334 ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY. [part hi. 



possess, for passing over a considerable width of sea. We must 

 conclude, therefore, that these islands do not owe their exist- 

 ing fauna to an actual union with the mainland ; but it is pro- 

 bable that they may have been formerly more extensive, and 

 have then been less distant from the continent than at the 

 present time. 



The Nicobar Islands, usually associated with the Andamans, 

 are less known, but present somewhat similar phenomena. They 

 are, however, more Malayan in their fauna, and seem properly 

 to belong to the Indo-Malay sub-region. 



Formosa. — This island has been carefully examined by Mr. 

 Swinhoe, who found 144 species of birds, of which 34 are peculiar. 

 There is one peculiar genus, but the rest are all Indo-Chinese, 

 though some of the species are more allied to Malayan than to 

 Chinese or Himalayan forms. About 30 species of mammalia 

 were found in Formosa, of which 11 are peculiar species, the rest 

 being either Chinese or Himalayan. The peculiar species belong 

 to the genera Taipei, Helictis, Sciuropterus, Pteromys, Mus, Sus, 

 Cervus, and Capricornis. A few lizards and snakes of conti- 

 nental species have also been found. These facts clearly indicate 

 the former connection of Formosa with China and Malaya, a 

 connection which is rendered the more probable by the shallow 

 sea which still connects all these countries. 



Hainan. — The island of Hainan, on the south coast of China, 

 is not so well known in proportion, though Mr. Swinhoe col- 

 lected 172 species of birds, of which 130 were land-birds. Of 

 these about 20 were peculiar species ; the remainder being either 

 Chinese, Himalayan, or Indo-Malayan. Mr. Swinhoe also ob- 

 tained 24 species of mammalia, all being Chinese, Himalayan, 

 or Indo-Malayan species except a hare, which is peculiar. This 

 assemblage of animals would imply that Hainan, as might be ' 

 anticipated from its position, has been more recently separated 

 from the continent than the more distant island of Formosa. 



IV. Indo-Malay a, or the Malayan Sub-region. 

 This sub-region, which is almost wholly insular (including 

 only the Malayan peninsula on the continent of Asia), is equal, if 



