XXXIX 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The LoriidcB do not extend beyond 10° N. and 45° S. latitude, or west of 115° E. longitude 

 or east of 145° ~W. longitude. 



Their extreme northern habitats consist of the Caroline, "Washington, and Fanning 

 Islands, their furthest extension south is to Tasmania ; their most western dwelling-place is the 

 island of Sumbawa, while their extreme limit eastwards is formed by the Marquesas Islands. 



They thus range over what is generally known as " the Australian region " (save New 

 Zealand, Lord Howe's, Norfolk, Macquarie, Kermadec, and Norfolk Islands) and over a very 

 large part of Polynesia. 



As all the Parrots, except a few species, are tropical birds, we may divide the world's 

 surface with respect to them into nine regions : — (1) Asiatic, i. e. Hindostan, Cbina, Ceylon, 

 the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the Malay Archipelago as far as Bali and Lombok. 

 (2) African, i. e. Africa south of the Sahara, with Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius, 

 Reunion, Rodriguez, and the Comoro Islands. (3) South American, that is America south of 

 the Isthmus of Panama. (4) North American, the land north of Panama. (5) Moluccan, by 

 which we mean not only the Moluccas but also Celebes, Halmahera, the islands between, 

 north, east, and south of them to the Sunda Islands, Timor, the Tenimber, Aru and Ke Islands, 

 and thence northwards to Salwatty, Batanta, and Waigiou. (6) Papuan, or New Guinea, 

 with the islands in Geelvink Bay. (7) Austro-Tasmanian, or Australia and Tasmania. 

 (8) Polynesian, in which we include the Caroline, Echiquier, New Britain, Louisiade, and 

 New Caledonian Islands, and thence eastwards to, and including, the Washington and Fanning 

 Islands, Samoa, the Society and the Marquesas Islands. (9) Zealanclian, or New Zealand, 

 with Lord Howe's, Norfolk, Macquarie, Kermadec, and Auckland Islands. 



Thus considered, the seventy-five species of Loriicla? are only inhabitants of the Moluccan, 

 Papuan, Australian, and Polynesian regions. But they do not by any means constitute the 

 only, or always the most numerous, Psittacine birds thereof. Thus the Moluccan region 

 contains 26 species of Lories, but it is also inhabited by about 46 kinds of Parrots which 

 are not Lories. The Austro-Tasmanian region has 8 species of Loriidce, but this is but a 

 very small proportion (but a seventh part) of the total number of kinds of Parrots there 

 found, for there are not less than 56 Australian species which do not belong to that family. 



