16 



ISLAND LIFE 



PART I 



In Asia, Palestine affords some examples of birds of very 

 restricted range — a beautiful sun-bird {Nedarinca osea) a 

 peculiar starling (Amydrus tristramii) and some others, 

 being almost or quite confined to the warmer portions of 

 the valley of the Jordan. In the Himalayas there are 

 numbers of birds which have very restricted ranges, but 

 those of the Neilgherries are perhaps better known, 

 several species of laughing thrushes and some other birds 

 being found only on the summits of these mountains. 

 The most wonderfully restricted ranges are, however, to be 

 found among the humming-birds of tropical America. 

 The great volcanic peaks of Chimborazo and Pichincha 

 have each a peculiar species of humming-bird confined to a 

 belt just below the limits of perpetual snow, while the 

 extinct volcano of Chiriqui in Veragua has a species con- 

 fined to its wooded crater. One of the most strange and 

 beautiful of the humming-birds {Loddigcsia mirabilis) was 

 obtained once only, more than forty years ago, near 

 Chachapoyas in the Andes of northern Peru ; and though 

 Mr. Gould sent many drawings of the bird to people visiting 

 the district and for many years offered a high reward for a 

 specimen, no other has ever been seen ! ^ 



The above details will sufhciently explain what is meant 

 by the " specific area " or range of a species. The very 

 wide and very narrow ranges are exceptional, the great 

 majority of species both of mammals and birds ranging 

 over moderately wide areas, which present no striking 

 contrasts in climate and physical conditions. Thus a large 

 proportion of European birds range over the whole conti- 

 nent in an east and west direction, but considerable 

 numbers are restricted either to the northern or the 

 southern half. In Africa some species range over all the 

 continent south of the desert, while large numbers are 

 restricted to the equatorial forests, or to the upland 

 plains. In North America, if we exclude the tropical and 

 the arctic portions, a considerable number of species range 

 over all the temperate parts of the continent, while still 



^ Since these lines were written, a fine series of specimens of this rare 

 humming-bird has been obtained from the same locality. (See Proc. Zool. 

 Soc 1881, pp. 827-834.) 



