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THE ANIMALS OF MADAGASCAR 



(Potamochcerus edwardsi) nearly allied to the African species. It has been 

 suggested that this species reached the island from the mainland by swimming the 

 Mozambique Channel by way of the Comoro Islands, when it was narrower than 

 at present; but if this be so, the same must hold good for the fossil hippo- 

 potamuses, and difficulties have been suggested in regard to accepting the hypothesis 

 in their case. On the other hand, if these species entered Madagascar by means 

 of a land-connection with Africa, it is difficult to see why other animals did not 

 avail themselves of the same route. 



Perching Birds. 



The birds of Madagascar, although not perhaps so remarkable 

 and peculiar as the mammals, nevertheless include a number of 

 distinctive types. In the perching order four genera of shrikes (Laniidce) are 

 restricted to the island. Among their representatives, reference may be made to 

 Artamia leucocephala, a species in which the head, throat, and under-parts are 

 white, while the back, wings, and tail are greenish black with metallic reflections ; 

 the allied species (A. bicolor) being cobalt-blue, instead of black, on the upper-parts. 

 These birds, commonly known as tree-starlings, bear considerable resemblance to 

 another Malagasy species (Falculia palliata), which is bluish black on the back, 

 wings, and tail, and is really one of the starlings. Another bird generally grouped 

 with the shrikes, but sufficiently distinct to represent a family by itself, is the 

 helmet-bird (Euryceros prevosti), characterised by the ridge of the beak running 



