gZ Hall, TJie Eastern Palcrarctica and Australia. [,sf"oct 



goes to Panama. The Alaskan mountains make a barrier to 

 further migration (Map VIII., c). Once in America we meet the 

 Mocking-Bird [Mimiis polyglottis), the greatest songster of this 

 sub-family {Sylviince). 



Pitta nynipha is found in the extreme S.E. Palaearctica, while 

 in humid Austraha we have two species finely coloured. A New 

 Guinea genus (Corapitta) is black. Other species fill in Indo- 

 China. A case of interrupted distribution is found in P. angolensis, 

 living away in West Africa with no connecting link. 



The cosmopohtan family of Swallows is feebly represented in 

 Australia, though Hirundo is numerically strong to compensate. 

 H. giittiiralis, of S.E. Siberia, touches North Australia. The 

 almost world-wide Clavicula, of which I saw a milhon and about 

 a thousand nests, is absent from Austraha. Rock-Martins 

 {Petrochelidon) have a remarkable distribution. Of the eight 

 species, two are Australian, two South African, and four 

 American. Of the true Martin {Chelidon urbica whitdcyi) I counted 

 42 nests under one verandah in Yarkutsk. 



Of that great and broadly distributed family of Miners — the 

 Sturnidce — Australia has one species — Calornis, of Queensland. 

 Stiirniis vulgaris, the common Starling of Europe and Asia, is a 

 bird introduced to southern Australia. 



The most broadly distributed Titmice belong to the genus 

 Pants, which is found almost everywhere excepting in the Aus- 

 tralian region and South America. Xerophila and Sphenostoma, 

 of our dry areas, belong to the family, while our Acanthiza does 

 not. 



Woodpeckers belong to the widely-distributed family Picidw ; 

 they have spring tails. Of Woodpeckers I collected five species. 

 There are four hundred. The Woodpeckers are shy, solitary 

 woodland birds, much more so than our Climacteris, and I found 

 in skinning the birds that the skin adhered to the body, making 

 the preparation very slow. By the hammering of the bird's bill 

 I could distinctly trace it, and away in the silent forest I was so 

 impressed with the new experience that the first bird was not 

 shot. The tone and methodical ringing of the hammer thrilled 

 me with wonder. 



The Blue Rock Pigeon [Columha livia), from which have sprung 

 our domestic varieties, was the only Pigeon seen, even though 

 there are sixty of this cosmopolitan genus. It was secured on 

 the extreme south-east of the region (Corea), which is weak in 

 Pigeons. It has 12 species, the Malay Peninsula 120, Australia 

 20. In Australia we have only one species of the genus — C. 

 leitconiela (the White-breasted Fruit-Pigeon). 



Finch-like birds are common all the world over, but they, as 

 families, are quite particular as to which portions they occupy. 

 The two great examples are FringiUidce and Ploceidcp, with little 

 structural difference. The former occupy most of the world 

 excepting Australia, while the latter (Weaver-Birds) occupy 

 Australia, India, and Africa, leaving out Siberia and all Europe. 



