Xll 



(Estrelata, one Alca (besides Alca impennis, which is now extinct, and which used to occur also 

 off the American coasts), two species of Lomvia, one TJria, one Mergulus, and one Fratercula 

 common to the coasts of the Nearctic and Palsearctic Regions. 



Of the Colymbidse, Colymbus glacialis, C. arcticus, and C. septentrionalis are all common to 

 both continents ; and of the Podicipitidse, two of the five Western Palsearctic species, viz. 

 Podiceps griseigena and P. auritus, are found in the Nearctic Eegion also. 



On the islands of this subregion there are, as might be anticipated, several local forms. On 

 Spitzbergen a peculiar form of Ptarmigan {Lagopus hemileucurus) is found. Troglodytes borealis, 

 a distinct form of our Wren, inhabits the Fseroe Islands and Iceland ; and the Starling of the 

 Fseroe Isles, though not specifically separable from the common Starling, almost always has a 

 larger and stouter bill. Great Britain possesses two species which do not occur elsewhere, 

 Paras britannicus and Lagopus scoticus ; and a third species, Acredula rosea, which is common 

 and resident on our islands, has a very restricted range on the continent of Europe. Not a few 

 species straggle westward into this subregion from the Siberian subregion, as for instance 

 amongst the Turdinse T. naumanni, T. dubius, T. rwficollis, T. obscurus, T. varius, T. atrigu- 

 laris, amongst the Sylviinse Calliope camtschatkensis, Nemura cycmura, amongst the Phyllo- 

 scopinse Phylloscopus superciliaris, P. tristis, and P. plumbeitarsus — Phylloscopus borealis, a 

 common Eastern Palsearctic species, being a summer resident in the eastern portion of the 

 present subregion, as are also Acrocephalus agricola, A. dumetorum, Motacilla citreola, and 

 Anthus gustavi. Of the Emberizinse Emberiza chrysophrys and E. leucocephala are stragglers 

 from the Eastern Palaearctic Region, as are also Acanthyllis caudacuta, Bernicla rujicollis, 

 Querguedula formosa, Q. falcata, Turtur orientalis, Syrrhaptes paradoxus, Grus leucogeranus, 

 Otis macgueeni, and Charadrius fulvus. 



Subregion II. of the Western Palaearctic Region, the so-called Mediterranean subregion, 



includes all the countries south of the Pyrenees, Alps, Balkans, and Caucasus range, a broad 



strip of North Africa extending to the first cataract of the Nile, and the Azores, Madeira, and 



Canary Islands. The climate in this subregion is much warmer than it is in Subregion I., and 



the entire country much more fertile ; therefore the avifauna is more varied, and there are many 



stragglers from the neighbouring Ethiopian Region. The representative genera are tolerably 



numerous; and amongst them I may enumerate Cossypha, Aedon, Lusciniola, Cettia, Cisticola, 



Drymoeca, Argya, JEgithalus, Pycnonotus, TelepJionus, Erythrospiza, CertMlauda, Calandrella, 



Rhamphocorys, Pastor, Halcyon, Ceryle, Merops, Coccystes, Scops, Gyps, Vultur, Neophron, 



Nisaetus, Pelecanus, Ibis, Plegadis, Phamicopterus, Erismatura, Pterocles, Phasianus, Ammo- 



perdix, Francolinus, Tetraogallus, Turnix, Porphyrio, Pluvianus, Chettusia, and Hoplopterus, 



many of these being largely represented in the Ethiopian and Indian Regions also. Owing 



to the mildness of the climate in this subregion, most of our summer migrants and many of the 



Central-European summer residents retire into its southern districts to pass the winter. 



A noteworthy peculiarity of the present subregion is the presence, in its eastern portion, of 



