74 A HISTORY OF BIRDS 



mentioned here. The Kakapo or Owl Parrot, by the way, is 

 not the only peculiar Parrot of New Zealand, for here is the 

 home of the Kea or Kaka, a bird which has acquired an evil 

 reputation among the flock-masters of New Zealand on account 

 of its alleged attacks on sheep. 



Such, in brief, are the more striking forms of the New Zea- 

 land regions, but there are besides a number of peculiar genera 

 and species which bear out what has alread}' been said as to 

 island faunas. We pass now to the 



Nearctic Region. 



The Nearctic Region, according to some authorities, as we 

 have already remarked, should be regarded as forming, with 

 the Palcearctic Region, one great zoological area known as 

 the Holarctic Region. For convenience sake, however, it may 

 be well to consider the Pal?e- and Nearctic Regions as distinct, 

 though the faunas thereof present a remarkable similarity. 



Though by some the Nearctic Region extends southwards 

 to Mexico, by others it is regarded as terminating at about 

 Lat. 38° N. ; the area south of this line to Mexico being dis- 

 tinguished as a separate region, or sub-region, according to 

 fancy- — -the " Sonoran " Region. There are, however, no natural 

 boundaries along the northern frontier of the Sonoran Region, 

 and much intermingling of the faunas thereof naturally takes 

 place. It is in short a by-no-means well-defined region. 



A considerable number of the Passerine birds of the Nearctic 

 Region occur also in the Palsearctic : such, for example, are the 

 Tits (^Parus), Creepers {CerthiiclcB), Wrens {Atiorthura), Shore- 

 lark {Otocorys) and Wax-wing {Atupclus). But this region 

 possesses a number of peculiar types, quite unknown in the Palas- 

 arctic Region. Such are the Hang-nests {Icteridcs), Greenlets 

 ( Vireo7iidce), American Warblers {Minotiltidce) and Tanagers 

 (Tanagridcs) ; and besides these there are others, such as 

 Humming-birds and the " New World " Vultures, which are 

 common to the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions, to the con- 

 sideration of which we shall now pass. 



The Neotropical Region 



The Neotropical Region includes the West Indian Islands 

 and the whole of the American Continent from Mexico south- 



