Island Life Part 3

12. ,, _t.i.thys_ Black Redstart.

13. _Saxicola rubetra_ Whinchat.

14. _Aedon galactodes_ Rufous Warbler.

15. _Acrocephalus streperus_ Reed Warbler.

16. ,, _schaen.o.benus_ Sedge Warbler.

17. _Melizophilus undatus_ Dartford Warbler.

18. _Sylvia rufa_ Greater Whitethroat.

19. ,, _salicaria_ Garden Warbler.

20. ,, _atricapilla_ Blackcap.

21. ,, _orphea_ Orphean Warbler.

22. _Phylloscopus sibilatrix_ Wood Wren.

23. ,, _trochilus_ Willow Wren.

24. ,, _collybita_ Chiffchaff.

25. _Regulus cristatus_ Golden-crested Wren.

26. ,, _ignicapillus_ Fire-crested Wren.

27. _Troglodytes parvulus_ Wren.

28. _Sitta caesia_ Nuthatch.

29. _Motacilla alba_ White Wagtail (also W. Africa).

30. ,, _flava_ Blue-headed Wagtail.

31. _Anthus pratensis_ Meadow-Pipit.

32. _Alauda arborea_ Woodlark.

33. _Calandrella brachydactyla_ Short-toed Lark.

34. _Emberiza miliaria_ Common Bunting.

35. ,, _cirlus_ Cirl Bunting.

36. ,, _hortulana_ Ortolan.

37. _Fringilla coelebs_ Chaffinch.

38. _Coccothraustes chloris_ Greenfinch.

39. _Serinus hortula.n.u.s_ Serin.

40. _Carduelis elegans_ Goldfinch.

41. _Linota cannabina_ Linnet.

42. _Corvus monedula_ Jackdaw.

43. _Chelidon urbica_ House-Martin.

IV. BRITISH BIRDS RANGING TO NORTH AFRICA.

1. _Hypolais icterina_ Icterine Warbler.

2. _Acrocephalus aquaticus_ Aquatic Warbler.

3. ,, _luscinioides_ Savi's Warbler.

4. _Motacilla lugubris_ Pied Wagtail.

5. _Pyrrhula europaea_ Bullfinch.

6. _Garrulus glandarius_ Jay.

V. BRITISH BIRDS RANGING TO WEST ASIA ONLY.

1. _Accentor collaris_ Alpine Accentor.

2. _Muscicapa parva_ Red-breasted Flycatcher (to N. W.

India).

3. _Panurus biarmicus_ Bearded t.i.tmouse.

4. _Melanocorypha sibirica_ White-winged Lark.

5. _Euspiza melanocephala_ Black-headed Bunting.

6. _Linota flavirostris_ Twite.

7. _Corvus frugilegus_ Rook.

VI. BRITISH BIRDS CONFINED TO EUROPE.

1. _Cinclus aquaticus_ Dipper (closely allied races inhabit other parts of the Palaearctic Region).

2. _Parus cristatus_ Crested t.i.tmouse.

{38} 3. _Anthus obscurus_ Rock Pipit.

4. _Linota rufescens_ Lesser Redpoll (closely allied races in N. Asia and N. America).

5. _Loxia pityopsittacus_ Parrot Crossbill (a closely allied form in N. Asia).

We find, that out of a total of 118 British Pa.s.seres there are:

32 species which range to North Africa and Central or East Asia.

25 species which range to Central or East Asia, but not to North Africa.

43 species which range to North Africa and Western Asia.

6 species which range to North Africa, but not at all into Asia.

7 species which range to West Asia, but not to North Africa.

5 species which do not range out of Europe.

These figures agree essentially with those furnished by the mammalia, and complete the demonstration that all the temperate portions of Asia and North Africa must be added to Europe to form a natural zoological division of the earth. We must also note how comparatively few of these overpa.s.s the limits thus indicated; only seven species extending their range occasionally into tropical or South Africa, eight into some parts of tropical Asia, and six into arctic or temperate North America.

_Range of East Asian Birds._--To complete the evidence we only require to know that the East Asiatic birds are as much like those of Europe, as we have already shown to be the case when we take the point of departure from our end of the continent. This does not follow necessarily, because it is possible that a totally distinct North Asiatic fauna might there prevail; and, although our birds go eastward to the remotest parts of Asia, their birds might not come westward to Europe. The birds of Eastern Siberia have been carefully studied by Russian naturalists and afford us the means of making the required comparison. There are 151 species belonging to the orders Pa.s.seres and Picariae (the perching and climbing birds), and of these no less than 77, or more than half, are absolutely identical {39} with European species; 63 are peculiar to North Asia, but all except five or six of these are allied to European forms; the remaining 11 species are migrants from South-eastern Asia. The resemblance is therefore equally close whichever extremity of the Euro-Asiatic continent we take as our starting point, and is equally remarkable in birds as in mammalia. We have now only to determine the limits of this, our first zoological region, which has been termed the "Palaearctic" by Mr. Sclater, meaning the "northern old-world" region--a name now well known to naturalists.

