chap, x.] THE PALAEARCTIC REGION. 183 



ists that the Palaearctic region could not be well characterised by 

 its peculiar genera of birds. In Mr. Sclater's celebrated paper 

 already referred to, he remarks, " It cannot be denied that the 

 ornithology of the Palaearctic region is more easily characterised 

 by what it has not than by what it has," and this has been quite 

 recently quoted by Mr. Allen, in his essay on the distribution 

 of North American birds, as if it represented our present know 

 ledge of the subject. But, thanks to the labours of Dr. 

 Jerdon, Mr. Swinhoe, Pere David and others, we have now 

 learnt that a large number of birds included in the Indian 

 list, are either mere winter emigrants from Central Asia, or only 

 inhabit the higher ranges of the Himalayas, and thus really 

 belong to the Palaearctic region. The result is, that a host of 

 genera are now seen to be either exclusively or characteristically 

 Palaearctic, and we have no further difficulty in giving positive 

 ornithological characters to the region. In the tables appended 

 to this chapter, all these truly Palaearctic genera will be found 

 printed in italics, with an indication of their distribution, which 

 will sometimes be found more fully given under the respective 

 families in the fourth part of this work. Referring to this table 

 for details we shall here summarise the results. 



Of the Sylviidae or warblers, no less than fourteen genera are 

 either exclusively or characteristically Palaearctic, of which 

 Locustella, Sylvia, Curruca and Erithacus are good examples. 

 Of the oriental family Timaliiclae, the genus Pterorhinus is Palae- 

 arctic. Of Panuridae, or reedlings, there are four peculiar genera 

 (comprising almost the whole family) ; of Certhiidae, or creepers, 

 one — Tichodroma — which extends southward to the Abyssinian 

 highlands. Of Paridae, or tits, one — Acredula ; of Corvidae, or 

 crows, four — Pica (containing our magpie) being a good example; of 

 Fringillidae, or finches and buntings, twelvejaniongwhich^caft^/ws, 

 PyrrJiula and Embcriza are good illustrations ; of Alaudidae, or 

 larks, there are two peculiar genera. Leaving the Passeres we next 

 come to peculiar forms among the gallinaceous birds : Syrrhaptes 

 among the Pteroclidae or sand grouse ; four genera of Tetraonidae or 

 grouse and partridges, and five of Phasianidae or pheasants, com- 

 prising some of the most magnificent birds in the world. Lastly 



