Distribution of Birds. 515 



genera, and species of the Class of Birds as our guide. In 

 the first place I showed that, as regards their bird-life, 

 Europe and Northern Asia are quite inseparable, the same 

 or nearly the same avifauna extending all across the tem- 

 perate portion of the Old World from England to Japan. 

 Again 1 pointed out that Africa north of the Atlas, along 

 the southern shores of the Mediterranean, also belonged to 

 Europe zoologically, and not to the continent to which it is 

 physically joined. I therefore maintained that we must con- 

 sider Africa north of the Atlas, Europe, and Northern Asia 

 to foi'm one primary division of the earth^s surface, to which 

 the name " Pal.earctic Region " would be best applicable. 



The great continent of Africa, after cutting off the portion 

 north of the Atlas, w'ould form, as I showed, a second well- 

 marked division of the earth's surface. This would include 

 Madagascar, which, however, had manifestly a peculiar deve- 

 lopment of its own, as also Western Arabia as far as the 

 Persian Gulf; for in this part of Asia African types seemed 

 to predominate over Indian. This second division of the 

 earth's surface I proposed to call the "Ethiopian Region.'^ 



A third primary region appeared to be constituted by 

 Southern Asia and the adjacent islands of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago down to (what is now called) Wallace's line. This 

 region would certainly embrace Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and 

 the Philippines; but its southern boundary was at that period 

 a little uncertain. This region I proposed in 1857 to call 

 the " Indian " Region. Mr. Wallace subsequently proposed 

 to alter its name to the " Oriental" Region, and I have 

 had great })leasure in following his suggestion. 



A fourth principal division of the Old World, taking birds 

 as onr guide, I proposed to denominate the "Australian 

 Region." This would embrace New Guinea and the adjoin- 

 ing islands, in which the facies of bird-life was manifestly of 

 an Australian type, Australia itself, and New Zealand and 

 the Pacific Islands. According to this plan we should have 

 in the Old World one great Temperate Region (Pal£earctic) 

 and three more or less Tropical (Palaeotropical) Regions, the 

 most eastern one of these (the Australian) extending rather 



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