967 968) _Harporhynchus_ (7 sp.), North America, from the great lakes to Mexico; _Cinclocerthia_ (3 sp.), Lesser Antilles; (970) _Rhamphocinclus_ (1 sp.), Lesser Antilles; _Chætops_ (3 sp.), South Africa; _Cossypha_ = _Bessonornis_ (15 sp.) Ethiopian region and Palestine.

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

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

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

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

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

1. DRYMOECINÆ.--(736) Orthotomus (13 sp.), all the Oriental region; (737) _Prinia_ (11 sp.), all the Oriental region; (738 740 742 746) _Drymoeca_ (83 sp.), Ethiopian and Oriental regions, most abundant in the former; (743 to 745 and 749 to 752) _Cisticola_ (32 sp.), Ethiopian and Oriental regions, with South Europe, China {258}and Australia; (741) _Suya_ (5 sp.), Nepal to South China and Formosa; (773) _Sphenæacus_ (7 sp.), Australia, New Zealand, and Chatham Island, with one species (?) in South Africa; (770 772) _Megalurus_ (4 sp.), Central India to Java and Timor; (774 775) _Poodytes_ (2 sp.), Australia; (766) _Amytis_ (3 sp.), Australia; (768) _Sphenura_ (4 sp.), Australia; (764) _Malurus_ (16 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; (762 763) _Chthonicola_ (3 sp.), Australia; (761) _Calamanthus_ (2 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; (759) _Camaroptera_ (5 sp.), Africa and Fernando Po; (753) _Apalis_ (1 sp.), South Africa.

2. CALAMOHERPINÆ.--(777 to 781 and sp. 2968) _Acrocephalus_ (35 sp.), Palæarctic, Ethiopian, continental part of Oriental region, Moluccas, Caroline Islands, and Australia; (782 818) _Dumeticola_ (4 sp.), Nepal to East Thibet, Central Asia, high regions; (783 790) _Potamodus_ (3 sp.), Central and South Europe, and East Thibet; (789 and sp. 2969) _Lusciniola_ (1 sp.), South Europe; (791 792) _Locustella_ (8 sp.), Palæarctic region to Central India and China; (739) _Horites_ (5 sp.), Nepal to North-west China and Formosa; (784-786) _Bradyptetus_ = _Cettia_ (10 sp.), South Europe, Palestine, and South Africa; (747 748) _Catriscus_ (3 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; _Bernieria_ (2 sp.), and (756) _Ellisia_ (3 sp.), Madagascar; (832 a) _Mystacornis_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; (787) _Calamodus_ (2 sp.), Europe and Palestine; (734) _Tatare_ (2 sp.) Samoa to Marquesas Islands.

3. PHYLLOSCOPINÆ.[5]--_Phylloscopus_ (18 sp.), all Palæarctic and Oriental regions to Batchian; (757 758 820) _Eremomela_ (16 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (754) _Eroessa_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; [5]_Hypolais_ (12 sp.), Palæarctic region, all India, Timor, North and South Africa; (815 816 819) _Abrornis_ (26 sp.), Oriental region; (814) _Reguloides_ (4 sp.), Palæarctic and continental Oriental regions; (822) _Sericornis_ (7 sp.), Australia and Tasmania (823 824 1451) _Acanthiza_ (14 sp.), Australia and New Caledonia; (821) _Regulus_ (7 sp.), all Palæarctic and Nearctic regions and south to Guatemala; (890) _Polioptila_ (13 sp,); Paraguay to New Mexico; (825) _Gerygone_ (22 sp.), Australia, Papuan and Timor groups, New Zealand and Norfolk Island.

{259}4. SYLVIINÆ.--(793) _Aedon_ (9 sp.), Spain and Palestine, to East and South Africa; (858) _Drymodes_ (2 sp.), Australia; (800) _Pyrophthalma_ (2 sp.), South Europe and Palestine; (801) _Melizophilus_ (3 sp.), South-west Europe and North-east Africa; (802 804) _Sylvia_ = _Alsecus_ (8 sp.), Palæarctic region to India and Ceylon, and North-east Africa; (806 809) _Curruca_ (7 sp.), Central and South Europe, Madeira, Palestine, Central India, North-east Africa, and South Africa.

