The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2

Chapter XXIV: Part IV: Geographical Zoology (6)

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(2195) _Phænicophaës_ (1 sp.), Ceylon; (2196) _Rhamphococcyx_ (1 sp.), Celebes; (2196) _Rhinococcyx_ (1 sp.), Java; (2196 pt. and 2203) _Rhopodytes_ (6 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon, Hainan, and Malaya; (2203 pt) _Poliococcyx_ (1 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo; (2197) _Dasylophus_ (1 sp.), Philippine Islands; (2198) _Lepidogrammus_ (1 sp.), Philippine Islands; (2200) _Zanclostomus_ (1 sp.), Malaya; (2201) _Ceuthmochares_ (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa and Madagascar; (2202) _Taccocua_ (4 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon and Malacca; (2204) _Rhinortha_ (1 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo; (2199) _Carpococcyx_ (1 sp.), Borneo and Sumatra; (2220) _Neomorphus_ (4 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; (2205 2206) _Coua_ (10 sp.), Madagascar; (2207) _Cochlothraustes_ (1 sp.), Madagascar; (2221) _Centropus_ (35 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, the whole Oriental region, Austro-Malaya and Australia; (2213) _Crotophaga_ (3 sp.), Brazil to Antilles and Pennsylvania; (2212) _Guira_ (1 sp.), Brazil and Paraguay; (2209) _Geococcyx_ (2 sp.), Guatemala to Texas and California; (2211) _Dromococcyx_ (2 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; (2210) _Diplopterus_ (1 sp.), Mexico to Ecuador and Brazil; (2208) _Saurothera_ (4 sp.), Greater Antilles; (2219) _Hyetornis_ (2 sp.), Jamaica and Hayti; (2215) _Piaya_ (3 sp.), Mexico to West Ecuador and Brazil; (2218) _Morococcyx_ (1 sp.), Costa Rica to Mexico; (2214) _Coccygus_ (10 sp.), La Plata to Antilles, Mexico and Pennsylvania, Cocos Island; (2227) _Cuculus_ (22 sp.), Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions, to Moluccas and Australia; (2229) _Caliecthrus_ (1 sp.), Papuan Islands; (2230-2232) _Cacomantis_ (15 sp.), Oriental and Australian {310}regions to Fiji Islands and Tasmania; (2233-2237) _Chrysococcyx_ (16 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, the Oriental and Australian regions to New Zealand and Fiji Islands; (2238) _Surniculus_ (2 sp.), India, Ceylon, and Malaya; (2239) _Hierococcyx_ (7 sp.), the Oriental region to Amoorland and Celebes; (2240 2241) _Coccystes_ (6 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, the Oriental region, excluding Philippines; (2242) _Eudynamis_ (8 sp.), the Oriental and Australian regions, excluding Sandwich Islands; (2243) _Scythrops_ (1 sp.), East Australia to Moluccas and North Celebes.

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

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

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

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

The genera are:--_Bucco_ (21 sp.), Guatemala to Paraguay, and West of the Andes in Ecuador; _Malacoptila_ (10 sp.), Guatemala {311}to Bolivia and Brazil; _Nonnula_ (3 sp.), Amazon and Columbia; _Monasa_ (7 sp.), Costa Rica to Brazil; _Chelidoptera_ (2 sp.), Columbia and Guiana to Brazil.

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

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

_Galbula_ (9 sp.), Guatemala to Brazil and Bolivia; _Urogalba_ (2 sp.), Guiana and the lower Amazon; _Brachygalba_ (4 sp.), Venezuela to Brazil and Bolivia; _Jacamaralcyon_ (1 sp.), Brazil; _Jacamerops_ (2 sp.), Panama to the Amazon; _Galbalcyrhynchus_ (1 sp.), Upper Amazon.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Merops_ (21 sp.), has the range of the family extending on the north to South Scandinavia, and east to Australia and New Guinea; _Nyctiornis_ (3 sp.), the Oriental region, except Ceylon and Java; _Meropogon_ (1 sp.), Celebes; _Meropiscus_ (3 sp.), West Africa; _Melittophagus_ (6 sp.), Ethiopian region, except Madagascar.

