CHAP. XV.] 
THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
303 
expected, chiefly with Australia and the Pacific Islands ; but they 
exhibit in the buzzard, one of the owls, and perhaps in some of 
the DrepanididsB, slight indications of very rare or very remote 
communication with America. The amount of speciality is, 
however, wonderful, far exceeding that of any other islands ; the 
only approach to it being made by New Zealand and Madagascar, 
which have a much more varied bird fauna and a smaller 'pro- 
portionate number of peculiar genera. These facts undoubtedly 
indicate an immense antiquity for this group of islands, or the 
vicinity of some very ancient land (now submerged), from which 
some portion of their peculiar fauna might be derived. 
Reptiles . — The only other vertebrate animals are two lizards. 
One of these is a very widespread species, Ablepharus pacilo- 
pleurus, said by Dr. Gunther to be found in Timor, Australia, 
the Samoa Islands, and the Sandwich Islands. It seems 
hardly likely that such a range can be due to natural causes. 
The other is said to form a peculiar genus of geckoes, but both 
its locality and affinities appear to be somewhat doubtful. 
Land-shells . — The only other group of animals which has 
been carefully studied, and which presents features of especial 
interest, are the land-shells. These are very numerous, about 
thirty genera, and between three and four hundred species having 
been described ; and it is remarkable that this single group con- 
tains as many species of land-shells as all the other Polynesian 
Islands from the Pelew Islands and Samoa to the Marquesas. All 
the species are peculiar, and about three-fourths of the whole 
belong to peculiar genera, fourteen of which constitute the sub- 
family Achatinellinse, entirely confined to this group’ of islands 
and constituting its most distinguishing feature. Thirteen genera 
(comprising sixty-four species) are found also in the other Poly- 
nesian Islands, but three genera of Auriculidse (Plecotrema, 
Pedipes, and Blauneria) are not found in the Pacific, but in- 
habit — the former genus Australia, China, Bourbon, and Cuba, 
the two latter the West Indian Islands. Another remarkable 
peculiarity of these islands is the small number' of Opercu- 
lata, which are represented by only one genus and five species, 
while the other Pacific Islands have twenty genera and 115 
species, or more than half the number of the Inoperculata. 