5. RUTICILLINÆ.--(827) _Luscinia_ (2 sp.), West Asia, Europe, North Africa; (839) _Cyanecula_ (3 sp.), Europe, North-east Africa, India, Ceylon, and China; (840) _Calliope_ (2 sp.), North Asia, Himalayas, Central India, and China; (838) _Erithacus_ (3 sp.), Europe, North-east Africa, Japan, and North China; (828 830 837) _Ruticilla_ (20 sp.), Palæarctic and Oriental regions to Senegal and Abyssinia, and east to Timor; abounds in Himalayas; (829) _Chæmarrhornis_ (1 sp.), Himalayas; (831 832 834) _Larvivora_ (10 sp.), Oriental region and Japan; (833) _Notodela_ (3 sp.), Himalayas, Pegu, Formosa, Java; (835) _Tarsiger_ (2 sp.), Nepal; (841) _Grandala_ (1 sp.), High Himalayas of Nepal.

6. SAXICOLINÆ.--(975) _Copsychus_ (7 sp.), all Oriental region and Madagascar; (976) _Kittacincla_ (5 sp.), Oriental region to {260}Ceylon, Andaman Islands, Formosa, and Borneo; (794-799) _Thamnobia_ (10 sp.), Ethiopian region and India to foot of Himalayas; (977) _Gervasia_ (2 sp.), Madagascar and Seychelle Islands; (845 847) _Dromolæa_ (18 sp.), Africa to South Europe, Palestine, North-west India, and North China; (842 843 846) _Saxicola_ (36 sp.), Africa, North-west India, whole Palæarctic region, migrating to Alaska and Greenland; (848 849) _Oreicola_ (5 sp.), Timor, Lombok, and Burmah; (844) _Cercomela_ (6 sp.), North-east Africa to North-west India; (850) _Pratincola_ (15 sp.), Europe, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions to Celebes and Timor; (917) _Ephthianura_ (3 sp.), Australia; (851-856) _Petroeca_ (17 sp.), Australian region, Papua to New Zealand, Chatham and Auckland Islands, and Samoa; (857) _Miro_ (2 sp.), New Zealand (doubtfully placed here).

7. ACCENTORINÆ.--(771) _Cinclorhamphus_ (2 sp.), Australia; (860) _Origma_ (1 sp.), East Australia; (859) _Sialia_ (8 sp.), United States to Guatemala; (861) _Accentor_ (12 sp.), Palæarctic region to Himalayas and North-west China; (703) _Orthonyx_ (4 sp.), East Australia and New Zealand (doubtfully placed here).