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

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

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

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

_Momotus_ (10 sp.), Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia, one species extending to Tobago, and one to Western Ecuador; _Urospatha_ (1 sp.), Costa Rica to the Amazon; _Baryphthengus_ (1 sp.), Brazil and Paraguay; _Hylomanes_ (2 sp.), Guatemala; _Prionirhynchus_ (2 sp.), Guatemala to Upper Amazon; _Eumomota_ (1 sp.), Honduras to Chiriqui.

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

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

_Trogon_ (24 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico, and west of the Andes in Ecuador; _Temnotrogon_ (1 sp.), Hayti; _Prionoteles_ (1 sp.), Cuba (Plate XVII. Vol. II. p. 67); _Apaloderma_ (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; _Harpactes_ (10 sp.), the Oriental region, excluding China; _Pharomacrus_ (5 sp.), Amazonia to Guatemala; _Euptilotis_ (1 sp.), Mexico.

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

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

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

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

_Alcedo_ (9 sp.), Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions (but absent from Madagascar), and extending into the Austro-Malayan sub-region; _Corythornis_ (3 sp.), the whole Ethiopian region; _Alcyone_ (7 sp.), Australia and the Austro-Malayan sub-region, with one species in the Philippine Islands; _Ceryle_ (13 sp.), absent only from Australia, the northern half of the Palæarctic region, and Madagascar; _Pelargopsis_ (9 sp.), the whole Oriental region; and extending to Celebes and Timor in the Austro-Malayan sub-region; _Ceyx_ (11 sp.), the Oriental region and Austro-Malayan sub-region, but absent from Celebes, and only one species in continental India and Ceylon; _Ceycopsis_ (1 sp.), Celebes; _Myioceyx_ (2 sp.), West Africa; _Ipsidina_ (4 sp.), Ethiopian region; _Syma_ (2 sp.), Papua and North Australia; _Halcyon_ (36 sp.), Australian, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions, and the southern part of the Palæarctic; _Dacelo_ (6 sp.), Australia and New Guinea; _Todirhamphus_ (3 sp.), Eastern Pacific Islands only; _Monachalcyon_ (1 sp.), Celebes; _Caridonax_ (1 sp.), Lombok and Flores; _Carcineutes_ (2 sp.), Siam to Borneo and Java; _Tanysiptera_ (14 sp.), Moluccas New Guinea, and North Australia (Plate X. Vol. I. p. 414); _Cittura_ (2 sp.), Celebes group; _Melidora_ (1 sp.), New Guinea.

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

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

(1957 1958 1963) _Buceros_ (6 sp.), all Indo-Malaya, Arakan, Nepal and the Neilgherries (Plate IX. Vol. I. p. 339); (1959-1961) _Hydrocissa_ (7 sp.), India and Ceylon to Malaya and Celebes; (1962) _Berenicornis_ (2 sp.), Sumatra and West Africa; (1964) _Calao_ (3 sp.), Tennaserim, Malaya, Moluccas to the Solomon Islands; (1965) _Aceros_ (1 sp.), South-east Himalayas; (1966 1967) _Cranorrhinus_ (3 sp.), Malacca, Sumatra, Borneo, Philippines, Celebes; (1968) _Penelopides_ (1 sp.), Celebes; (1969-1971) _Tockus_ (15 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; (1972) _Rhinoplax_ (1 sp.), Sumatra and Borneo; (1973-1975) _Bycanistes_ (6 sp.), West Africa with East and South Africa; (1976 1977) _Meniceros_ (3 sp.), India and Ceylon to Tenasserim; (1978) _Bucorvus_ (2 sp.), Tropical and South Africa.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Nyctibius_ (6 sp.), Brazil to Guatemala, Jamaica; _Caprimulgus_ (35 sp.), Palæarctic, Oriental, and Ethiopian regions, with the Austro-Malay Islands and North Australia; _Hydropsalis_ (8 sp.), Tropical South America to La Plata; _Antrostomus_ (10 {320}sp.), La Plata and Bolivia to Canada, Cuba; _Stenopsis_ (4 sp.), Martinique to Columbia, West Peru and Chili; _Siphonorhis_ (1 sp.), Jamaica; _Heleothreptus_ (1 sp.), Demerara; _Nyctidromus_ (2 sp.), South Brazil to Central America; _Scortornis_ (3 sp.), West and East Africa; _Macrodipteryx_ (2 sp.), West and Central Africa; _Cosmetornis_ (1 sp.), all Tropical Africa; _Podager_ (1 sp.), Tropical South America to La Plata; _Lurocalis_ (2 sp.), Brazil and Guiana; _Chordeiles_ (8 sp.), Brazil and West Peru to Canada, Porto Rico, Jamaica; _Nyctiprogne_ (1 sp.), Brazil and Amazonia; _Eurostopodus_ (2 sp.), Australia and Papuan Islands; _Lyncornis_ (4 sp.), Burmah, Philippines, Borneo, Celebes.

