go Hall, The Eastern Palcsarctica and Australia. [,st^"oct 



Northern Siberia I secured Corvus corone orientalis, and in its 

 pine forests the Nutcracker {Nttcifraga caryocatactes macrorhyncha). 

 Nutcrackers, once in many years, will have an exodus from Siberia 

 into western Europe. Perhaps the pine forests have not seeded. 

 In Australia we have an exodus from Queensland to Victoria of 

 Artamiis personatiis (Masked Wood-Swallow), once in, say, every 

 five to ten years. This, also, is exceptional migration, and we 

 know it is a shifting of their food supply south. Pine forests are 

 essential to the Nutcrackers — shy and rare birds. 



The Blue Magpies [Cyanopica) of Amoor Land and Spain arc 

 practically the same, with no species between. In Australia we 

 have a parallel case of the Scrub-Birds {Atrichia) occupying extreme 

 boundaries of a continent, in small areas, and by two species only, 

 showing discontinuous distribution (Map IX.) This is a good 

 example of many species of western Europe and eastern Asia, 

 between which there is no representation. The ancestral home 

 appears to have become quite vacant. 



The Kingfishers {Alcedinidce) are distributed over the world — 

 a family conspicuous for charms of colour and aberrant form. 

 Of the 150 species, the greater part is between Papua and Celebes 

 (Map XII., F). Dacelo is Australian. Halcyon coromandiis is the 

 beauty of eastern Asia {d). Alcedo ispida {e), the iinest of Europe, 

 is Palaearctic. Of the twenty genera, one alone (Ceryla) is in 

 America. Dacelo, the largest form, in three species, is interesting 

 because of its climatic variations in colour in relation to its 

 distribution. The north-western species {D. cervina) is in the 

 drier area, and is palest {a). D. leachii is in the hot, humid 

 area [h], and is brilliant. D. gigas, being in neither type of 

 country, and moderately cool, is normal or intermediate in its 

 colour display. (F) is the stronghold of Kingfishers. 



The Australian Swift {Cypselus pacificiis) I found nesting in 

 Yarkutsk (Map VII., a). It gets to Australia in December. I 

 found it breeding in the market place, upon rafters, and observed 

 it on the chffs up-stream. It was not seen on the 1,500 miles of 

 river between Yarkutsk and the delta. It is said to nest in S.W. 

 Siberia and the Yenesei to 58^°. The Spine-tailed Swift {Chcetura 

 caiidacuta) (Map VII., a) nests on the upper part of the Yenesei 

 in June and in the northern parts of the Amoor basin. It visits 

 Tasmania between December and March. 



The European Common Cuckoo {Cuciiliis canoriis), found over 

 nearly all the world, is absent from Australia. In northern 

 Australia we have the Oriental Cuckoo (C. satitratiis), which I 

 collected within the Arctic Circle, as well as C. canoriis. Between 

 Siberia and Australia there is a black Cuckoo {Sitrniciilus liignbiis), 

 a mimic of the Drongo. Map VII. (c) shows the winter home 

 of Australian Cuckoos, Chalcococcyx and Cacomantis ; {b) is their 

 summer home, and the winter ground of {a). On hearing the 

 northern Cuckoo for the first time my mind went to " More-pork " 

 of the Commonwealth. Above Yarkutsk I noticed several of the 

 3^oung of C. canoriis, as if the adults had already started on their 

 migration south. 