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

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

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

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

(1023-1026 1008) _Pomatorhinus_ (27 sp.), the whole Oriental region (excluding Philippines), Australia and New Guinea; (1027) _Pterohinus_ (3 sp.), North China, East Thibet; (1029 1030) _Malacocircus_ (9 sp.), Continental India and Ceylon, Arabia, Nubia; (1031) _Chatarrhæa_ (5 sp.), Abyssinia, Palestine, India, Nepal, Burmah, and Philippines; (1032) _Layardia_ (3 sp.), India and Ceylon; (1033) _Acanthoptila_ (1 sp.), Nepal; (1034) _Cinclosoma_ (4 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; (1035 1036) _Crateropus_ (18 sp.), all Africa, Persia; (1037) _Hypergerus_ (1 sp.), West Africa; (1038) _Cichladusa_ (3 sp.), Tropical Africa; (1039) _Garrulax_ (23 sp.), the Oriental region (excluding Philippines); (1040) _Janthocincla_ (10 sp.), Nepal, to East Thibet, Sumatra, Formosa; (1041 1042) _Gampsorhynchus_ (2 sp.), Himalayas; (1049) _Grammatoptila_ (1 sp.), North India; (1043-1045) _Trochalopteron_ (24 sp.), all India to China and Formosa; (1046) _Actinodura_ (4 sp.), Nepal to Burmah, 3,000-10,000 feet; (1047) _Pellorneum_ (4 sp.), Nepal to Ceylon, Tenasserim; (1158 1159) _Timalia_ (12 sp.), Malaya;[6] (1160) _Dumetia_ (2 sp.), Central India and Ceylon; (1162) _Stachyris_ (6 sp.), Nepal to Assam, Sumatra, Formosa; (1164) _Pyctorhis_ (3 sp.), India to Ceylon and Burmah; (1165) _Mixornis_ (8 sp.), Himalayas and Malaya; (1167) _Malacopteron_ (3 sp.), Malaya; (1168 1169) _Alcippe_ (15 sp.), Ceylon and South India, Himalayas to Aracan, Malaya, Formosa, New Guinea; (1170) _Macronus_ (2 sp.), Malaya; (1171) _Cacopitta_ (5 sp.), Malaya; (1172) _Trichastoma_ (11 sp.), Nepal, Burmah, Malaya, Celebes; (1173) _Napothera_ (6 sp.), Malaya; (1174) _Drymocataphus_ (8 sp.), Burmah, Malaya, Ceylon, {262}Timor; (1175) _Turdinus_ (5 sp.), Khasia Hills, Malacca, Tenasserim; (1176) _Trichixos_ (1 sp.), Borneo, Malacca; (1004) _Sibia_ (6 sp.), Nepal to Assam, Tenasserim, Formosa; (1177 1178) _Alethe_ (4 sp.), West Africa; (1178 a) _Oxylabes_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; (1050) _Psophodes_ (2 sp.), South, East, and West Australia; (1048) _Turnagra_ (3 sp.), New Zealand.

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

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

(1901) _Paradoxornis_ (3 sp.), Himalayas and East Thibet; (1904) _Conostoma_ (1 sp.), Himalayas and East Thibet; (876) _Suthora_ (8 sp.), Himalayas to North-west China, Formosa; (877) _Chlenasicus_ (1 sp.), Darjeeling; (887) _Panurus_ (1 sp.), Central and Southern Europe; (1902) _Heteromorpha_ (1 sp.), Nepal, 10,000 feet altitude; _Cholornis_ (1 sp.), Moupin in East Thibet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Tesia_ (2 sp.), Eastern Himalayas; _Pnoepyga_ (6 sp.), Himalayas to East Thibet, Java; (716 and 723) _Troglodytes_ (15 sp.), Neotropical, Nearctic, and Palæarctic regions to the Higher Himalayas; (697) _Rimator_ (1 sp.), Darjeeling; _Thryothorus_ (13 sp.), South Brazil to Mexico, Martinique, and Nearctic region; _Thryophilus_ (13 sp.), Brazil to Mexico, and North-west America; _Cistothorus_ {264}(5 sp.), Patagonia to Greenland; _Uropsila_ (1 sp.), Mexico; _Donacobius_ (2 sp.), Tropical America; _Campylorhynchus_ (18 sp.), Brazil, and Bolivia to Mexico and the Gila valley; _Cyphorhinus_ (5 sp.), Equatorial South America to Costa Rica; _Microcerculus_ (5 sp.), Brazil and Peru to Mexico; _Henicorhina_ (2 sp.), Peru and Guiana to Costa Rica; _Salpinctes_ (1 sp.), High Plains of Rocky Mountains; _Catherpes_ (1 sp.), Mexico and Rio Grande; _Cinnicerthia_ (2 sp.), Ecuador and Columbia. (760) _Sylvietta_ (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa,--is placed in this family by Mr. Tristram.

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

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

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

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

_Certhia_ (6 sp.), Nearctic and Palæarctic regions, Nepal, and Sikhim; _Salpornis_ (1 sp.), Central India; _Tichodroma_, (1 sp.), South {265}Europe to Abyssinia, Nepal, and North China; _Rhabdornis_ (1 sp.), Philippine Islands; _Climacteris_ (8 sp.), Australia and New Guinea.

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

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

_Sitta_ (17 sp.), Palæarctic and Nearctic regions to South India and Mexico; _Dendrophila_ (2 sp.), Ceylon and India to Burmah and Malaya; _Hypherpes_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; _Sittella_ (6 sp.), Australia and New Guinea. _Acanthisitta_ (1 sp.) and _Xenicus_ (4 sp.), New Zealand, are placed with some doubt in this family.

