OCR Text |
Show 484 MR. D. G. ELLIOT ON THE IBIDINSE. [June 5, archipelago ; and eight of these, or a little over half, are natives the Ethiopian region. In reviewing the geographical distribution of the members of the Ibidinse, commencing in the far east, and treating those species met^ with in the Australian regon, it will be found that the great continent of Australia possesses three species, viz. I. cethiopica, Carphibis spinicollis, and Falcinellus igneus. The second of these has not been obtained as yet elsewhere, although it is stated to have been seen once in New Guinea. The first of the species above named (I. cethiopica) has quite an extended range, as it apparently is identical with the African species, and, besides Australia, it is found also in Ceram and Salwatty of the Austro-Malayan division of the Australian region. Anciently this species was a dweller in Egypt, as it was there worshipped, and the mummied remains are found in great numbers; but there is no authentic record of its having been seen in that land in modern times. Another great division in which these birds are found is the Oriental region; and here we see that in India, as usually understood, the Geronticus papillosus and I. melanocephala are distributed generally. The last-named species is also a native of Ceylon and Java of the Indo-Malayan islands ; and the Graptocephalus davisoni is an inhabitant of the Tenasserim Provinces. In the Indo-Chinese subregion the extraordinary Thaumatibis gigantea is. found in Cochin China, and Graptocephalus davisoni in Siam and Cambodja. In the Palaearctic region the Nipponia nippon is found in Siberia, Northern China, and Japan, and also in Formosa of the Oriental region. The Ethiopian region, the next in order, has the I. cethiopica distributed generally south of the Great Sahara. In Abyssinia the Bostrychia carunculata and Comatibis comata are found, the latter species extending its range northward to Algeria in the Palaearctic region, its limits being apparently the northern edge of the great desert. Proceeding southwards along the east coast, the Geronticus calvus is met with in the vicinity of the Orange river; and this species seems to go quite across the continent, as it is also a native of Damara Land on the west coast. On this side also the Hage-dashia chalcoptera ranges from the Gambia in the north to the Cape colony; and the Lampribis olivacea is met with on the Guinea coast and on Prince's Island. Madagascar (Malayan subregion) has three species, J. melanocephala, Lophotibis cristata, and I. bernieri. The last two are not found elsewhere, while the i". bernieri is very closely allied to the I. cethiopica. One other species remains to be noticed, the Falcinellus igneus, which is found nearly everywhere throughout the eastern hemisphere. In the Nearctic region five species of Ibis occur; but of them one is only an accidental visitor. The Falcinellus igneus is met with in the Alleghany subregion, occasionally as far north as Massachusetts. F. guarauna is found in the middle province of the United States and northward to the Columbia river, while F. thalassinus is met with on the Pacific coast to California. The Eudocimus ruber is only a |