II.] ITS REGIONS. 45 



VI. Chiroptera. All the families, with the exception of 



the Neogaeic Phyllostomatidae, well re- 

 presented. 



The Polynesian region, as already said, is characterised by the 

 general absence of non-flying mammals, and there- 

 fore claims but little notice here. The only mar- 

 supial occurring within the region is a variety of the 

 widely-spread grey cuscus (Phalanger orientalis], which occurs in 

 the Solomon Islands, where four species of Mus are likewise met 

 with. As the cuscus, together with one of the rats, is also found 

 in the Duke of York group, it may be inferred that the non-volant 

 mammals of the Solomons have been derived from the latter area. 

 In addition to members of widely-spread types, the Solomons 

 possess two peculiar genera of bats. 



New Zealand appears to be inhabited only by two peculiar 

 generic types of bats, each represented by a single species, and a 

 rat (Mus maorimri}, but whether the latter is indigenous or intro- 

 duced appears doubtful. 



Although a work devoted to mammals has little to do with an 

 area where the sole member of the class is a bat of 

 the genus Atalapha, brief mention must be made of R^on*"' 

 the Sandwich Islands, which from their bird-fauna 

 are regarded as entitled to distinction from the Polynesian region. 

 Of the birds of this area, Mr W. L. Sclater ' writes that the greater 

 number not only of the species, but even of the genera "are 

 peculiar and wholly restricted to these islands. It is, of course, 

 among the smaller land-birds (Passeres) that this individuality is 

 most marked; but even in the other groups, where the distribu- 

 tion is generally wider, the Hawaiian birds are, in many cases, 

 local." 



Poverty, and an admixture of Australian and Malayan types, 

 with a very marked preponderance of the latter, are 

 the leading features in the mammalian fauna of the lay^n Region. 



Austro-Malayan region. This area includes the 



islands lying between Makassar Strait and the narrow channel 



separating Lombok from Bali on the west and the Australian region 



1 Appendix, No. 28. 