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

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

(864-867 870) _Parus_ (46 sp.), North America, from Mexico, Palæarctic, and Oriental regions, Tropical and South Africa; {266}(868 869) _Lophophanes_ (10 sp.), Europe, the Higher Himalayas to Sikhim, North America to Mexico; _Acredula_ = _Orites_ (6 sp.), Palæarctic region; _Melanochlora_ (2 sp.), Nepal to Sumatra; _Psaltria_ (1 sp.), Java; _Psaltriparus_ (3 sp.), Guatemala to California, and Rocky Mountains; _Auriparus_ (1 sp.), Rio Grande; (881 882) _Parisoma_ (5 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (883 884) _Ægithalus_ (6 sp.), South-east Europe to South Africa; (885 889) _Ægithaliscus_ (6 sp.), Afghanistan and Himalayas to Amoy; _Cephalopyrus_ (1 sp.), North-west Himalayas; _Sylviparus_ (1 sp.), Himalayas and Central India; _Certhiparus_ (2 sp.), New Zealand; (879 880) _Sphenostoma_ (2 sp.), East and South Australia.

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

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

(1146) _Liothrix_ (3 sp.), Himalayas to China; _Siva_ (3 sp.), Himalayas; _Minla_ (4 sp.), Himalayas and East Thibet; _Proparus_ (7 sp.), Nepal to East Thibet and Aracan; (1153) _Pteruthius_ (6 sp.), Himalayas to Java and West China; (1155) _Cutia_ (2 sp.), Nepal; (1019) _Yuhina_ (3 sp.), High Himalayas and Moupin; (1020) _Ixulus_ (3 sp.), Himalayas to Tenasserim; (1021) _Myzornis_ (1 sp.), Darjeeling.

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

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

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

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

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

MICROSCELIS (6 sp.), Burmah, the Indo-Malay Islands, and Japan; _Pycnonotus_ (52 sp., in many sub-genera), Palestine to South Africa, the whole Oriental region, China and Japan; _Alcurus_ (1 sp.), Himalayas; _Hemixus_ (2 sp.), Nepal, Bootan, Hainan; _Phyllastrephus_ (4 sp.), West and South Africa; _Hypsipetes_ (20 sp.), the whole Oriental region, Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands; _Tylas_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; _Criniger_ (30 sp.), the whole Oriental region (excluding Philippines), West and South Africa, Moluccas; _Ixonotus_ (7 sp.), West Africa; (1015 1017) _Setornis_ (3 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo; _Iole_ (4 sp.), Aracan and Malaya; _Andropadus_ (9 sp.), Tropical Africa; (1157) _Lioptilus_ (1 sp.), South Africa.

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

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

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

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

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

_Pericrocotus_ (22 sp.), the whole Oriental region, extending north to Pekin, and east to Lombok; (1242-1244) _Lanicterus_ (4 sp.), West and South Africa; (1245 1246) _Graucalus_ (25 sp.), the whole Oriental region, and eastward to Austro-Malaya, the New {269}Hebrides, and Tasmania; _Artamides_ (1 sp.), Celebes; _Pteropodocys_ (1 sp.), Australia; (1248 1250 1257 1258) _Campephaga_ (16 sp.), Austro-Malaya, and New Caledonia, Philippines, the Ethiopian region; _Volvocivora_ (8 sp.) the Oriental region (excluding Philippines); _Lalage_ (18 sp.), the whole Malay Archipelago to New Caledonia and Australia; _Symmorphus_ (1 sp.), Australia; _Oxynotus_ (2 sp.), Mauritius and Bourbon; (1204) _Cochoa_ (3 sp.), Himalayas, Java. The position of this last genus is doubtful. Jerdon puts it in the Liotrichidæ; Sundeval in the Sturnidæ; Bonaparte in the Dicruridæ; Professor Newton suggests the Pycnonotidæ; but it seems on the whole best placed here.

