6/8 MR. H. J. ELWES ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL [June 17, 



miis, and Polyplectron, none of which genera are found in India. 

 Thrushes, Finches, Larks, and Warblers, all of which are abundant 

 in those parts of the Indian region which have a cold season, here, 

 where a tropical climate prevails the whole year round, become scarce 

 or entirely absent. 



Parrots and Houey-eaters, which are so conspicuous a feature in 

 the ornithology of the Australian region, are represented only by a few 

 genera, among which Loriculus and Psittinus are the most remarkable. 



Of the wading and water-birds I can say but little ; they seem to 

 be poorly represented in most parts of the region, and have been 

 comparatively neglected by travellers. 



Few of the sea-birds and Ducks which are so common on the coast 

 of China seem to extend their migrations so far south ; so that not 

 more than four or five species of Ducks are known to inhabit these 

 islands, whilst Geese are, I believe, entirely absent. 



Java. 



I will now give some account of the peculiar features of the dif- 

 ferent parts of this subregion, though little can be added to the ex- 

 cellent chapter on this subject in Mr. Wallace's work. 



Java is the best-known, the most thickly populated, and zoolo- 

 gically the most peculiar of the Indo-Malay islands. About 2/0 

 species of land-birds are recorded from it, of which about 45 are pe- 

 culiar to the island. Most of these, as Mr. Wallace informs me, are 

 found in the mountains of West Java, which differs remarkably in 

 climate from its eastern extremity, being subject to much more pro- 

 tracted and heavy rains. Whether the similarity of the climate and 

 vegetation is the cause or not, the fact is, that several birds only found 

 here are remarkably like species of the Eastern Himalaya which are 

 not known to occur in the mountains of Malacca or Sumatra. Among 

 them may be cited : — 



Xenogenys (Oreas) azurea, Temm., which must, I think, be re- 

 ferred to the Himalayan genus Cockoa. 



Pomatorhinus montanus, Horsf. 



Garrulax rufifrons, Swains. 



Psaltria exilis, Temm., which in structure comes very near JEgi- 

 thaliscus of the Himalaya. 



Dendrophila flavipes (Swainson, in Lardner's ' Cabinet Cyclopae- 

 dia,' " Two Centuries aud a quarter of Birds," p. 323). 



Brachypteryx albifrons, Boie, probably the same as Myiomela 

 ajax (Less.). 



Tephrodornis hirundinacea, Temm., which in coloration and struc- 

 ture reminds me strongly of Hemipus picatus. 



Allotrius cenobarbus, Temm. 



Pteru thins Jla viscajris, Temm . 



Mr. Wallace has pointed out similar points of resemblance between 

 Java and Burmah, in the case of animals which are not known to 

 occur in either Sumatra or Borneo, though our knowledge of the 

 mountain-ranges of those islands is so limited that it is impossible 

 to say certainly that they do not. In various points Java is very 



