Geographical 
Reference to a map is a very wise step as a preiiminary to 
a study of any branch of natural historj' for the veriest begin- 
ner in such matters must realise that the cliaracter of the fauna 
of a country depends largely on its geog^raphical position. 
In our own corner of the world here m south-eastern Asia 
certain things are very difficult to explain. Elephants for 
instance are only found truly wild in the ^lalay Peninsula and 
Sumatra, likewise the tapir. Borneo and Sumatra share that 
g^reat anthropoid ape the Orang^ utan; tigers are common to 
the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Java but are not fotmd in 
Borneo and the nearest relatives of various common Javanese 
birds turn tip in Indo-China and Burma I The birds of Great 
Britain and Japan, countries separated by the width of Europe 
and Asia are much y e nearly allied than are those of Borneo 
and New Guinea, two islands only about eight hundred miles 
apart, " • 
Attempts to di^Hde the worid into definite "zoological 
regions" or "realms" were made as early as the end of the 
eighteenth century, but it was not until 1857 that the late 
P. L. Sclater, at one time Secretar>' of the Zoological Society 
of London, outlined the six regions which are still accepted 
as more or less satisfactory by naturalists. Singapore is in 
the "Indian" or "Oriental" Region and Wallace notes that 
this small, compact but rich and varied area ip characterised by 
the possession of many peculiar families and genera of land 
birds. Singapore belongs to the Malaysian Sub-region 
of the Ont^ntal Region, This smaller division includes 
the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Palawan, Java, 
■Bali and many adjacent small islands. With the possible 
exception of Ja\ a, Bali and Palawan which seem to have been 
longest isolated within it we find that all over this sub-region 
the animals of the lowlands are very similar and there arc no 
marked differences in the garden birds of any part of thi^ area. 
The birds of the mountains show a strong relationship to those 
of the Himalayas. 
