chap, x.] THE PAL^ARCTIC REGION. 203 



Dipus, Lepus, and Mus. It is admitted that, as regards every 

 other group of animals, North Africa is Palaearctic, and the 

 above enumeration shows that even in Mammalia, the inter- 

 mixture of what are now true Ethiopian types is altogether 

 insignificant. It must be remembered, also, that the lion 

 inhabited Greece even in historic times, while large carnivora 

 were contemporary with man all over Central Europe. 



Birds. — So many of the European birds migrate over large 

 portions of the region, and so many others have a wide perma- 

 nent range, that we cannot expect to find more than a few 

 genera, consisting of one or two species, each, confined to a sub- 

 region ; and such appear to be, Lusciniola and Pyrophthalma, 

 genera of Sylviidae. But many are characteristic of this, as 

 compared with other Palsearctic sub-regions ; such as, Bradyp- 

 tetus, Aedon, Dromolcea, and Cercomela, among Sylviidae; Crate- 

 ropus and Malacocercus, among Timaliidse ; Teloplionus among 

 Laniidse ; Certhilauda and Mirafra among larks ; Pastor among 

 starlings ; Upupa, the hoopoe ; Halycon and Ceryle among 

 kingfishers; Turnix and Caccabis among Gallinae, and the 

 pheasant as an indigenous bird ; together with Gyps, Vultur and 

 Neophron, genera of vultures. In addition to these, almost all 

 our summer migrants spend their winter in some part of this 

 favoured land, mostly in North Africa, together with many 

 species of Central Europe that rarely or never visit us. It 

 follows, that a large proportion of all the birds of Europe and 

 Western Asia are to be found in this sub-region, as will be seen 

 by referring to the list of the genera of the region. Palestine 

 is one of the remote portions of this region which has been 

 well explored by Canon Tristram, and it may be interesting to 

 give his summary of the range of the birds. We must bear 

 in mind that the great depression of the Dead Sea has a tropical 

 climate, which accounts for the presence here only, of such a 

 tropical form as the sun- bird (Nectarinea osea). 



The total number of the birds of Palestine is 322, and of 

 these no less than 260 are European, at once settling the question 

 of the general affinities of the fauna. Of the remainder eleven 

 belong to North and East Asia, four to the Eed Sea, and thirty- 



