30 



ox THE GEOGRAPHY OP ANIMALS. 



Arctic ; 2. the Central; and, 3. the Southern. The chief 

 seat, however, of this zoological province is between the 

 40th and 50th degrees of N. latitude. 



(42.) Arctic Europe comprehends Greenland, Lap- 

 land, the islands of Spitzbergen and Iceland, and a con- 

 siderable part of Norway, Sweden, and Northern Russia. 

 The intense cold of these regions, being highly unfa- 

 vourable to animal life, renders the species very few. 

 There must be an exception, however, made in favour 

 of the marine tribes ofMollusca, and of the aquatic birds : 

 vast multitudes of both are regular visitants to these in- 

 hospitable shores ; the former class supplying food to the 

 latter. Among the quadrupeds, the Arctic foxes, wolves, 

 seals, and Polar bears, are well-known inhabitants. 

 Otho Fabricius mentions thirty-two species of Mam. 

 malia as natives of Greenland, nine of which are seals 

 and walruses ; and fifteen belong to the whale class ; thus 

 leaving but eight species of terrestrial quadrupeds. The 

 number of birds, including occasional visiters to Green- 

 land, are fifty-two ; among which, seven are rapaci- 

 ous, and only five belong to the warblers and finches; 

 the remainder, with the exception of the ptarmigan 

 (Lagopus rnutus), belong to the wading and swimming 

 orders, to whose nourishment and increase the Arctic 

 solitudes are highly favourable. 

 Nevertheless, the largest propor- 

 tion of these birds occur abund- 

 antly in southern latitudes; and 

 many extend even to Mexico, 

 Northern Asia, and the shores 

 of the Mediterranean. Those 

 species, in fact, which are con- 

 fined to the Arctic circle, are 

 remarkably few. The most 

 characteristic bird of Arctic 

 Europe is the great snowy owl 

 {Strix Nyctea L. fig. I.), which 

 extends its range over all the 

 regions bordering upon the north pole. 



