418 ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY. [part. hi. 



in any of the Moluccas, we can hardly suppose that such large 

 animals as the deer and ape, could have reached them by 

 natural means. There is every reason to believe, therefore, that 

 the indigenous Mammalia of the Moluccas are wholly of Papuan 

 stock, and very limited in number. 



The birds are much more varied and interesting. About 200 

 species of land-birds are now known, belonging to 85 genera. Of 

 the species about 15 are Indo-Malayan, 32 Papuan, and about 

 140 peculiar. Of the genera only two are peculiar, — Semioptera, 

 a paradise bird, and Lycocorax, a singular form of Corvidse ; but 

 there is also a peculiar rail-like wader, Habroptila. One genus, 

 Basilornis, is found only in Ceram and Celebes ; another, Scythrops, 

 is Australian, and perhaps a migrant. About 30 genera are 

 characteristic Papuan types, and 37 others, of more or less wide 

 range, are found in New Guinea and were therefore probably 

 derived thence. There remains a group of birds which are not 

 found in New Guinea, and are either Palasarctic or Oriental. 

 These are 13 in number as follows : — 



1. Monticola. 8. Corydalla. 



2. Acrocephalus. 9. Hydrornis. 



3. Cisticola. 10. Batrachostomus. 

 4 Hypolais. 11. Loriculus. 



5. Criniger. 12. Treron. 



6. Butalis. 13. Neopus. 



7. Budytes. 



Of these the Monticola, found only in Gilolo, appears to be a 

 straggler or migrant from the Philippine islands. Acrocephalus, 

 of which four species occur, is a wide-spread group ; one of 

 the Moluccan birds is an Australian and another a North-Asian 

 species, which perhaps indicates that there has long been some 

 migration southward from island to island, across the Moluccas. 

 Cisticola is a genus of very wide range, extending to Australia. 

 Hypolais is probably a modified form of a Chinese or Java- 

 nese species. Criniger is a pure Indo-Malay form, represented 

 here by three fine species. Butalis is a Chinese species, no 

 doubt straggling southward. Budytes and Corydalla are wide- 

 spread Oriental and Palsearctic species or slight modifications of 

 them. Hydrornis is a Malayan form of Pittidse. Batrachostomus 

 is a distinct representative of a purely Indo-Malay genus. Lori- 



