100 GEOGKAPniCAL DISTr.IEUTIO:S'. 



nary harvest-mouse ; and, finally, the little Tarsipes, a trae honey- 

 sucker, provided -with an extensile tongue, and of the size of a 

 mouse. All of these various forms are more or less adapted to an 

 arboreal existence. The remaining family of the marsupials is that 

 of the wombats (Phascolomyidas), nocturnal burrowing animals of 

 about the size of the badger, and somewhat of the appearance of a 

 bear, subsisting chiefly on roots and grasses. The most anomalous 

 and remarkable of all the Australian mammals, indeed of all Mam- 

 malia, are the oviparous monotremes — the duck-bill (Ornitho- 

 rhynchus) and native hedge-hog (Echidna) — strictly speaking, bur- 

 rowing edentate animals, having certain points of affinity with both 

 birds and reptiles. With few exceptions (Cuscus, Belideus), all 

 the marsupial genera of the Australian region are confined to the 

 continent of Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea (and the Aru 

 Islands), but a very insignificant fraction of the entire number of 

 marsupial species being represented in any of the Austro-Malaysian 

 islands (Mysol, Celebes). E ,ea in New Guinea, a? compared with 

 Australia, the number of such representatives is rather limited; 

 but we here meet with at least one type of placental mammal, the 

 ho"-, which is not met with on the continent of Australia. On the 

 other hand, the (in Australia) fairly well represented family of rats 

 and mice exhibits in the Papuan sub-region (Aru Islands) but a 

 solitary example, the Uromys. 



In respect of its bird-faima, the Australian region presents us 

 with peculiarities that are scarcely less marked than those which 

 distinguish the Mammalia. In the number and beauty of its forms 

 this region is only second to the Neotropical, while in such as 

 show the most marked peculiarities of structure it is unsurpassed. 

 Many of the most familiar types of Old World birds are repre- 

 sented, and in sufficient number — such as the warblers, thrushes, 

 fly-catchers, shrikes, and crows; but, on the other hand, some of 

 the most broadly diffused families are wholly wanting. Thus, the 

 true finches (Fringillidaa), which have otherwise a universal dis- 

 tribution, appear to be wanting in all parts of the region, being 

 replaced by the weaver-finches (PloceidsR). The vultures are also 

 completely absent, as are likewise the Avoodpeckers (Picidis) and 

 pheasants (Phasianida^). The true paradise-birds (Paradiseinas), 

 whose special development in New Guinea and the other Papuan 

 Islands forms such a marked feature in the avian-fauna of that sub- 



