106 GEOGKAPHICAL DISTKIBUTIOtf. 



hundred and twenty-two species of birds inhabiting Palestine are 

 European forms, one hundred and thirty-four species (land and 

 water birds) being common to Britain and Palestine. Of the Per- 

 sian avi-fauna one hundred and twenty-seven species are also found 

 in Europe. 81 Of the Oriental and Ethiopian birds which are not 

 known north of, or barely transgress, the Tyrrhenian tract, may be 

 mentioned the francolin, the quail-like Turnix, pastor, honey- 

 sucker (Nectarinea), hoopoe (Upupa), oriole, Ceryle and Halcyon 

 among the kingfishers, the bee-eater (Merops), flamingo, and the 

 genera Gyps, Vultur, and Neophron among the vultures. The 

 ostrich enters the desert regions of Syria. 



The reptilian and amphibian faunas contain a very considerable 

 number of forms peculiar to the region. Of some fifty-three species 

 found in Italy, only twenty-six penetrate into the region north of the 

 Alps, and of this number from five to eight also enter the Ethiopian 

 region. 82 According to Bottger, of the forty species inhabiting 

 Morocco, twenty-two also belong to Spain, and but seven of these 

 pass into the northerly Holarctic tract. On the other hand, only 

 eight of the Moroccan species are known to inhabit the Ethiopian 

 region. Algeria, according to the researches of Strauch, is repre- 

 sented by seventy-six species, of which twenty-seven are also Italian, 

 and but ten Holarctic. On the other hand, eleven species are 

 positively known to inhabit the Ethiopian region, and, according 

 to Forsyth Major, not unlikely eighteen others will also be found to 

 do so. 33 



THE SONORAN TRANSITION REGION. 



This tract, which, as already stated, comprises the peninsula of 

 Lower California, the State of Sonora in Mexico, New Mexico, Ari- 

 zona, and parts, not yet absolutely defined, of Nevada, California, 

 Texas, and Florida, is, as far as the Mammalia and birds are con- 

 cerned, not very clearly differentiated ; the intermingling of northern 

 and southern elements, with a decided preponderance in favor of 

 the former, is very great, and the peculiarities insignificant. Two 

 species of Bassaris, a member of the raccoon family, appear to be 

 confined to California, Texas, and the highlands of Mexico. Among 

 the more peculiarly Neotropical forms that enter the tract are the 

 jaguar, the peccary, a solitary species of armadillo, and a bat of the 

 genus Nyctinomus. The reptilian and amphibian faunas are much 