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

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

_Cypselus_ (1 sp.), absent only from the whole of North America and the Pacific; _Panyptila_ (3 sp.), Guatemala and Guiana, and extending into North-west America; _Collocalia_ (10 sp.), Madagascar, the whole Oriental region and eastward through New Guinea to the Marquesas Islands; _Dendrochelidon_ (5 sp.), Oriental region and eastward to New Guinea; _Chætura_ (15 sp.), Continental America (excluding South Temperate), West Africa and Madagascar, the Oriental region, North China and the Amoor, Celebes, Australia; _Hemiprocne_ (3 sp.), Mexico to La Plata, Jamaica and Hayti; _Cypseloides_ (2 sp.), Brazil and Peru; _Nephæcetes_ (2 sp.), Cuba, Jamaica, North-west America.

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

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

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

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

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

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

_General Remarks on the Distribution of the Picariæ._

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

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

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

_Order III.--PSITTACI._

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

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

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

_Cacatua_ (18 sp.), ranges from the Philippine Islands, Celebes and Lombok, to the Solomon Islands and to Tasmania; _Calopsitta_ (1 sp.), Australia; _Calyptorhynchus_ (8 sp.), is confined to Australia and Tasmania; _Microglossus_ (2 sp.), (perhaps a distinct family) to the Papuan district and North Australia; _Licmetis_ (3 sp.), Australia, Solomon Islands, and (?) New Guinea; _Nasiterna_ (3 sp.), a minute form, the smallest of the whole order, and perhaps not belonging to this family, is only known from the Papuan and Solomon Islands.

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

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

(1996 1999 2000) _Platycercus_ (14 sp.), Australia, Tasmania, and Norfolk Island; _Psephotus_ (6 sp.), Australia; _Polytelis_ (3 sp.), Australia; _Nymphicus_ (1 sp.), Australia and New Caledonia; (2002 2003) _Aprosmictus_ (6 sp.), Australia, Papua, Timor, and Moluccas; _Pyrrhulopsis_ (3 sp.), Tonga and Fiji Islands; _Cyanoramphus_ (14 sp.), New Zealand, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, and Society Islands; _Melopsittacus_ (1 sp.), Australia; _Euphema_ (7 sp.), Australia; _Pezoporus_ (1 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; _Geopsittacus_ (1 sp.), West Australia. The four last genera are ground-feeders, and are believed by Professor Garrod to be allied to the Owl-Parrot of New Zealand (_Stringops_).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Ara_ (15 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico and Cuba; _Rhyncopsitta_ (1 sp.), Mexico; _Henicognathus_ (1 sp.), Chili; _Conurus_ (30 sp.), the range of the family; _Pyrrhura_ (16 sp.), Paraguay and Bolivia to Costa Pica; _Bolborhynchus_ (7 sp.), La Plata, Bolivia and West Peru, with one species in Mexico and Guatemala; _Brotogerys_ (9 sp.), Brazil to Mexico.

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

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

_Psittacus_ (2 sp.), West Africa; _Coracopsis_ (5 sp.), Madagascar, Comoro, and Seychelle Islands; _Pæocephalus_ (9 sp.), all Tropical and South Africa; (2063-2066) _Caica_ (9 sp.), Mexico to Amazonia; _Chrysotis_ (32 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico and the West Indian Islands; _Triclaria_ (1 sp.), Brazil; _Deroptyus_ (1 sp.), Amazonia; _Pionus_ (9 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico; _Urochroma_ (7 sp.), Tropical South America; _Psittacula_ (6 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; _Poliopsitta_ (2 sp.), Madagascar and West Africa; _Agapornis_ (4 sp.), Tropical and South Africa.

