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Show 370 ISLAND LIFE. [PART II. G. Zoste1·opsjaponica. Allied to a migratory Chinese species. 7. Chelidon blalcistoni. Allied to C. "whiteleyi of N. China. 8. Chlm·ospiza lcawamhiba. Allied to C. sinica .o~ China and ~apan. 9. Emberiza ciopsis. A sub-species of the E. cwtdes of N. Chma. 10 Ernberiza yessoensis. Allied to the Siberian .E. passm·ina. 11. Euspiza variabilis. A very distinct species. . ·12. Picus lcisulci. Allied toP. pygnueus of Central Asia. 13. Gccinus awolcera. Allied to G. canus (N. China), 1iml G. viridis, Europe. 14. ll11tlleripicus 1·icha1·dsi. Allied to ll:f. crawfurdi o£ Pegu. In Tzus · Sima Island ( P. Z. S. 1819, p. 386). 15. Tre1·on sieboldi. Allied to T. sphenura (Himalayas), and T. lco1·thalsi, Java. 16. Accipiie1· gula1·is. A sub-species of the Malayan A. virgatus (also iu Formosa). 17. Buteo hemilasius. A distinct species. 18. Sy1·ni~trn ?'ufescens. A sub-species of S. uralense of E. Europe and Siberia. Japan biTds ?'eC'LtrTing in distant a1·eas.-The most interesting feature in the ornithology of Japan is, undoubtedly, the presence of several species which indicate an alljance with such remote districts as the Himalayas, the Malay Islands, and Europe. Among the peculiar species, the most remarkable of this class are,-the fruit-pigeon of the genus Treron, entirely unknown in China, but reappearing in Formosa and Japan; the Hypsipetes, whose nearest ally is in South China at a distance of nearly 500 miles; and the jay (Garrulus japonicus), whose close ally (G. glandarius) inhabits Europe only, at a distance of 3,700 miles. But even more extraordinary are the following iwn-peculiar species :-Spizaetus orientalis, a crested eagle, inhabiting the Himalayas, Formosa, and Japan, but unknown in China ; Oe'ryle guttata, a spotted 'kingfisher, entirely confined to the Himalayas and Japan; and Halcyon coromanda, a brilliant red kingfisher inhabiting Northern India, the Malay Islands to Celebes, Formosa, and Japan. We have here an excellent illustration of the favourable conditions which islands afford both for species which elsewhere live further south (Halcyon coromanda), and for the preservation in isolated colonies of species which are verging towards extinction; for such we must consider the above-named eagle and kingfisher, both confined to a very limited area on the continent, but surviving in remote islands. CIIAP, XVTII.] JAPAN AND FORMOSA. 371 The spotted kingfisher, indeed, affords us one of the best examples of that rare phenomenon-a species with a discontinuous range; for although an island is considered, for purposes of distribution, to form part of one continuous area with the adjacent continent (as when a species is found in France and Britain, or in Siam and Borneo, we do not say that the area of distribution is discontinuous), yet in this case we have to pass over three thousand miles of land after quitting the island, before we come to the continental portion of the area occupied by the species. Referring to our account of the birth, growth, and death of a species (in Chapter IV.) it can hardly be doubted that the Oeryle gttttata formerly ranged from the Himalayas to Japan, and has now died out in the intervening area owing to geographical and physical changes, a subject which will be better discussed when we have examined the interesting fauna of the island of Formosa. The other orders of animals are not yet sufficiently known to enable us to found any accurate conclusions upon them. The main facts of their distribution have already been given in my Geographical Distrib,ution of .Animals (Vol I., pp. 227-231), and they sufficiently agree with the birds and mammalia in showing a mixture of temperate and tropical forms with a considerable proportion of peculiar species. Owing to the comparatively easy passage from the northern extremity of Japan through the island of Saghalien ·to the main land of Asia, a large number of temperate forms of insects and birds are still able to enter the country, and thus diminish the proportionate number of peculiar species. In the case of mammals this is more difficult ; and the large proportion of specific difference in their case is a good indication of the comparatively remote epoch at which Japan was finally separated from the continent. How long ago this separation took place we cannot of course tell, but we may be sure it was much longer than in the case of our own islands, and therefore probably in the earlier portion of the Pliocene period. FORMOSA. Among recent continental islands there is probably none that surpasses in interest and instructiveness the Chinese island B B 2 |
