142 THE STORY OF THE BIRDS 



in that region, and mostly in the southern 

 portions. These pecuHarities of distribution em- 

 phasise the exceptional richness of the Neotropi- 

 cal Region in Passerine birds, for about a third 

 of the whole number of species in the order 

 are typically South American ones. 



Of the most localised Passerine families we 

 may instance the Hill Tits, confined to the 

 Himalayan system ; the Birds of Paradise, con- 

 fined to New Guinea and the neighbouring islands 

 and the north and east of Australia ; the Honey- 

 suckers, confined to the Australian Region ; the 

 Mamo (Drepanididse) to the Sandwich Islands 

 (conf. Lost and Vanishhig Birds ^ p. 211); the 

 Plant-cutters to temperate South America ; the 

 Lyre Birds to South and East Australia ; the 

 Scrub Birds (Atrichiidae) to East and West 

 Australia ; and, lastly, the aberrant Pitta-like 

 birds, of two species, forming the family Paic- 

 tidae or Philepittidae, confined to Madagascar. 



