338 



GEOGRAPHICAL ZOOLOGY. 



[PART IV. 



Europe and extended westward to the shores of the Atlantic, 

 while some even reached Ireland and the Fseroes. (Plate III. 

 Vol. I. p. 226.) 



Family 87.— TETEAONID^E. (29 Genera, 170 Species.) 



General Distribution. 



The Tetraonidse, including the Grouse, Partridges, Quails, and 

 allied forms, abound in all parts of the Eastern continents ; they 

 are less plentiful in North America and comparatively scarce in 

 South America, more than half the Neotropical species being 

 found north of Panama ; and in the Australian region there are 

 only a few of small size. The Ethiopian region probably contains 

 most species ; next comes the Oriental — India proper from the 

 Himalayas to Ceylon having twenty ; while the Australian region, 

 with 15 species, is the poorest. These facts render it probable 

 that the Tetraonidse are essentially denizens of the great northern 

 continents, and that their entrance into South America, Aus- 

 tralia, and even South Africa, is, comparatively speaking, recent. 

 They have developed into forms equally suited to the tropical 

 plains and the arctic regions, some of them being among the few 

 denizens of the extreme north, as well as of the highest alpine 

 snows. The genera are somewhat unsettled, and there is even 

 some uncertainty as to the limits between this family and the 

 next ; but the following are those now generally admitted : — 



Ptilopaclms (1 sp.), West Africa ; Francolinus (34 sp.), all 

 Africa, South Europe, India to Ceylon, and South China ; Orty- 

 gornis (3 sp.), Himalayas to Ceylon, Sumatra, and Borneo : Peli- 

 perdix (1 sp.), West Africa ; Perdix (3 sp.), the whole Continen- 

 tal Palaearctic region ; Margaroperdix (1 sp.), Madagascar ; Oreo- 

 pcrdix (1 sp.), Formosa ; Arborophila (8 sp.), the Oriental Con- 

 tinent and the Philippines ; Peloperdix (4 sp.), Tenasserim and 

 Malaya; Coturnix (21 sp.), Temperate Palsearctic, Ethiopian and 



