9412 Birds. 



There are a few families of insessorial birds which are distributed 

 nearly over the globe, and luany throughout the Northern Hemisphere, 

 except of course in the highest latitudes. 



The extensive family of finches (Friugillidce) is cosmopolitan, being 

 represented by species in the most northern districts in which birds 

 can exist, both in the New and Old World, and being found as far south 

 as New Zealand and South Georgia ; most islands also are inhabited 

 by species of this numerous family ; the Gallapagos, for instance, have 

 a genus — Geospiza — peculiar to them, and many of the islets have 

 peculiar species of that genus. The African Atlantic Islands also 

 have peculiar species of the restricted typical genus Fringilla, and 

 also of other genera, such as Crithagra and Estrelda. 



A single genus may exist through all the degrees of latitude from 

 the temperate regions to the tropics, and so may even a single species. 

 The sparrows (Passer), for instance, are found in abundance in North- 

 ern Europe. The Indian house sparrow (Passer Iiidicus), although 

 inhabiting the greater part of India, differs but little from our common 

 house sparrow (P. domestic us); and our other indigenous species, the 

 tree sparrow [P. monianus), is found also eight degrees south of the 

 Equator, being the common sparrow of Java ; it has also been ob- 

 served in Arracan, China, Japan, and thence westward in the Hima- 

 layas, AfEghanisian, Erzeroum, and through Europe to these Isles. 



Another species— Passer simplex — is found in the hottest parts of 

 Western Africa. 



It does not appear that species inhabiting cold climates are more 

 warmly clothed than those found in very hot regions. To illustrate 

 this point compare the plumage of the Javan grosbeak (Padda orijzi- 

 vora) with that of the siskin (Carduelis spinits] ; the tropical species 

 would appear even to have the advantage of a warm clothing, the fea- 

 thers being remarkably closely arranged ; yet it is found in Java and 

 the hottest parts of India, while the siskin is found commonly in 

 Norway and Sweden, visiting this country only in the winter. 



Climate, therefore, has little influence in the geographical distribu- 

 tion of the family of birds under consideration, except indirectly, as 

 will be shown. 



Why, therefore, it may be asked, is the large sub-family of Tana- 

 grinas confined chiefly to the warmer parts of America ? The answer 

 is this, — they feed very much on insects, and therefore can only exist 

 where that food is abundant ; so that the absence of insect life in 

 high latitudes, during the winter months, is fatal to the existence 



