OCR Text |
Show 40 ISLAND LIFE. the temperate and tropical faunas ~re he~e so int,ermingled that to draw any exact parting line is Impossible. ~he two faunas. are, h o Wever, very distinct. In and above the pme w.o ods there are abundance of warblers of northern genera, With wrens, numerous titmice, and a great variety of buntings, grosbeaks, bullfinches, and rosefinches, all more or less nearly allied to tho birds of Europe and Northern Asia; while a little low or down we meet with a host of peculiar birds allied to those of tropical Asia and the ~Ialay Islands, but often of distinct genera. There can be no doubt, therefore, of the existence here of a pretty sharp line of demarcation between the temperate and t ropical 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 passing north wards 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 Palrearctic region a little south of Shanghae on the coast. Several tropical genera come a~ far as Ningpo or even Shanghae, but rarely beyond ; while in Formosa and Amoy tropical forms predominate. Such decidedly northern forms as bullfinches and hawfinches aro found at Shanghae ; hence we may commence the boundary line on the coast between Shanghae and Ningpo, but inland it probably bends a little southward, and then northward to the mountains and valleys of West China and East Thibet in about 32° N. latitude; where, at Moupin, a French missionary, Perc David, made extensive collections showing this district to be at tho junction of the tropical and temperate faunas. J apan, as a whole, is decidedly Palrearctic, although its extreme southern portion, owing to its mild insular climate and evergreen vegetation, gives shelter to a number of tropical forms. Oha'racteristic features of the Palmarctic Region.-Having thus demonstrated the unity of the Palrearctic region by tracing out the distribution of a large proportion of its mammalia and birds, OHAP, Ill.) ZOOLOGICAL REGIONS. 41 ~----------------------- it only remains t 0 sh ow h ow far I. t I.S characterised by peculiar gthro ups such as ge d f .. 1 . .r nc.ra an amihes, and to say a few words on e owei 10rms of hfc which 'l . 't T k . fi prevai m I . b ·a t mg rst .t he mammall' a, we fi n d th'IS reg.w n I.S d'I st.m gm.s h ed y I. s . posses~wn of the entire family of Talpidre or moles cons1stw.g of eioa ht gene ra an d s·i xteen speci·e s, all of wh1· eh are con-' fined to .I t except one which is found I. n N or th -wes t A men·c a, anu.1 two. whiCh extend to A. ssam and Formosa. A mong carm·v orons ammals the 1 vnxes ( nme species) and the bn.dcre (t · ) • "' • • . b rs wo speCies are pecuhar to It m the old world, while in the new the lynxes are found only in the colder regions of North America. It has six peculiar ge~era (~ith seven species) of deer; seven peculiar genera of Bovidro, chi~fl.y antelopes; while the entire group of goats and sheep, compnsmg twenty-two species, is almost confined to it, one species only occurring in the Rocky Mountains of North America and another in the N eilgherries of Southern India. Am~ng the rodents there. are nine genern., with twenty-seven speCies wholly confined to It, while several others, as the voles, 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 only mention a few of the more important, as the grasshopper-warblers (Locustella) with seven species, the Accentors with twelve species, and about a dozen other o-enera of warblers, including the robins; the bearded titmou:e and several allied genera; the long-tailed titmice forming the genus Acredula; the magpies, choughs, and nutcrackers; a host of finches, among which the bullfinches (Pyrrhula) and the buntinas (Emberiza) are the most important. The true pheasan~s (Phasianus) are wholly Palrearctic, 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 tho tropics, the Palrearctic region in its warmer portions has a considerable number, and among these are many which are peculiar to it. Such are two genera of snakes, seven of lizards, eight of frogs and toads, and eight of newts and salamanders · while of fresh-water fishes there are about twenty peculia; genera. Among insects we may mention the elegant Apollo butterflies of the Alps as forming a peculiar genus (Parnassius), |