GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONS OF BIRDS. 243 
possesses Sand-grouse, Larks, and Warblers. Very many 
of the commoner forms in the North are represented by allied 
forms in this subregion. Pheasants also abound in its more 
eastern part. It has Vultures, Pelicans, and Flamingoes, which 
are wanting further north. Nevertheless it is not quite dis- 
tinetly divided off, because peculiar Himalayan elements 
crop up again in Turkestan and the Altai Mountains—various 
Grosbeaks, Flycatchers, Rose-Finches, &c., &e. 
Tue Erniopran Rucron is,as might be expected, an extremely 
rich one, and has whole families of birds absolutely peculiar to 
it. Amongst these are the Musophagide, or Plantain-eaters, 
the Colies, the Irrisorida, the Guinea-fowls, and the Secretary- 
bird, while it is the special home of the Ostrich. It possesses 
also Sun-birds, Hornbills, and Weaver-birds, though these are 
by no means confined to it. 
In the Libyan subregion we meet with a Sun-bird and an 
African genus of Starlings (Amydrus), extending northwards 
into the Valley of the Jordan. One of the most peculiar of the 
Birds of this subregion is the Balewniceps * (of the Upper Nile). 
In Egypt the avifauna alternates with the season, the Nile valley 
being overrun with migrants from the Palearctic region during 
the winter. 
The West-African subregion is a very rich one tT; but its dis- 
tinctive forms can hardly yet be enumerated satisfactorily. It 
has a Pitta (a Malayan element), and several Babbling-thrushes 
allied to Indian species. It has three species of Guinea-fow], 
and the Grey Parrot (Psittacus) has been said to have driven 
away all diurnal birds of prey from Prince’s Island. Six species 
of birds are known to be peculiar to the island of St. Thomas. 
It is essentially a forest region—the home of the Gorilla and 
the Chimpanzee. 
The South-African subregion has not very many peculiar 
forms, but Chctops, many Chats, Larks, and Pipits are peculiar 
to it, and it is the head- -quarters of species which range into 
other subregions, as, é. g., Jndicator. The Secretary-bird appears 
here as a semidomestic one. In St. Helena is a race of Ringed 
* See ante, p. 39. 
+ Many West-African forms range across the Lake Country; but there 
are many peculiar Touracous, as well as Weaver-birds, Starlings, &e. Many 
South-African birds range into this region, and many N.E. African birds 
descend into it. 
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