Geographical Distribution 351 



Throughout the present work I have been obliged to speak 

 of " Europe " and the other great Continents by their 

 popularly-known names, but it has been "pain and grief" 

 to me to have to do so, and I hope that the time is not far 

 distant when every one interested in natural history will 

 understand what is meant by the " Palaearctic " and other 

 Regions of zoologists. 



It was in 1858 that Dr. P. L. Sclater proposed the 

 names by which the six great regions of the globe are 

 known to naturalists of the present day. They are (A) the 

 Palaearctic Region, (B) the Ethiopian Region, (C) the Indian 

 Region, (D) the Australian Region, (E) the Nearctic Region, 

 (F) the Neotropical Region. A few changes in this nomen- 

 clature have been suggested by subsequent writers, such as 

 the substitution of "Oriental" Region for the "Indian" 

 Region by Dr. A. R. Wallace, but by general consensus 

 of opinion Dr. Sclater's names are employed by the great 

 mass of writers. 



In the present work I am writing only of the geographical 

 distribution of Birds, as it seems to me always best to treat 

 of one class of animals at a time, but it must be remembered 

 that the above-named natural regions were separated not 

 from a consideration of the birds alone, but from that of 

 other animals as well, and many good books on the subject 

 have been written, notably the standard work of Dr. A. R. 

 Wallace on the " Geographical Distribution of Animals." 



Judging from our present knowledge of the ranges of 

 the birds, the six Zoological Regions of the Globe appear 

 to be perfectly natural ones. There is a great difference 

 in the richness of these different areas, South America being 

 much more prolific in Avian types than any other portion 

 of the world, while the Palaearctic and Nearctic Regions 

 show less striking characteristics than the others. 



