SG7 



Th is view of the ori2;in of the Aru fauna is further 

 confirmed by considering what it is not, as well as 

 "what it is; its . deliciencies teach as mucli as Avhat it 

 possesses. There are certaiii families of birds highly 

 characteristic of the Indian Archipehigo in its western 

 and better-known portion. In the Peninsula of Malacca, 

 Suniatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippine Islands , the 

 foliowing families are abundant in species and in indi- 

 viduals. They are everywhere common birds. They are 

 the Bicceridiü , Picidci', Bacconidx, Trogoriidcc , Mero- 

 jjidcG , and J^iuylai/uidae; but not one species of all these 

 families is found in Aru, nor, witli two doubtful ex- 

 ceptions, in '^qw Guinea. The whole are also absent 

 from Australia. To complete our view of the subject, 

 it is necessary also to consider the Mammalia, whicli 

 present pcculiarities and deficiencies even yet more stri- 

 Idng. Not one species found in the great islands west- 

 ward inhabits Aru or New Guinea. AYith the excep- 

 tion only of pigs and bats, not a genus, not a fami- 

 ly, not even an order of mammals is found in. common. 

 No Quadrumana, no Sciurida?, no Carnivora, Roden- 

 tia, or Ungulata inhabit these depopulated forests, AVith 

 the two cxceptions abovc mentioned, all the mamma- 

 lia are Marsupiuls ; in the great western islands there 

 is not a single marsupial! A kangaroo inhabits Aru 

 (and several New Guinea), and this, with three or 

 lüur sjjccies of Cusciis , two or thrce little rat-like mar- 

 supials, a wild pig and several bats, are all the mam- 

 malia I have been able either to obtain or hear of. 



It is to the full dcvelopment of such interesting de- 

 tails that the collector and the systematist coutribute 

 so largely. in this poiut of view the disco very of every 



