CHAPTER XXXII 

 THE DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS 



TECHNICAL NOTE. The larger aspects or phenomena of the dis- 

 tribution of animals over the earth on land and in sea cannot be 

 studied personally in the field by the student, but many local fea- 

 tures of distribution can be so observed and studied. The restric- 

 tion of certain kinds of animals to certain kinds of habitat, the 

 presence and character and effectiveness of barriers, some of the 

 modes of distribution, the presence and successful life of introduced 

 foreign species such as the black and brown rats, the English 

 sparrow, the German and Asiatic cockroaches, the gradual change 

 of range or distribution of certain kinds of animals through the in- 

 fluence of a change in environment (caused by man in cutting off 

 forests, cultivating heretofore wild pastures, etc.) all offer favorable 

 and profitable opportunities for personal observation. 



An excellent and feasible piece of field-work in distribution is the 

 making of a zoological survey of the locality in which the school is 

 situated. A map of the locality should be made on a generous 

 scale, which should include all prominent physical features of the 

 region, such as streams, ponds, hills, woodlands, marshes, etc., 

 and on this map should be indicated the places where the various 

 animals of the local fauna occur. Some of the animal species will 

 have a limited range, and the limits of this range should be shown. 

 This map and faunal list can be added to and perfected by succes- 

 sive classes. For fuller discussions of the geographical distribution 

 of animals see Jordan and Kellogg 's " Animal Life," Beddard's " Zoo- 

 geography," Heilprin's " The Distribution of Animals," and Wallace's 

 "Geographical Distribution." 



Geographical distribution. It is a matter of common 

 knowledge with all of us that there are no wild lions or 

 camels or kangaroos or monkeys or ostriches or night- 

 ingales in North America. Ostriches are found only in 

 Africa and South America, kangaroos only in Australia, 



