40 
ISLAND LIFE. 
[part i. 
the temperate and tropical faunas are here so intermingled that 
to draw any exact parting line is impossible. The two faunas 
are, however, very distinct. In and above the pine woods there 
are abundance of warblers of northern genera,, with wrens, 
numerous titmice, and a great variety of buntings, grosbeaks, 
bullfinches, and rosefinches, all more or less nearly allied to the 
birds of Europe and Northern Asia; while a little lower down 
we meet with a host of peculiar birds allied to those of tropical 
Asia and the Malay Islands, but often of distinct genera. There 
can be no doubt, therefore, of the existence here of a pretty 
sharp line of demarcation between the temperate and tropical 
faunas, though this line will be so irregular, owing to the com- 
plex system of valleys and ridges, that in our present ignorance of 
much of the country it cannot be marked in detail on any map. 
Further east in China it is still more difficult to determine 
the limits of the region, owing to the great intermixture of 
migrating birds; tropical forms passing northwards in summer 
as far as the Amoor river, while the northern forms visit every 
part of China in winter. From what we know, however, of the 
distribution of some of the more typical northern and southern 
species, we are able to fix the limits of the Palsearctic region 
a little south of Shanghae on the coast. Several tropical genera 
come as far as Ningpo or even Shanghae, but rarely beyond ;. 
while in Formosa and Amoy tropical forms predominate. Such 
decidedly northern forms as bullfinches and hawfinches are found 
at Shanghae ; hence we may commence the boundary line on 
the coast between Shanghae and Ningpo, but inland it probably 
bends a little southward, and then northward to the mountains 
and valleys of West China and East Thibet in about 32° N. 
latitude; where, at Moupin, a French missionary, Pere David, 
made extensive collections showing this district to be at the 
junction of the tropical and temperate faunas. Japan, as a 
whole, is decidedly Palsearctic, although its extreme southern 
portion, owing to its mild insular climate and evergreen vege- 
tation, gives shelter to a number of tropical forms. 
Characteristic features of the Palcea/rctic Region . — Having thus 
demonstrated the unity of the Palaearctic region by tracing out 
the distribution of a large proportion of its mammalia and birds, 