_The Limits of the Palaearctic Region._--The boundaries of this region, as nearly as they can be ascertained, are shown on our general map at the beginning of this chapter, but it will be evident on consideration, that, except in a few places, its limits can only be approximately defined. On the north, east, and west it extends to the ocean, and includes a number of islands whose peculiarities will be pointed out in a subsequent chapter; so that the southern boundary alone remains, but as this runs across the entire continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, often traversing little-known regions, we may perhaps never be able to determine it accurately, even if it admits of such determination. In drawing the boundary line across Africa we meet with our first difficulty. The Euro-Asiatic animals undoubtedly extend to the northern borders of the Sahara, while those of tropical Africa come up to its southern margin, the desert itself forming a kind of sandy ocean between them. Some of the species on either side penetrate and even cross the desert, but it is impossible to balance these with any accuracy, and it has therefore been thought best, as a mere matter of convenience, to consider the geographical line of the tropic of Cancer to form the boundary. We are thus enabled to define the Palaearctic region as including all north temperate Africa; and, a similar intermingling of animal types occurring in Arabia, the same boundary line is continued to the southern sh.o.r.e of the Persian Gulf.

Persia and Afghanistan undoubtedly belong to the Palaearctic region, and Baluchistan should probably go with these. The boundary in the north-western part of India is again difficult to determine, but it {40} cannot be far one way or the other from the river Indus as far up as Attock, opposite the mouth of the Cabool river. Here it will bend to the south-east, pa.s.sing a little south of Cashmeer, and along the southern slopes of the Himalayas into East Thibet and China, at heights varying from 9,000 to 11,000 feet according to soil, aspect, and shelter. It may, perhaps, be defined as extending to the upper belt of forests as far as coniferous trees prevail; but the temperate and tropical faunas are here so intermingled that to draw any exact parting line is impossible. The two faunas are, however, very distinct. In and above the pine woods there are abundance of warblers of northern genera, with wrens, numerous t.i.tmice, and a great variety of buntings, grosbeaks, bullfinches and rosefinches, all more or less nearly allied to the birds of Europe and Northern Asia; while a little lower down we meet with a host of peculiar birds allied to those of tropical Asia and the Malay Islands, but often of distinct genera. There can be no doubt, therefore, of the existence here of a pretty sharp line of demarkation between the temperate and tropical faunas, though this line will be so irregular, owing to the complex system of valleys and ridges, that in our present ignorance of much of the country it cannot be marked in detail on any map.

Further east in China it is still more difficult to determine the limits of the region, owing to the great intermixture of migrating birds; tropical forms pa.s.sing northwards in summer as far as the Amoor river, while the northern forms visit every part of China in winter. From what we know, however, of the distribution of some of the more typical northern and southern species, we are able to fix the limits of the Palaearctic region a little south of Shanghai on the east coast. Several tropical genera come as far north as Ningpo or even Shanghai, but rarely beyond; while in Formosa and Amoy tropical forms predominate. Such decidedly northern forms as bullfinches and hawfinches are found at Shanghai; hence we may commence the boundary line on the coast between Shanghai and Ningpo, but inland it probably bends a little southward, and then northward to the mountains and valleys of West {41} China and East Thibet in about 32 N. lat.i.tude; where, at Moupin, a French missionary, Pere David, made extensive collections showing this district to be at the junction of the tropical and temperate faunas. j.a.pan, as a whole, is decidedly Palaearctic, although its extreme southern portion, owing to its mild insular climate and evergreen vegetation, gives shelter to a number of tropical forms.

_Characteristic Features of the Palaearctic Region._--Having thus demonstrated the unity of the Palaearctic region by tracing out the distribution of a large proportion of its mammalia and birds, it only remains to show how far it is characterised by peculiar groups such as genera and families, and to say a few words on the lower forms of life which prevail in it.

