652 MR. H. J. ELWES ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL [Junel7, 



genera which appear to be confined to Japan, such as Sitta roseilia, 

 Erithacus komadori, Chlorospiza kawarihiba, and Parus varius. 

 Some others, such as Cinclus pallasi, Merula mandarina, Tchitrea 

 principalis, Accentor rubidus, Erithacus alcuhige, Regulus japonicus, 

 and Ampelis phcenicoptera also occur on the mainland of China. 



INDO-MALAY REGION. 



Having now examined by far the larger part of the continent of 

 Asia, we will turn to what has been named by Mr. Sclater the 

 " Indian Region." It has been said by some, whose acquaintance 

 with the fauna of India is very great, and whose opinions must there- 

 fore have much weight, that the title is an unfit one, because the 

 birds and animals of India belong not to one, but to at least three 

 distinct zoological provinces. This is no doubt the case to some 

 extent ; and I cannot help seeing that tbe genera and species charac- 

 teristic of what is correctly termed India * are very few in number 

 compared with those that are only found in the mountainous region 

 north and east of it, and in the Malay peninsula and islands. 



If, however, we call it the Indo-Malay region, we shall, I think, be 

 more accurate ; and though the title given by Mr. Sclater has already 

 established its position in general use, I hope he will allow that the 

 reasons I shall show for proposing to change it are well founded. 



If an ordinary collection of birds from any part of the coast or plains 

 of India be examined, it will be found remarkably devoid of variety 

 and interest, so that one might have extensive collections from many 

 widely distant parts of the country without getting one half of the 

 birds which are to be found abundantly in their peculiar habitats. 



A large number of the species would be waders and water birds ; 

 and more than half the remainder would belong to genera of such 

 cosmopolitan distribution that one might say India was, for its size 

 and position, one of the poorest zoological regions in the world. Mr. 

 Wallace, however, has shown ('Ibis,' 1859, p. 451) that the exact 

 contrary is the case ; and as he only takes the number of species 

 known in the whole region at 1500, which is much under the mark, 

 his statement can hardly be controverted. From where then does 

 this great abundance of birds come ? Almost entirely from the 

 mountains which hem in India on the north and east, and crop up 

 in various parts of the peninsula, or from the Malay peninsula and 

 islands. Out of probably 1500 species of land birds known to occur 

 within the limits of the region, not more than 200 are found generally 

 in India if we exclude mountains above 4000 feet. 



The Indo-Malay region, and especially that part of it which I call 

 the Himalayan or Himalo-Chinese subregion, is essentially a region 

 of forests and mountains ; and as the best-known parts of Hindostan 

 and China consist of level and highly cultivated plains, the birds 

 which are most generally found all over the region are, with some 

 exceptions, not the birds most characteristic of it. 



The zoological resemblance between the greater part of Hindostan 



* Vide Mr. Blanford's remarks on this subject, J. A. S. B. 1870, p. 336. 