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

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

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

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

_General Remarks on the Distribution of the Psittaci._

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

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

_Order IV.--COLUMBÆ._

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

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

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

With the exception of _Columba_ and _Turtur_, which have a wide range, _Treron_, common to the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, and _Carpophaga_, to the Oriental and Australian, most of the genera of pigeons are either restricted to or very characteristic of a single region.

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

_Treron_ (37 sp.), the whole Oriental region, and eastward to Celebes, Amboyna and Flores, also the whole Ethiopian region to Madagascar; _Ptilopus_ (52 sp.), the Australian region (excluding New Zealand) and the Indo-Malay sub-region; _Alectroenas_ (4 sp.), Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands; _Carpophaga_ (50 sp.), the whole Australian and Oriental regions, but much the most abundant in the former; (2274) _Ianthoenas_ (11 sp.), Japan, Andaman, Nicobar, and Philippine Islands, Timor and Gilolo to Samoa Islands; (2278) _Leucomelæna_ (1 sp.), Australia; _Lopholaimus_ (1 sp.), Australia; (2279 and 2283) _Alsæcomus_ (2 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon and Tenasserim; _Columba_ (46 sp.), generally distributed over all the regions except the Australian, one species however in the Fiji Islands; _Ectopistes_ (1 sp.), east of North America with British Columbia; _Zenaidura_ (2 sp.), Veragua to Canada and British Columbia; _Oena_ (1 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; _Geopelia_ (6 sp.), Philippine Islands and Java to Australia; _Macropygia_ (14 sp.), Nepal, Hainan, Nicobar, Java, {333}and Philippines to Australia and New Ireland; _Turacoena_ (3 sp.), Celebes, Timor, and Solomon Islands; _Reinwardtoenas_ (1 sp.), Celebes to New Guinea; _Turtur_ (24 sp.), Palæarctic, Ethiopian and Oriental regions with Austro-Malaya; _Chæmepelia_ (7 sp.), Brazil and Bolivia to Jamaica, California, and South-east United States; _Columbula_ (2 sp.), Brazil and La Plata to Chili; _Scardafella_ (2 sp.), Brazil and Guatemala; _Zenaida_ (10 sp.), Chili and La Plata to Columbia and the Antilles, Fernando Noronha; _Melopelia_ (2 sp.), Chili to Mexico and California; _Peristera_ (4 sp.), Brazil to Mexico; _Metriopelia_ (2 sp.), West America from Ecuador to Chili; _Gymnopelia_ (1 sp.), West Peru and Bolivia; _Leptoptila_ (11 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico and the Antilles; (2317 2318 and 2820) _Geotrygon_ (14 sp.), Paraguay to Mexico and the Antilles; _Aplopelia_ (5 sp.), Tropical and South Africa, St. Thomas and Princes Island; _Chalocopelia_ (4 sp.), Tropical and South Africa; _Starnoenas_ (1 sp.), Cuba; Ocyphaps (1 sp.), Australia (Plate XII. Vol. I. p. 441); _Petrophassa_ (1 sp.), North-west Australia; _Chalocophaps_ (8 sp.), the Oriental region to New Guinea and Australia; _Trugon_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Henicophaps_ (1 sp.), Waigiou and New Guinea; _Phaps_ (3 sp.), Australia and Tasmania; _Leucosarcia_ (1 sp.), East Australia; _Phapitreron_ (2 sp.), Philippine Islands; _Geophaps_ (2 sp.), North and East Australia; _Lophophaps_ (3 sp.), Australia; _Caloenas_ (1 sp.), scattered on the smaller islands from the Nicobars and Philippines to New Guinea; _Otidiphaps_ (1 sp.), New Guinea; _Phlogoenas_ (7 sp.), Philippine Islands and Celebes to the Marquesas Islands; _Goura_ (2 sp.), New Guinea and the islands on the north-east (Plate X. Vol. I. p. 414).

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

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

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

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

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

_General Remarks on the Distribution of the Columbæ._

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

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

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

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

_Order V.--GALLINÆ._

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

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

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The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2Chapter XXIV: Part IV: Geographical Zoology (6)

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