Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/757

Rh AUSTRALIAN REGION.] B IR DS 739 the boundary and occur in Lombok, Celebes, or the Moluccas, but are absolutely unknown elsewhere in the Region. icter- Turning to the families which by their presence char- ami- acterize the Australian Region, we find those which are peculiar to it to be perhaps, if not more numerous, yet more remarkable than the peculiar families of any other Region. Nearly 20 such might here be enumerated. One, the Honeysuckers (Mcliphagidce 1 ), is most characteristic, and, abounding in genera and specie?,, extends to almost every part of the region, yet only a single species oversteps its limits, crossing the sea from Lombok to Bali. 2 Other peculiar families are much more confined, and, since by their means (as will presently appear) the various sub divisions of the Region may be more clearly marked out, further notice of them may be for the present deferred. But the positive characteristics of the Region as a whole are not its peculiar forms alone ; there are at least 4 families which, being feebly represented elsewhere, here attain the maximum of development. Such are the Thickheaded Shrikes (Pachycepkalidce), the Caterpillareaters (Gampephagidce), the Flowerpeckers (Dicceidce], and the Swallow- Flycatchers (Artamidce). Besides these, 3 or per haps 4 groups, though widely distributed throughout the world, arrive in the Australian Region at their culmination, presenting an abundance of most varied forms. These are theWeaver-birds (Ploceidce), and the Moreporks (Podargidce). if they can be properly separated from the Fringillidce and the Caprimulyidce respectively, but especially the King fishers (Alcedinidce) and the Pigeons (Colutribidce), the species belonging to the two last obtaining in this Region a degree of prominence and beauty which is elsewhere un equalled. Without going into greater detail, the Australian Region may be roughly said to be composed of four Subregions, to which the names of Papua (or New Guinea), Australia proper, New Zealand, and Polynesia may perhaps be at tached. The boundaries of some of these Subregions are, as may be expected, not well defined ; and, indeed, it is obvious that much must be done in the way of geographi cal exploration before the investigation of zoologists will mark out their limits with positive accuracy. Especially is this true in respect of the first of these Subregions, which in certain parts shows a complication of characters that for want of space could hardly here be explained, if, in deed, according to our present information, they can be explained at all. ,n (1.) The Papuan Subregion, the chief province of which IQ. i s formed by New Guinea and its dependencies, comprises, besides the large and imperfectly-known island whence its name is derived, three other provinces, which may be named the Timorese, the Celebesian, and the Moluccan. ese The fauna of the Timor group seems to be made up of ice - contributions from Java, belonging to the Indian region, the Moluccas, and Australia. Of nearly 100 genera and 160 species of Land-birds only, which are here found, an equal proportion appears to be related to the Birds of the Indian Region and to those of Australia proper some 30 genera being distinctly traceable to each. The Indian in fluence is made evident by the presence of about 27 genera which have crossed the strait from Bali into Lombok. Of these, 12 are known to stop short at Flores, but the inter- Moluccas, and Y. otarius there or perhaps in the Sunda Islands. It is qiiito likely, however, that further investigation will add to the number. 1 This term is here advisedly used in a restricted sense, excluding the genus Zosterops and its allies, which are often included under it by systematists. a This is rtilotis limlata, a species which is common from Timor to Lombok. 1 vening island of Sumbawa has not yet been ornithologically explored, and 13 of them reach Timor. In all there may be, disregarding birds of wide distribution, some 30 species of Indian origin, with nearly 20 thereto allied, but, on the other hand, more than 60 which are derived from Australia, thus indicating a greater affinity to the latter country. There is one genus of Kingfishers (Caridonax) known only from Lombok and Flores, but no doubt represented in Sumbawa, and a genus of Pigeons (Leucotreron) is almost limited to this group. The Celebesian province is known to be inhabited by Celebes more than 200 species, belonging to about 150 genera, provinc Of the Land-birds, 9 genera and nearly 70 species are abso lutely confined to the principal island, but 20 more are found also in the Sula and Sanguir islands, making nearly 90 species peculiar to this Subregion. Of those which are not peculiar, Lord Walden 3 estimates that about 55 are of Indian and 22 of Australian origin, the remainder being common to both Regions, and thus the Indian influ ence is very strong in this quarter, pointing to an immi gration from the north and west. Of the less wide genera of Celebes, more than 20 are common to Borneo and Java, and nearly as many to Timor or the Moluccas again showing a preponderance of Indian over Australian types ; but, since the Bornean and Javan species consist of only about one-quarter of those which are characteristic of those islands, while the Moluccan and Timorese genera form nearly one-half, the proportion which has been drawn from the rest of the Australian Region is clearly greater than that which has flowed in from the Indian. The most important family of Melipkacfidce, however, which, as before remarked, is so highly characteristic of the Australian Region, is here represented by a single species only (Mijzomela chloroptera), and the fact requires due acknowledgment. On the other hand, some 8 Indian families which are very important in Borneo and Java are altogether absent, and the non- appearance of a still greater number of Moluccan forms is also worthy of note. The conclusion at which Mr Wallace arrives from these and some other circumstances is that Celebes, during the existing epoch, has never been united by extensive land with either side, but has received an influx of immigrants from each. Of the genera found in Celebes itself 9 are peculiar, 3 more occur in one other island only, and 1 (which is likely to be eventually dis covered in Celebes) is as yet known but in the Sula group- Of these 13 genera peculiar to the Subregion, about one- third are modifications of Australian forms. The Sula Islands show a considerable blending of faunas ; out of nearly 40 species of Land-birds, more than one-half are identical with or allied to those of Celebes; but 3 Moluccan genera, unknown to Celebes, occur here. W T e have now to consider the Papuan province. The Papuan island of New Guinea, which is the centre of the whole provinc* Papuan Subregion, has been until lately almost entirely un explored, and even at the present day its interior has been but scarcely and cursorily visited by civilized foreigners. Yet out of nearly 350 species of Land-birds, belonging to 125 genera, which are known to us from this country, 300 species are exclusively peculiar to it, and 36 genera are either peculiar or only just extending to North Australia. Of the remaining genera, 38 are peculiar to the province, 45 are characteristically Australian, 9 more especially be long to the Malay Archipelago generally, being as much Australian as Indian/ Only 7 are typically Indian, taut with a discontinuous distribution, while 25 have a wide range. The chief features of the province to be noted are the extraordinary development therein of the Cassowaries
 * Transactions of the Zoological Society, yiii. pp. 23-118.