chap, xii.] THE ORIENTAL REGION. 317 



markable forms; among the bee-eaters we have the exquisite 

 Nyctiornis with its pendent neck-plumes of blue or scarlet; 

 brilliant kingfishers and strangely formed hornbills abound 

 everywhere ; while brown-backed trogons with red and orange 

 breasts, though far less frequent, are equally a feature of the 

 Ornithology. Next we have the frog-mouthed goatsuckers {Bat- 

 trachostomus), and the whiskered swifts {Devdrochelidon), both 

 wide-spread, remarkable, and characteristic groups of the Oriental 

 region. Coming to the parrot tribe, we have only the long-tailed 

 Palceornis and the exquisite little Zoriculus, as characteristic 

 genera. We now come to the pigeons, among which the fruit- 

 eating genera Treron and Carpophaga are the most conspicuous. 

 The gallinaceous birds offer us some grand forms, such as 

 the peacocks (Pavo) ; the argus pheasants (Argusianus) ; the fire- 

 backed pheasants {Euplocanuis) ; and the jungle-fowl (Gallus), all 

 strikingly characteristic ; and with these we may close our sketch, 

 since the birds of prey and the two Orders comprising the 

 waders and swimmers offer nothing sufficiently remarkable to 

 be worthy of enumeration here. 



Reptiles. — Only the more abundant and characteristic groups 

 will here be noticed. In the serpent tribe, the Oligodontidse, 

 a small family of ground-snakes; the Homalopsidae, or fresh- 

 water snakes ; the Dendrophidse, or tree-snakes ; the Dryiophidse, 

 or whip-snakes ; the Dipsadidse, or nocturnal tree-snakes ; the 

 Lycodontidse or fanged ground-snakes ; the Pythonidre, or rock- 

 snakes ; the Elapidye, or venomous colubrine snakes (including 

 the " cobras ") ; and the Crotalidse, or pit- vipers, are all abundant 

 and characteristic, ranging over nearly the whole region, and pre- 

 senting a great variety of genera and species. Among lizards, the 

 Varanidaj or water-lizards ; the Scincidse or " scinks ; " the Gecko- 

 tidre, or geckoes ; and the Agamidae, or eastern iguanas ; are the 

 most universal and characteristic groups. Among crocodiles the 

 genus Crocodilus is widely spread, Oavialis being characteristic 

 of the Ganges. Among Chelonia, or shielded reptiles, forms of 

 fresh-water Testudinidse and Trionychidse (soft tortoises) are 

 tolerably abundant. 



Amphibia. — The only abundant and characteristic groups of 



