440 
ZOOLOGICAL G EOGRAPHY. 
[PART III. 
the left is a bandicoot ( Peramelcs gunnii). These are delicate little 
animals allied to the kangaroos ; and they are found in all parts of 
Australia, and Tasmania, to which latter country this species 
is confined. On the right is the wombat ( Phastcolomys ivombat ), 
a root-eating marsupial, with large incisor teeth like those of our 
rodents. They inhabit south-east Australia and Tasmania. In 
the foreground is the porcupine ant-eater (Echidna sctosa), belong- 
ing to a distinct order of mammalia, Monotremata, of which the 
only other member is the duck-billed Ornithorhynchus. These 
animals are, however, more nearly allied to the marsupials, than 
to the insectivora or edentata of the rest of the world, which in 
some respects they resemble. An allied species (Echidna hystrix) 
inhabits south-east Australia. 
Birds . — Australia (with Tasmania) possesses about G 30 species 
of birds, of which 485 are land-birds. Not more than about one- 
twentieth of these are found elsewhere, so that it has a larger 
proportion of endemic species than any other sub-region on the 
globe. These birds are divided among the several orders as 
follows : 
Passeres ... . 
.. 306 
Accipitres ... 
... 36 
Picarife 
41 
Grail® 
... 77 
Psittaci 
60 
Anseres 
... 65 
Columbia 
. 24 
St.ruthioncs 
3 
Gallic® 
. 15 
The Psittaci, we see, are very richly represented, while the 
Picariae are comparatively few ; and the Columbse are scarce 
as compared with their abundance in the Austro-Malay sub- 
region. 
Birds seem to be very evenly distributed over all Australia ; 
comparatively few genera of importance being locally re- 
stricted. In the eastern districts alone, we find Origma , 
and Orthonyx (Sylviidoe) ; Sericulus and Ptilorhynchus (Para- 
diseidae); Leucosarcia (Columbidae) ; and Talegalla (Megapodiidae). 
Nectarinia, Pitta, Ptilorhis, Chlamydodcra , and tiphecotheres, 
range from the north down the east coasts. Nanodes (Psittacidae), 
and Lipoa (Megapodiidae), are southern forms, the first extending 
