GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 417 



Palaardic Birds (Aves). — Among the genera which are 

 limited to this region are some of those including a number of 

 our familiar British forms, e.o-. Grasshopper Warbler {Lociistella), 

 Robin Redbreast {Eri^haciis), "Bearded Tit" or Reedling 

 {Panurus), Long -tailed Tit {Acredu/a), Buntings {Emberizd), 

 Chaffinch {Frmgi/ld), Bullfinch {Pyrrhuld), Jay {Garrulus), Nut- 

 cracker {Nucifi'agd), and Partridge {Perdix). Ordinary Pheasants 

 {Phasianus) and some of their more ornamental relatives are 

 also very characteristic Palaearctic forms. Some other British 

 birds belong to holarctic genera, e.g. Red Grouse and Ptarmigan 

 {Lagoptis), Capercailzie {Tetrad), Divers {Colymbzis), Razor- Bills 

 (A/ca), Guillemots (C/ria), and Puffins {Fraierculd). 



Palcearctic Reptiles [Reptilid). — A solitary species of Alli- 

 gator {Alligator Sinensis) is native to South China. Our 

 indigenous Blind -Worm represents a purely Palaearctic genus 

 {Angiiis) of limbless lizards, while that [Lacerta] which includes 

 the Sand -Lizard, Green -Lizard, and Wall -Lizard is hardly 

 represented outside the region. 



Palcsarctic Amphibians {Amphibia). — Peculiar to this region 

 are the genera including the Fire -bellied Toads {Bombitiator), 

 that form {Alytes) in which the male carries about the egg- 

 masses, and the Salamanders {Salamandrd). It is also inter- 

 esting to notice that the great majority of Tailed Amphibians 

 {Urodela) are limited to the Northern Hemisphere. 



PalcBarctic Fishes {Pisces). — Among British freshwater fishes, 

 Carp and Tench may be mentioned as representing genera 

 {Cyprinus and Tinea) peculiar to the region, as also are the Gold- 

 fishes, &c. {Carassius), of China and Japan. There are also some 

 families of fishes which are very characteristic of the Northern 

 Hemisphere, e.g. those containing Pikes {Esocid^), Sticklebacks 

 {Gasterosteidce), and Salmon {SalmonidcE). Most of the curious 

 archaic Ganoids {Ganoidei) also belong to the same hemisphere. 

 These forms (see vol. i, p. 266) present a good example of a 

 discontinuous area of distribution to be explained in the same 

 way as that of the Lung-Fishes (see p. 266). 



Palcsarctic Insects {Insecta). — Perhaps the most striking 

 feature of the region is the great abundance of predaceous 

 Ground-Beetles {Carabidce) which it possesses, regarding which 

 Wallace says (in Island Life) that "... the large and handsome 

 genus Carabus, with its allies Procerus and Procrustes, contain- 



