CHAP, lil.] 



ZOOLOGICAL EEGIONS. 



41 



it only remains to show how far it is characterised by peculiar 

 groups such as genera and families, and to say a few words on 

 the lower forms of life which prevail in it. 



Taking first the mammalia, we find this region is distinguished 

 by its possession of the entire family of Talpidse or moles, 

 consisting of eight genera and sixteen species, all of which are con- 

 fined to it except one which is found in North-west America, and 

 two which extend to Assam and Formosa. Among carnivorous 

 animals the lynxes (nine species) and the badgers (two species) 

 are peculiar to it in the old world, while in the new the lynxes 

 are found only in the colder regions of North America. It has 

 six peculiar genera (with seven species) of deer ; seven peculiar 

 genera of Bovidse, chiefly antelopes ; while the entire group of 

 goats and sheep, comprising twenty-two species, is almost confined 

 to it, one species only occurring in the Rocky Mountains of North 

 America and another in the Neilgherries of Southern India. 

 Among the rodents there are nine genera, with twenty-seven 

 species wholly confined to it, while several others, as the voles, 

 the dormice, and the pikas, have only a few species elsewhere. 



In birds there are a large number of peculiar genera of 

 which we need only mention a few of the more important, as 

 the grasshopper-warblers (Locustella) with seven species, the 

 Accentors with twelve species, and about a dozen other genera 

 of warblers, including the robins; the bearded titmouse and 

 several allied genera ; the long-tailed titmice forming the genus 

 Acredula ; the magpies, choughs, and nutcrackers ; a host of 

 finches, among which the bullfinches (Pyrrhula) and the buntings 

 (Emberiza) are the most important. The true pheasants 

 (Phasianus) are wholly Palsearctic, except one species in For- 

 mosa, as are several genera of wading birds. Though the 

 reptiles of cold countries are few as compared with those of the 

 tropics, the Palasarctic region in its warmer portions has a 

 considerable number, and among these are many which are 

 peculiar to it. Such are two genera of snakes, seven of lizards, 

 eight of frogs and toads, and eight of newts and salamanders ; 

 while of fresh-water fishes there are about twenty peculiar 

 genera. Among insects we may mention the elegant Apollo 

 butterflies of the Alps as forming a peculiar genus (Parnassius), 



