ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



THE GRIZZLY CUB CLINGING TO ITS MOTHER'S HIDE. 



ored many times to make them pay some atten- 

 tion to the other bear hides we had, but with no 

 success whatever. 



WHERE OUR BIRDS COME FROM. 

 By Lee S. Crandall. 



BIRDS are so widely dispersed over the sur- 

 face of the earth that barren indeed is the 

 spot without avian life. The great gift 

 of flight has carried them to the farthest cor- 

 ners of the globe. Perfect plasticity of form 

 and habit have allowed adaptation to a multi- 

 tude of changing conditions. From Arctic to 

 Antarctic, birds have fitted themselves to every 

 conceivable type of environment. Every land, 

 however inhospitable, has its share of the 20,000 

 forms of feathered life. 



The study of the geographical distribution of 

 life on the earth has led to the recognition of 

 well defined areas, distinguished by the char- 

 acter of their fauna. Six main life zones, cor- 

 responding in general to the continental bodies, 

 have been separated. Each has numerous sub- 

 divisions but for our purpose, the six will suffice. 

 Briefly, North America forms the Nearctic 

 Region ; southern Mexico, the West Indies and 

 South America, the Neotropical. Europe, north- 

 ern Africa are included in the Palaearctic Re- 



gion, while southern Asia and the neighboring 

 islands are known as the Oriental. Arabia and 

 Africa south of the tropic of Cancer are as- 

 signed to the Ethiopian Region; Australia, New 

 Guinea and the East Indies to the Australian. 



The sequence of these regions in point of 

 numbers of species represented in our collection 

 is interesting. It depends in some degree on 

 the number of forms indigenous to the zone un- 

 der consideration, but chiefly on their accessi- 

 bility. The 802 species of birds now living in 

 the Zoological Park are grouped as follows : 

 Neotropical, 237; Nearctic, 162; Australian. 

 118; Ethiopian. 84; Palaearctic, 81; Oriental, 

 78. Forty-two species either are cosmopolitan 

 or range extensively through more than one re- 

 gion, so that they may not fairly be assigned to 

 one. 



The order of the first two probably would 

 obtain under normal conditions, the greater 

 abundance of species in South America more 

 than balancing propinquity in the north. Since 

 the beginning of the world war Europe, Africa 

 and the Orient have been almost entirely cut 

 off, and most of the species which still repre- 

 sent them have been in our possession three 

 years or more. The position of the Australian 

 area is abnormally high, the same factors which 

 have interrupted our supply in some cases hav- 

 ing had the reverse effect in this. The trade in 

 Australian birds has been diverted from Europe 

 to America and there is no doubt that New York 

 now has the finest collection of Australian fauna 

 ever gathered by a single institution outside that 

 country. 



The maps which accompany this article give 

 a diagrammatic idea of the broad geographical 

 area represented in the collection. The origins 

 of 379 typical species are designated. As far 

 as possible, sedentary forms have been chosen. 

 When widely dispersed or strongly migratory 

 birds have been used, a point approximating the 

 center of their breeding grounds has been in- 

 dicated. The object has been to emphasize ex- 

 tent of distribution rather than the numerical 

 precedence of the various regions. 



Every extreme of habitat has contributed its 

 mite. The ice fields of the far north, the drip- 

 ping jungles of the tropics, the giant peaks and 

 the seas of many lands, have been skillfully 

 searched. 



The gathering of such a company is a hercu- 

 lean task. A group of tiny finches, a brilliant 

 bird of Paradise, a flock of penguins, each could 

 tell a tale of adventure and romance that would 

 enthrall the listener. One may get a hint of 