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

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

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

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

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

_Peltops_ (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; _Monarcha_ (28 sp.), Moluccas to the Carolines and Marquesas Islands, Australia and Tasmania; _Leucophantes_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Butalis_ (4 sp.), Ethiopian and Palæarctic regions, Moluccas and Formosa; _Muscicapa_ (12 sp.), Europe and Africa; _Muscicapula_ (6 sp.), India to Western China; _Alseonax_ (1 sp.), South Africa; _Erythrosterna_ (7 sp.), Europe to China and Java; _Newtonia_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; _Xanthopygia_ (2 sp.), Japan, China, Malacca; _Hemipus_ (1 sp.), India and Ceylon; _Pycnophrys_ (1 sp.), Java; _Hyliota_ (2 sp.), West Africa; _Erythrocercus_ (2 sp.), West Africa and Zambesi; _Micræca_ (6 sp.), Australia, Timor, and Papuan Islands; _Artomyias_ (2 sp.), West Africa; _Pseudobias_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; _Hemichelidon_ (3 sp.), the Oriental region and North China; _Smithornis_ (2 sp.), West and South Africa; _Megabias_ (1 sp.), West Africa; _Cassinia_ (2 sp.), West Africa; _Bias_, (1 sp.), Tropical Africa; _Niltava_ (3 sp.), Himalayas to West China; _Cyornis_ (16 sp.), the whole Oriental region; _Cyanoptila_ (1 sp.), Japan, China, Hainan; _Eumyias_ (7 sp.), India to South China, Ceylon, and Sumatra; (1213 and 1216) _Siphia_ (8 sp.), North India, Formosa, Timor; _Anthipes_ (1 sp.), Nepal; _Seisura_ (5 sp.), Australia and {271}Austro-Malaya (excluding Celebes); _Myiagra_ (16 sp.), Australia and Moluccas to Caroline and Samoa Islands; _Hypothymis_ (2 sp.), Oriental region and Celebes; _Elminia_ (2 sp.), Tropical Africa; _Muscitodus_ (2 sp.), Fiji Islands; _Machærirhynchus_ (4 sp.), Papuan Islands and North Australia; _Platystira_ (12 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; _Rhipidura_ (45 sp.), the Oriental and Australian regions to the Samoa Islands and Tasmania; _Chelidorynx_ (1 sp.), North India; _Myialestes_ (2 sp.), India to Ceylon, China, Java and Celebes; _Tchitrea_ (26 sp.), the entire Ethiopian and Oriental regions, and to North China and Japan; _Philentoma_ (4 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo, and Philippine Islands; _Todopsis_ (6 sp.), Papuan Islands; (836) _Pogonocichla_ (1 sp.), South Africa; (1061-1063) _Bradyornis_ (7 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1460) _Chasiempis_ (2 sp.), Sandwich Islands.

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

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

_Oreoeca_ (1 sp.), Australia; _Falcunculus_ (2 sp.), Australia; _Pachycephala_ (44 sp.), Sula Islands (east of Celebes) to the Fiji Islands, and Australia; _Hylocharis_ (4 sp.), Timor, Celebes, Indo-Malaya, and Aracan; _Calicalicus_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; _Eopsaltria_ (14 sp.), Australia, New Caledonia, and the New Hebrides; _Artamia_ (4 sp.), Madagascar,--may belong to this family, or to Laniidæ, Oriolidæ, or Artamidæ, according to different authors.

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

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

_Colluricincla_ (4 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; _Rectes_ (18 sp.), Papuan Islands, North Australia, to Pelew and Fiji Islands; (1462-1464 1466 1470 1471-1473) _Lanius_ (50 sp.), the whole Nearctic, Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions, one species reaching Timor, none in Madagascar; _Laniellus_ (1 sp.), Java; _Hypocolius_ (1 sp.), Abyssinia and Upper Nile; _Corvinella_ (1 sp.), South and West Africa; _Urolestes_ (1 sp.), South and East Africa; _Tephrodornis_ (4 sp.), Oriental region to Hainan and Java; _Hypodes_ (1 sp.), West Africa; _Fraseria_ (2 sp.), West Africa; _Cuphopterus_ (1 sp.), Princes' Island; _Nilaus_ (1 sp.), South and West Africa; _Prionops_ (9 sp.), Tropical Africa; _Eurocephalus_ (2 sp.), North, East, and South Africa, and Abyssinia; _Chaunonotus_ (1 sp.), West Africa; _Vanga_ (4 sp.), Madagascar (Plate VI. vol. i. p. 278); _Laniarius_ (36 sp.), the whole Ethiopian region; _Telephonus_ (10 sp.), all Africa and South Europe; _Meristes_ (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; _Nicator_ (1 sp.), East Africa.

