CHAP. IIV.J 



OF THE TIMOR GEOVi*. 



203 



(Ploceiis hypoxanthns), the black grasshopper thrush 

 (Copsychiie am«inus)i the ix>sy harl>et (llegaliuiiia rosea), 

 the MaJay oriolo (Oriohis hursliekli), the Java ground 

 starling (Stumopastor jaUa), and the Javanese three-toed 

 woodpecker (Chrysonotus tiga). Oa crossing over to 

 Lombock, separated from Bali by a strait less than twenty 

 miles wide, 1 naturally expected to meet with some of 

 these birds again ; but during a stay there of three months 

 I never saw one of them, but found a totally dillerent set 

 of species, most of which were utterly unkuowu not only in 

 Java, but also in Borneo, Sumatra, and Malacca. For ex- 

 ample, among the commonest birds in Lombock were white 

 cockatoos and three species of Sfelipliagidie or honey- 

 suckerSj belonging to family groups which are entirely 

 absent from the western or Indo-Malayan region of the 

 Archipelago. On passing to ilores and Timor the dis- 

 tinctness from the Javant'se productions increases, and we 

 find that these islands form a natural group, whose lards 

 are related to those of Java and Australia, but are quite 

 distinct from either. Besides my own collections in Lom- 

 bock and Timor, my assistant Mr* Allen made a good 

 collection in Flores ; and these, with a few species obtained 

 by the Dutch natumlists, enable us to form a very good idea 

 of the natural history of this group of islands, and to 

 derive therefrom some very interesting results. 



The number of birds known from these islands up to 

 this date, is, — G3 from Lombock, 86 from Floi-es, and 118 

 from Timor ; and from the whole group 188 species. Witli 

 the exception of two or three species which appear to have 

 been derived from the Moluccas, aU these birds can be 

 traced, either directly or by close allies, to Java on the one 

 side or to Austraha on the other ; although no less than 82 

 of them are found nowhere out of this small group of 

 islands. There is not, however, a single genus peculiar to 

 the group, or even one which is largely represented in it by 

 peculiar species ; and this Is a fact which indicates that the 

 fauna is strictly derivative, and that its origin does not go 

 back beyond one of the most recent geological epochs. Of 

 course there are a large number of species (such as most of 

 the waders, many of the raptorial birds, some of the king- 

 fishers, swallows, and a few others), which range so widely 