Taking first the mammalia, we find this region distinguished by possessing two peculiar genera of Talpidae or moles, the family being confined to the Palaearctic and Nearctic regions. The true hedgehogs (Erinaceus) are also characteristic, being only found elsewhere in South Africa and in the northern part of the Oriental region. Among Carnivora, the rac.o.o.n-dog (Nyctereutes) of North-eastern Asia, and the true badgers of the genus Meles are peculiar, most other parts of the world possessing distinct genera of badgers. It has six peculiar genera, or subgenera, of deer; seven peculiar genera of Bovidae, chiefly antelopes; while the entire group of goats and sheep, comprising twenty-two species, is almost confined to it, one species only occurring in the Rocky mountains of North America and another in the Nilgiris of Southern India. Among the rodents there are nine genera with twenty-seven species wholly confined to it, while several others, as the hamsters, the dormice, and the pikas, have only a few species elsewhere.

In birds there are a large number of peculiar genera of which we need mention only a few of the more important, as the gra.s.s-hopper warblers (Locustella) with seven species, the Accentors with twelve species, and about a dozen other genera of warblers, including the robins; the bearded t.i.tmouse and several allied genera; the long-tailed t.i.tmice forming the genus Acredula; the magpies, choughs, and nut-crackers; a host of finches, among which the bullfinches (Pyrrhula) and the buntings (Emberiza) are the {42} most important. The true pheasants (Phasia.n.u.s) are wholly Palaearctic, except one species in Formosa, as are several genera of wading birds.

Though the reptiles of cold countries are few as compared with those of the tropics, the Palaearctic region in its warmer portions has a considerable number, and among these are many which are peculiar to it. Such are four genera of snakes, seven of lizards, five of frogs and toads, and twelve of newts and salamanders; while of fresh-water fishes there are about twenty peculiar genera.[7] Among insects we may mention the elegant Apollo b.u.t.terflies of the Alps as forming a peculiar genus (Parna.s.sius), only found elsewhere in the Rocky Mountains of North America, while the beautiful genus Thais of the south of Europe and Sericinus of North China are equally remarkable. Among other insects we can only now refer to the great family of Carabidae, or predaceous ground-beetles, which are immensely numerous in this region, there being about fifty peculiar genera; while the large and handsome genus Carabus, with its allies Procerus and Procrustes, containing nearly 300 species, is almost wholly confined to this region, and would alone serve to distinguish it zoologically from all other parts of the globe.

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Having given so full an exposition of the facts which determine the extent and boundaries of the Palaearctic region, there is less need of entering into much detail as regards the other regions of the Eastern Hemisphere; their boundaries being easily defined, while their forms of animal life are well marked and strongly contrasted.

_Definition and Characteristic Groups of the Ethiopian Region._--The Ethiopian region consists of all tropical and south Africa, to which are appended the large island of Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands to the east and north of it, though these differ materially from the continent, and will have to be discussed in a separate chapter. For the present, then, we will take Africa south of the tropic of Cancer, and consider how far its animals are distinct from those of the Palaearctic region.

Taking first the mammalia, we find the following remarkable animals at once separating it from the Palaearctic and every other region. The gorilla and chimpanzee, the baboons, numerous lemurs, the spotted hyaena, the aard-wolf and hyaena-dog, zebras, the hippopotamus, giraffe, and more than seventy peculiar antelopes. Here we have a wonderful collection of large and peculiar quadrupeds, but the Ethiopian region is also characterised by the absence of others which are not only abundant in the Palaearctic region but in many tropical regions as well. The most remarkable of these deficiencies are the bears the deer and the wild oxen, all of which abound in the tropical parts of Asia while bears and deer extend into both North and South America. Besides the large and conspicuous animals mentioned above, Africa possesses a number of completely isolated groups; such are the potamogale, a curious otter-like water-shrew, discovered by Du Chaillu in West Africa, so distinct as to const.i.tute a new family, Potamogalidae; the goldenmoles, also forming a peculiar family, Chrysochloridae; as do the elephant-shrews, Macroscelididae; the singular aard-varks, or earth-pigs, forming a peculiar family of Edentata called Orycteropodidae; while there are numerous peculiar genera of monkeys, swine, civets, and rodents.

Among birds the most conspicuous and remarkable are, the great-billed vulture-crows (Corvultur), the long-tailed {44} whydah finches (Vidua), the curious ox-p.e.c.k.e.rs (Buphaga), the splendid metallic starlings (Lamprocolius), the handsome plantain-eaters (Musophaga), the ground-hornbills (Bucorvus), the numerous guinea-fowls belonging to four distinct genera, the serpent-eating secretary-bird (Serpentarius), the huge boat-billed heron (Balaeniceps), and the true ostriches. There are also three quite peculiar African families, the Musophagidae or plantain-eaters, including the elegant crested touracos; the curious little finch-like colies (Coliidae), and the Irrisoridae, insect-eating birds allied to the hoopoes but with glossy metallic plumage and arboreal habits.