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

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

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

Sub-family II. _Garrulinæ_ (Jays).--_Platylophus_ = _Lophocitta_ (4 sp.), Malaya; _Garrulus_ (12 sp.), Palæarctic region, China and Himalayas; _Perisoreus_ (2 sp.), North of Palæarctic and Nearctic regions; _Cyanurus_ (22 sp.), American, from Bolivia to Canada, most abundant in Central America, but absent from the Antilles; _Cyanocorax_ (15 sp.), La Plata to Mexico; _Calocitta_ (2 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; _Psilorhinus_ (3 sp.), Costa Rica to Texas; _Urocissa_ (6 sp.), Western Himalayas to China and Formosa; _Cissa_ (3 sp.), South-eastern Himalayas to Tenasserim, Ceylon, Sumatra, and Java.

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

Sub-family IV. Corvinæ (Crows and Magpies).--_Nucifraga_ (4 sp.), Palæarctic region to the Himalayas and North China; _Picicorvus_ (1 sp.), the Rocky Mountains and California; _Gymnokitta_ (1 sp.), Rocky Mountains and Arizona (Plate XVIII., Vol. II., p. 128); _Pica_ (9 sp.), Palæarctic region, Arctic America, and California; _Cyanopica_ (3 sp.), Spain, North-east Asia, Japan; {274}_Streptocitta_ (2 sp.), Celebes; _Charitornis_ (1 sp.), Sula Islands; _Corvus_ (55 sp.), universally distributed except South America and New Zealand, but found in Guatemala and the Antilles to Porto Rico; reaches the extreme north of Europe and Asia; _Gymnocorvus_ (2 sp.), Papuan Islands; _Picathartes_ (1 sp.), West Africa; _Corvultur_ (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa.

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

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

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

Sub-family I. Paradiseinæ.--_Paradisea_ (4 sp.), Papuan Islands; _Manucodia_ (3 sp.), Papuan Islands and North Australia; _Astrapia_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Parotia_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Lophorhina_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Diphyllodes_ (3 sp.), Papuan {275}Islands; _Xanthomelus_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Cicinnurus_ (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; _Paradigalla_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Semioptera_ (1 sp.), Gilolo and Batchian.

Sub-family II. Epimachinæ.--_Epimachus_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Drepanornis_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Seleucides_ (1 sp.), New Guinea (Plate X., Vol. I., p. 414); _Ptilorhis_ (4 sp.), New Guinea and North Australia.

Sub-family III. Tectonarchinæ (Bower-birds).--_Sericulus_ (1 sp.), Eastern Australia; _Ptilonorhynchus_ (1 sp.), Eastern Australia; _Chlamydodera_ (4 sp.), North and East Australia; _Ælurædus_ (3 sp.), Papuan Islands and East Australia; _Amblyornis_ (1 sp.), New Guinea.

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

(As in the _Hand List_, but omitting Zosterops, and slightly altering the
arrangement.)

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

_Myzomela_ (18 sp.), has the widest range, extending from Celebes to the Samoa Islands, and to Timor and Eastern Australia; _Entomophila_ (4 sp.), Australia and New Guinea; _Gliciphila_ (10 sp.), Australia, Timor, New Guinea, and New Caledonia; _Acanthorhynchus_ (2 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; Meliphaga (1 sp.), Australia; _Ptilotis_ (40 sp.), Gilolo and Lombok to Australia and Tasmania, and to the Samoa and Tonga Islands; _Meliornis_ (5 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; _Prosthemadera_ (1 sp.), _Pogonornis_ (1 sp.), New Zealand; _Anthornis_ (4 sp.), New Zealand and Chatham Islands; _Anthochæra_ (4 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; {276}_Xanthotis_ (4 sp.), Papuan Islands and Australia; _Leptornis_ (2 sp.), Samoa Islands and New Caledonia; _Philemon_ = _Tropidorhyncus_ (18 sp.), Moluccas and Lombok to New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania and New Caledonia; _Entomiza_ (2 sp.), Australia; _Manorhina_ (5 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; _Euthyrhynchus_ (3 sp.), New Guinea; _Melirrhophetes_ (2 sp.), New Guinea; _Melidectes_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Melipotes_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Melithreptus_ (8 sp.), New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania; (397) _Moho_ (3 sp.), Sandwich Islands; _Chætoptila_ (1 sp.), Sandwich Islands.

