CHAP. XVII BORXEO AXD JAVA 



or two belong to peculiar genera ; so that here again the 

 amount of speciality is considerably less than in Borneo. 

 It is only when we proceed to analyse the species of the 

 Javan fauna, and trace their distribution and affinities, that 

 we discover its interesting nature. 



Difference Betiveen the Fauna of Java, and that of the otlur 

 great Malay Islands. — Comparing the fauna of Java with 

 that which may be called the typical Malayan fauna as 

 exhibited in Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula, 

 we 'find the following diiferences. No less than thirteen 

 genera of mammalia, each of which is known to inhabit at 

 least two, and generally all three, of the above-named 

 Malayan countries, are totally absent from Java ; and 

 they include such important forms as the elephant, the 

 tapir, and the Malay bear. It cannot be said that this 

 difference depends on imperfect knowledge, for Java is one 

 of the oldest European settlements in the East, and has 

 been explored by a long succession of Dutch and English 

 naturalists. Every part of it is thoroughly well known, 

 and it would be almost as difficult to find a new mammal 

 of any size in Europe as in Java. Of birds there are 

 twenty-five genera, all typically Malayan and occurring at 

 least in two, and for the most part in all three of the 

 Malay countries, which are yet absent from Java. Most 

 of these are large and conspicuous forms, such as jays, 

 gapers, bee-eaters, woodpeckers, hornbills, cuckoos, parrots, 

 pheasants, and partridges, as impossible to have re- 

 mained undiscovered in Java as the large mammalia above 

 referred to. 



Besides these absent ffciura. there are some curious 

 illustrations of Javan isolation in the species ; there being 

 several cases in which the same sjiecies occurs in all three 

 of the typical Malay countries, while in Java it is 

 represented by an allied species. These occur chiefly 

 among birds, there being no less than seven species which 

 are common to the three great Malay countries but are re- 

 presented in Java by distinct though closely allied species. 



From these facts it is impossible to doubt thnt Java has 

 had a history of its own, quite distinct from that of the 

 other portions of the Malayan area. 



