208 



NATURAL ni STORY 



[chap. XIV. 



forms tban the other islands, would point them out as of 

 conipanitivc'ly recent origin, A wide arm of the sea pro- 

 hably occupied their place at tlie time wlieu Timor was in 

 the closest proximity to Austmlia ; and as the suhten-anean 

 fires were slowly piling up the now fertile islauds of Bali 

 and liombock, the northern shores of Australia %voukl be 

 sinking beneath the ocean. Some such changes as have 

 been here indicated, enable us to understand hew it 

 happens, that though the birds of this group ax^ on the 

 whole almost as much Indian as Australian, yet t lie species 

 which are peculiar to the group are mostly Australian in 

 character ; and also why such a lai^e number of common 

 Indian forms which extend through Java to Bali, should 

 not have transmitted a single representative to the islands 

 fm-ther east. 



The Mammalia of Timor as well as those of the other 

 islands of the group are exceethngly scanty, with the 

 exception of bats. These last are tolerably abundant, and 

 no doubt many more remain to be discovered, Out of 

 fifteen species known from Timor, nine ai'e found also in 

 Java, or the islands west of it ; three are Moluccan spe- 

 cies, most of which are also foimd in Australia, and the 

 rest are peculiar to Timor, 



The land mammals are only seven in number, as follows: 

 1. The common monkey, Macacus cynomolgus, which is 

 found in all the Indo-Mnlayan islands, and has spread 

 froni Java through Bali and Lomhoek to Timor. This 

 species is very frequent on the banks of rivers, and may 

 have been conveyed from island to island on trees carried 

 down by Hoods. 2. Pamdoxunis fasciatus ; a civet eat, 

 very common over a large part of the Archipelago. 

 3. Felis megalotis ; a tiger cat. said to be peculiar to Timor, 

 where it exists only in the interior^ and is very rare. Its 

 nearest allies are in Java. 4, Cervus timoriensis ; a deer, 

 closely allied to the Javan and Moluccan species, if dis- 

 tinct 5. A wild pig, Sns tunoriensis ; perhaps the same 

 as sonie of the Moluccan species. G. A shrew mouse, Sorex 

 tenuis ; supposed to be pecuHar to Timor. 7. An Eastern 

 opossum, Cuscus orientalis; found also in the Moluccas, 

 ii' not a distinct species. 



The fact that not one of these species is Australian, or 



