CHAP. XII.] 
TIIE ORIENTAL REGION. 
337 
animals whose body is not larger than a rabbit’s, thence often 
called " mouse-deer.” Tliey were formerly classed with the 
" musk-deer,” owing to their similar tusk-like upper canines ; 
but their anatomy shows them to form quite'a distinct family, 
having more resemblance to the camels. On the branch above 
is the curious feather- tailed Tree-Shrew ( Ptilocerus lowii), a small 
insectivorous animal altogether peculiar to Borneo. Above this 
is the strange little Tarsier ( Tarskis spectrum), one of the lemurs 
confined to the Malay islands, but so distinct from all others as 
to constitute a separate family. The other small animals are 
the Flying Lemurs ( Galceopithecus volans) formerly classed with 
the lemurs, but now considered to belong to the insectivora. 
They have a very large expansion of the skin connecting the 
fore and hind limbs and tail, and are able to take long flights 
from one tree to another, and even to rise over obstacles in their 
course by the elevatory power of the tail-membrane. They 
feed chiefly on leaves, and have a very soft and beautifully 
marbled fur. 
In the distance is the Malayan tapir ( Tapirus indicus ), a 
representative of a group of animals now confined to the larger 
Malay islands and tropical America, but which once ranged 
over the greater part of temperate Europe. 
Birds . — Owing to several of the families consisting of very 
obscure and closely allied species, which have never been criti- 
cally examined and compared by a competent ornithologist, 
the number of birds inhabiting this sub-region is uncertain. 
From the best available materials there appear to be somewhat 
less than 650 species of land-birds actually known, or exclud- 
ing the Philippine Islands somewhat less than 600. The 
larger part of these are peculiar species, but mostly allied to 
those of Indo-China ; 36 of the genera, as already stated, being 
common to these two sub-regions. There are, however, no less 
than 46 genera which are peculiarly or wholly Indo Malayan 
and, in many cases, have no close affinity with other Oriental 
groups. These peculiar genera are as follows: — Twialia, Mala- 
copteron , Macronus , Napothera, Turdimts, and Trichixos — genera 
z 
