272 MR. A. R. WALLACE ON THE [June 28, 
me by Mr. A. Newton; it consists in my having inserted into the 
list Zurinorhynchus pygmeus on the authority of the Limicola pyg- 
mea of Middendorff. Mr. Newton has rightly pointed out to me 
that Limicola pygmea is only another name for T'ringa platyrhyncha, 
Temm., which has already found place in the same list. There ap- 
pears consequently to be no evidence of Eurinorhynchus pygmeus 
having ever been noted in this part of the world. The other mistake 
has occurred in the difficult family of Laride, where (no. 405) I 
have identified wrongly Larus canus, var. major, Midd., our Eastern, 
somewhat larger representative of L. canus, L., with Pallas’s L. ni- 
veus. The latter is described by Pallas (Zoographia Rosso-Asiatica, 
tom. ii. p. 320) as ‘LZ. totus albus, dorso cano, rostro virescenti- 
flavo immaculato, pedibus fuscis ; magnitudo Corvi coracis.’ It 
would, from this description, appear to be more nearly allied to L. oc- 
cidentalis, Audubon (no. 410 of my list); but this last has a red 
spot on the bill. We must therefore, I suppose, regard our type of 
L. canus as L. major, Middendorff, and insert doubtfully into the 
list as a separate species L. niveus, Pallas, ‘ procured from Kam- 
tschatka and the Northern Seas.’ ” 
The following papers were read :— 
1. On THE Parrots oF THE MALAYAN REGION, WITH REMARKS 
ON THEIR Hasits, DisrRIBUTION, AND AFFINITIES, AND 
THE DescripTions oF Two New Species. By Aurrep R. 
WALLACE. 
(With a Map of the Malay Archipelago.) 
The Psittaci or Parrots are an extensive and very isolated group 
of birds ranging over the tropics of the whole world, but, with the 
exception of those lands of anomalies, Australia and New Zealand, 
rarely found in the temperate and cooler regions. As nearly as I 
can estimate, the number of species of these birds known at present 
amounts to 365, grouped in about thirty-six genera and five families. 
The manner, however, in which these species and group are distri- 
buted over the globe is very remarkable. Taking the zoological re- 
gions established by Dr. Sclater, we find the following approximate 
numbers— 
Regions. Species. Genera. Families. 
Palearctic.... 0 0 0 
Nearctic .... 1 1 1 
Neotropical .. 150 9 1 >14 genera, all of one family, 
Ethiopian.... 25 4 1 
Tadian’ Say ss 25 3 ] 
Australian.... 165 25 5 25 genera of 5 families,— 
showing a remarkable poverty in the Indian and Ethiopian regions, 
both in species and groups ; abundance of species in the Neotropical 
(S. American) region, with comparatively few genera; while the 
Australian region not only contains more species than the American, 
