78 
ZOOLOGICAL LITERATUEE. 
very closely allied^ and their extended distribution has probably 
been of not very ancient date; human agency^ indeed^ may have 
aided it. 
The entii’e number of Pigeons known to exist is about three 
hundred: of these the Malay Archipelago already counts one 
hundred and eighteen^ while only twenty-eight are found in 
India, twenty-three in Australia, less than forty in Africa, and 
not more than eighty in the whole of America. These facts 
show that the Malay Archipelago is preeminently the metro- 
polis of the ColumbcB ; but there they are very unequally distri- 
buted; for while the Indo-Malayan subregion contains nine 
genera and forty-three species, the Austro-Malayan has fifteen 
genera and eighty-four species. Here, then, is the focus of the 
order; and the condensation is carried to the utmost in New 
Guinea, in which, though only a few points on its coast have 
been visited, twenty-five species have been obtained. 
Mr. Wallace therefore believes that the distribution of the 
Columbm fully confirms the results furnished by the study of 
other groups of birds, mammals, and insects, the chief of which 
is that the Malay Archipelago is not one of the primary divi- 
sions of the globe, and that while one half belongs to the 
Indian region the other forms part of the Australian. 
We have here only given a brief sketch of the introduction to 
this paper, touching upon those points which seem to have a 
general interest. The remainder will be found noticed under 
the head Columbae.^^ 
Wallace, Alfred R. Descriptions of New Birds from the 
Malay Archipelago. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, pp. 474-481, 
pis. xxviii., xxix. 
The species are named Accipiter (equatorialis, A. muelleriy 
Gerygone neglectay G. palpebrosay Muscicapa heliantheay Cyornis 
rufigula, C. rufifronSy Rhipidura longicaudUy R. torrida (figured 
pi. xxviii.), R. cineretty Prionochilus aureolimbatus (figured pi. 
xxix. fig. 1), Pachycephala brunneay Picrurus leucopSy Ptilotis 
rostrataj Nectarinia flavostriata (figured pi. xxix. fig. 2), N. 
porphyrolcemay N. grayiy Mimia tristissimay Turnix rufilatuSj 
Porzana moluccanay and P. rufigenis, 
NEARCTIC REGION. 
Allen, J. A. Catalogue of Birds found at Springfield, Mass., 
with Notes on their Migrations, Habits, &c., together with 
a List of those Birds found in the State not yet observed 
at Springfield. Proc. Essex Instit. iv. p. 48. 
This paper we have not seen. We quote its title from the list 
of publications printed by the Institute. 