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

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

_Promerops_ (1 sp.), South Africa; _Nectarinia_ (60 sp.), the whole Ethiopian region; _Cinnyricinclus_ (5 sp.), West Africa; _Neodrepanis_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; _Arachnecthra_ (13 sp.), Palestine, all India to Hainan, the Papuan Islands, and North-east Australia; _Æthopyga_ (15 sp.), Himalayas and Central India to West China, Hainan, Java, and Northern Celebes; _Nectarophila_ (5 sp.), Central India and Ceylon, Assam and Aracan to Java, Celebes and the Philippines; _Chalcostetha_ (6 sp.), Malay Peninsula to New Guinea; _Anthreptes_ (1 sp.), Siam, Malay Peninsula to {277}Sula Islands, and Flores; _Cosmeteira_ (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; _Arachnothera_ (15 sp.), the Oriental region (excluding Philippines) Celebes, Lombok, and Papuan Islands.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Diglossa_ (14 sp.), Peru and Bolivia to Guiana and Mexico; _Diglossopis_ (1 sp.), Ecuador to Venezuela; _Oreomanes_ (1 sp.), Ecuador; _Conirostrum_ (6 sp.), Bolivia to Ecuador and Columbia; _Hemidacnis_ (1 sp.), Upper Amazon and Columbia; _Dacnis_ (13 sp.), Brazil to Ecuador and Costa Rica; _Certhidea_ (2 sp.), Galapagos Islands; _Chlorophanes_ (2 sp.), Brazil to Central America and Cuba; _Coereba_ (4 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; _Certhiola_ (10 sp.), Amazon to Mexico, West Indies, and Florida; _Glossoptila_ (1 sp.), Jamaica.

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

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

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

(918) _Siurus_ (4 sp.), Venezuela and West Indies to Eastern States and Canada; _Mniotilta_ (1 sp.), Venezuela, Mexico, and Antilles to the Eastern States; _Parula_ (5 sp.), Brazil to Mexico, and the Eastern States, and Canada; _Protonotaria_ (1 sp.), Antilles to Ohio; _Helminthophaga_ (8 sp.), Columbia to Arctic America; _Helmintherus_ (2 sp.), Central America to Eastern States; _Perissoglossa_ (1 sp.), Antilles and Eastern States; _Dendroeca_ (33 sp.), Amazon to Antilles, and Arctic America, and south to Chili; _Oporornis_ (2 sp.), Guatemala to Eastern States; _Geothlypis_ (11 sp.), all North America and Brazil; _Myiodioctes_ (5 sp.), all North America and Columbia; _Basileuterus_ (22 sp.), Bolivia and Brazil to Mexico; _Setophaga_ (15 sp.), Brazil to Canada; _Ergaticus_ (2 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; _Cardellina_ (1 sp.), Guatemala and Mexico; (1440) _Granatellus_ (3 sp.), Amazon to Mexico; (1441) _Teretristis_ (2 sp.), Cuba; (1439) _Icteria_ (2 sp.), Costa Rica and United States to Canada.

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

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

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

_Vireosylvia_ (13 sp.), Venezuela to Mexico, the Antilles, the Eastern States and Canada; _Vireo_ (14 sp.), Central America and the Antilles to Canada; _Neochloe_ (1 sp.), Mexico; _Hylophilus_ (20 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; _Laletes_ (1 sp.), Jamaica; _Vireolanius_ (5 sp.), Amazonia to Mexico; _Cychlorhis_ (9 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico.

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

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

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The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2Chapter XXII: Part IV: Geographical Zoology (4)

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