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Show 42 ISLAND LIFE. [PART. J, ly found elsew h ere m. th e R 0 cky Mountains of NorEth Americad, wonh ile the beauti·r u 1 genus Tha is of the south of uropAe an . . of North China are equally remarkable. mong Sencmus . [! t the O'reat family of other insects ·we can only now re er o . e . Carabi·d re, or pre d aceou s O'round-beet1es whwh are Immensely b • ' 1 . . numerous m· th'IS regi·o n, there bemOe' about fifty pecu. Iar. gener.a , wlu·l e the 1a rge and handsome oO 'enus Carab0u s, w.i th 1. ts la lliest P rocerus an d Procr,"1 stes ' containing nearly 30 spemes, IS am. o. s wholly con fi ne d t o this reOe 'ion ' and would alone serve to dishn-guish it zoologically from all other parts of the globe. Havm· O' gi· ven so f u 11 an exposition of the fact.s whi.c h doht er- • 0 mme the extent and boundaries of the P.a lrea.rctic reg10n, t . ere · d f t 'nO' into much detail as regards the other IS less nee o en en e . . . re' 0'1. 0ns of the E as te r n Hemisphere '· the1r boundanes bemg 0 easi• ly d ef i ne d , wh 1'l e their forms of animal life are well marked and strongly contrasted. . . . Definition and CharacteTistic G1·oups of the E~hwp~an Regwn. -The Ethiopian region consists of all trop1cal and south Af · t hich is appended tho large island of Madagascar and nca, 0 the Mascarwe ne Islands to the east and north . of · t th h th I , oug ~se differ materially from the continent, and will have to be d1_s-cusse d m· a sep arate chapter· For the present, then., we w1ll tak e Afn ·c a sou th of the tropic of Cancer, and cons. 1der . how far its animals are distinct from those of the Pal~arctlc regwn. Taking first the mammalia, we find the foll~wmg remarkable animals at once separating it from the PalrearctlC and every other region. The gorilla and chimpanzee, the baboons, numerous lemurs, the lion, the spotted hyrena, the aard-wolf and hyrena doO' zebras the hippopotamus, giraffe, and more than seventy pe~~liar an~elopes. Here we have a ';o~derful ?oll~ction of la~ge and peculiar quadrupeds, but the Etlnopian regwn IS also chara:terised by the absence of others which ~re not _only abundant m the Palrearctic region but in many tropical regiOns as well. The most remarkable of these deficiencies are the bears, the dee.r, and wild oxen, all of which abound in the tropical part'3 of ~sla w bile bears and deer extend into both North and South Amon ca. Besides the large and conspicuous animals mentioned above, CHAP. lii.] ZOO LOG !CAL REG IONS. 43 Mrica 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 cons;itute a new ~am~ly, Potamogalid~; the golden moles, also forming a peculiar f~~Ily, Chry_sochlondre; as do the elephant-shrews, Macroscehdi~ m ; the smgular aard-varks, or earth-pigs, forming a peculiar family of Ede~tata, called Orycteropodidre ; while there are numerous pecuhar genera of monkeys, swine, civets, and rodents. Among birds the most conspicuous and remarkable are the great-billed vulture-crows (Corvultur), the long-tailed ~bydab finches (Vidua), the curious ox-peekers (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 (Serpent.arius), the huge boatbilled heron (Balreniceps), and the true ostriches. Besides these there are three quite peculiar African families, the Musophagidre, or plantain-eaters, including the elegant crested touracos; the curious little finch-like colies (Coliidre), and the Irrisoridre, insect-eating birds allied to the hoopoes, but with glossy metallic plumage, and arboreal habits. In reptiles, fishes, insects, and land-shells, Africa is very rich, and possesses an immense number of peculiar forms. These are not sufficiently known to require notice in a ·work of this character, but we may mention a few as mere illustrations; the puff-adders, the most hideous of poisonous snakes; the chameleons, the most remarkable of lizards; the goliath-beetles, the largest and handsomest of the Cetoniidre ; and some of the Achatinre, which are the largest of all .known land-shells. Definition and Cha?'acteristic Groups of the Oriental Region. -The Oriental region comprises all Asia south of the Palrearctic limits, and along with this the }falay Islands as far as the Philippines, Borneo, and Java. It was called the Indian region by Mr. Sclater, but this term has been objected to because the Indo-Chinese and Malayan districts are the richest and most characteristic, while the peninsula of India is the poorest portion of it. The name " Oriental" has therefore been adopted in my work on The Geographical Distribution of |