374 



Wonders of the Bird World 



II. THE COLD TEMPERATE SUB-REGION. 



Professor Allen divides the continent of North America 

 into two main Sub-Regions, which he calls the " Cold " and 

 the "Warm" Temperate Realms. They are further sub- 

 divided by him in the manner detailed below. 



It has been proposed by Prof. Alfred Newton in his 

 ' Dictionary of Birds ' that the Palaearctic and Nearctic 

 Regions should be united under the one heading of the 

 "Holarctic" Region. Prof. Allen would unite them as a 

 "Warm Temperate Realm," but, although it is probable' 

 that further research may prove my Eurasian Sub-Region 

 to be of equal value with Prof. Allen's Cold Temperate 

 Region in North America, it seems to me to be a mistake 

 to unite these two portions of the globe as if they con- 

 stituted a single natural zoological area. In Mammals, no 

 doubt, there are many forms, which, if not strictly identical, 

 are very closely allied, and through the Cold Temperate 

 Sub-Region of America extend numbers of Grouse which 

 represent those of our own Palaearctic Region, while some 

 Passerine Birds, such as the Waxwing (A mpelis garrulu s} 

 and our Shore-Lark (Otocorys alpestris], occur and breed in 

 both the Nearctic and Palaearctic Regions, and Tits (Parus\ 

 Creepers (Certkia\ Wrens (Anorthurci), etc., are common to 

 both of them, and exist in large numbers of species. But 

 when all that has been considered, the Nearctic Region 

 is still, in my opinion, from the general stamp of its 

 Avifauna, quite unlike that of the Palaearctic Region, 

 which has no Hang-nests (Icteridce], Greenlets ( Vireonidce\ 

 Coloured Warblers (Mniotiltidce\ and no Tanagers (Tana- 

 grida). The presence of the numerous species which North 

 America possesses in these four families alone is sufficient 

 to characterize the Avifauna of the Nearctic Region as 

 distinct from that of the Palaearctic. Besides the plurality 

 of Grouse, which is a feature of the Cold Temperate Sub- 



