CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ASIA. 47 



(64.) The birds of Central Asia are still more im- 

 perfectly known than the quadrupeds. We are com- 

 pelled, in fact, to form our judgment of them more from 

 the paintings executed by the Chinese, than from any 

 specimens that have hitherto reached Europe. Many of 

 these native painters, however, are particularly exact in 

 their delineations of the common sorts ; and we may, 

 therefore, place a certain degree of confidence in such 

 as have not been actually seen by Europeans. From 

 these drawings it becomes evident that there exists in 

 Central Asia several large and beautiful gallinaceous 

 birds, particularly pheasants, totally distinct from those 

 of Southern Asia. It is here, in short, that we first 

 detect the chief ornithological feature of Asia ; namely, 

 the variety and beauty of its gallinaceous birds. It is 

 probable that the golden (Nycthemerus pictus Sw.) and 

 silver pheasants (Nyc. argentatus Sw.) of our mena- 



geries, the latter one of the most chastely elegant birds 

 of Asia (y?#. 12.), originally came from the interior of 

 China. Many others will doubtless be discovered on the 

 elevated table land of Asia, since even those species more 

 peculiar to India are seldom met with in the maritime 

 or low provinces. The splendid Impeyan pheasant 

 (Lophophorus refulgem T.), and the other species of the 

 same natural group, are stated only to inhabit the hilly 

 and elevated districts of India. Our knowledge of the 

 entomology of this region is chiefly confined to China. 



(65.) The third division comprehends Southern Asia, 

 and presents a zoological region of uncommon interest 



