364 Wonders of the Bird World 



VIII. THE LEMURIAN SUB-REGION. 



Dr. Sclater has given this name to Madagascar and the 

 neighbouring islands, but it would have been better to have 

 called it the Mascarene Sub-Region, though the former name 

 is so well known among zoologists that to change it would 

 cause confusion, especially as the rule that a name once 

 given should always remain, is an axiom with those who 

 adhere to the law of priority. The name of the Sub-Region 

 is founded on the presence of those furry aberrant 

 Monkeys, known as Lemurs, which are characteristic of 

 Madagascar. Among the birds we notice as peculiar to 

 this Sub-Region curious forms of Ground-Rollers {Atelornis, 

 Brachypteracias), the Kirombos (Leptosoma), EutriorcJiis 

 among the Hawks, several peculiar forms of Warblers and 

 Flycatchers, and the Madagascar Kagu (Mesites), besides 

 numbers of other remarkable species. Within the area of 

 this well-defined Sub-Region lay the home of the Dodo and 

 the Solitaire, the Crested Starling of Reunion (Fregihipus), 

 and other interesting birds now extinct. 



Before quitting the subject of the Ethiopian Region it is 

 well to notice that there arc a number of genera common 

 to both the Ethiopian and Indian Regions, and some, like 

 the Paradise Flycatchers (TerpsipJione), are also found in 

 Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. I have already 

 mentioned Baza, Pitta, and Turdinus as genera common to 

 the Ethiopian and Indian Regions, and many more can be 

 added, Eurystomus, CryptolopJia, Alcippe, Sc/uznicola, etc., the 

 discussion of which would occupy more space than can be 

 given in a little work like the present. 



One of the most remarkable instances of the isolated 

 distribution of a genus of birds is seen in the Falconets 

 {Polio hie rax), one species of which, P. semitorquatus, in- 

 habits Africa, and the second species, P. insignis, is found 

 in the Burmese Provinces. The peculiar fact about these 



