40 



ISLAND LIFE. 



[part 



the temperate and tropical faunas are here so intermingled that 

 to draw any exact parting line is impossible. The two faunas 

 are, however, very distinct. In and above the pine woods there 

 are abundance of warblers of northern genera, with wrens, 

 numerous titmice, and a great variety of buntings, grosbeaks, 

 bullfinches, and rosefinches, all more or less nearly allied to the 

 birds of Europe and Northern Asia ; while a little lower down 

 we meet with a host of peculiar birds allied to those of tropical 

 Asia and the Malay Islands, but often of distinct genera. There 

 can be no doubt, therefore, of the existence here of a pretty 

 sharp line of demarcation between the temperate and tropical 

 faunas, though this line will be so irregular, owing to the com- 

 plex system of valleys and ridges, that in our present ignorance of 

 much of the country it cannot be marked in detail on any map. 



Further east in China it is still more difficult to determine 

 the limits of the region, owing to the great intermixture of 

 migrating birds; tropical forms passing northwards in summer 

 as far as the Amoor river, while the northern forms visit every 

 part of China in winter. From what we know, however, of the 

 distribution of some of the more typical northern and southern 

 species, we are able to fix the limits of the Palsearctic region 

 a little south of Shanghae on the coast. Several tropical genera 

 come as far as Ningpo or even Shanghae, but rarely beyond ; 

 while in Formosa and Amoy tropical forms predominate. Such 

 decidedly northern forms as bullfinches and hawfinches are found 

 at Shanghae ; hence we may commence the boundary line on 

 the coast between Shanghae and Ningpo, but inland it probably 

 bends a little southward, and then northward to the mountains 

 and valleys of West China and East Thibet in about 32° N. 

 latitude; where, at Moupin, a French missionary, Pere David, 

 made extensive collections showing this district to be at the 

 junction of the tropical and temperate faunas. Japan, as a 

 whole, is decidedly Palgearctic, although its extreme southern 

 portion, owing to its mild insular climate and evergreen vege- 

 tation, gives shelter to a number of tropical forms. 



Characteristic features of the Palceardic Itegion. — Having thus 

 demonstrated the unity of the Palsearctic region by tracing out 

 the distribution of a large proportion of its mammalia and birds, 



