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Show 678 MR. H. J. ELWES ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL [June 17, mus, and Polyplectron, none of which genera are found in India. Thrushes, Finches, Larks, and Warblers, all of which are abundant in those parts of the Indian region which have a cold season, here, where a tropical climate prevails the whole year round, become scarce or entirely absent. Parrots and Honey-eaters, which are so conspicuous a feature in the ornithology of the Australian region, are represented only by a few genera, among which Loriculus and Psittinus are the most remarkable. Of the wading and water-birds I can say but little ; they seem to be poorly represented in most parts of the region, and have been comparatively neglected by travellers. Few of the sea-birds and Ducks which are so common ou the coast of China seem to extend their migrations so far south ; so that not more than four or five species of Ducks are known to inhabit these islands, whilst Geese are, I believe, entirely absent. JAVA. I will now give some account of the peculiar features of the different parts of this subregion, though little can be added to the excellent chapter on this subject in Mr. Wallace's work. Java is the best-known, the most thickly populated, and zoologically the most peculiar of the Indo-Malay islands. About 270 species of land-birds are recorded from it, of which about 45 are peculiar to the island. Most of these, as Mr. Wallace informs me, are found in the mountains of West Java, which differs remarkably in climate from its eastern extremity, being subject to much more protracted and heavy rains. Whether the similarity of the climate and vegetation is the cause or not, the fact is, that several birds only found here are remarkably like species of the Eastern Himalaya which are not known to occur in the mountains of Malacca or Sumatra. Among them may be cited :- Xenogenys (Oreas) azurea, Temm., which must, I think, be referred to the Himalayan genus Cochoa. Pomatorhinus montanus, Horsf. Garrulax rufifrons, Swains. Psaltria exilis, Temm., which in structure comes very near Mgi-thaliscus of the Himalaya. Dendrophila flavipes (Swainson, in Lardner's ' Cabinet Cyclopaedia,' " T w o Centuries and a quarter of Birds," p. 323). Brachypteryx albifrons, Boie, probably the same as Myiomela ajax (Less.). Tephrodornis hirundinacea, Temm., which in coloration and structure reminds me strongly of Hemipus picatus. Allotrius cenobarbus, Temm. Pteruthiusflaviscapis, Temm. Mr. Wallace has pointed out similar points of resemblance between Java and Burmah, in the case of animals which are not known to occur in either Sumatra or Borneo, though our knowledge of the mountain-ranges of those islands is so limited that it is impossible to say certainly that they do not. In various points Java is very |
