CHAP. III.] 
ZOOLOGICAL LEGIONS. 
45 
Gallus, comprising the true jungle-fowl, one of which, Gallus 
bankiva, is found from the Himalayas and Central India, to 
Malacca, Java, and even eastward to Timor, and is the un- 
doubted origin of almost all our domestic poultry. Southern 
India and Ceylon each possess distinct species of jungle-fowl, 
and a third very handsome green bird (Gallus seneus) inhabits 
Java. 
Keptiles are as abundant as in Africa, but they present no 
well-known groups which can be considered as specially cha- 
racteristic. Among insects we may notice the magnificent 
golden and green Papilionidae of various genera as being un- 
equalled in the world ; while the great Atlas moth is probably 
the most gigantic of Lepidoptera, being sometimes ten inches 
across the wings, which are also very broad. Among the beetles 
the strange flat-bodied Malayan mormolyce is the largest of all 
the Carabidae, while the catoxantha is equally a giant among 
the Buprestidae. On the whole, the insects of this region 
probably surpass those of any other part of the world, except 
South America, in size, variety, and beauty. 
Definition and Characteristic Groups of the Australian 
Region . — The Australian region is so well marked off from 
the Oriental, as well as from all other parts of the world, by 
zoological peculiarities, that we need not take up much time in 
describing it, especially as some of its component islands will 
come under review at a subsequent stage of our work. Its 
most important portions are Australia and New Guinea, but 
it also includes all the Malayan and Pacific Islands to the 
east of Borneo, Java, and Bali, the Oriental region termi- 
nating with the submarine bank on which those islands are 
situated. The island of Celebes is included in this region 
from a balance of considerations, but it almost equally well 
belongs to the Oriental, and must be left out of the account 
in our general sketch of the zoological features of the Austra- 
lian region. 
The great feature of the Australian region is the almost total 
absence of all the forms of mammalia which abound in the 
rest of the world, their place being supplied by a great variety 
of Marsupials. In Australia and New Guinea there are no 
