157 
Ornithology of Northern Africa. 
reached the Bermudas—a distance of 800 miles, — it is not to be 
wondered at if European colonists of this class should have pre¬ 
ceded even the French adventurers. 
What mammals then do we find really common to the op¬ 
posite shores of the Mediterranean? Only the following:— 
Felis catus (Wild Cat), Putorius boccamela, Lutra vulgaris (the 
Otter), Sus scrofa (W r ild Boar, world-wide in its distribution), 
Sorex araneus and S. fodiens, Mus rattus, M. sylvaticus, M. mus - 
cuius, Hystrix cristata, and Lepus mediterraneus —eleven in all. 
It is to he observed, that no mole mines, no badger skulks, no 
wolf roams in Barbary, while there are seventeen carnivorous 
animals, and among them the Lion and the Leopard, which 
roar within hearing of the coasts of the Mediterranean, and yet 
have no congeners in Europe. As far as I have been able to 
ascertain, the forms of reptilian life are as distinct from those 
of Europe and as closely united with the African types as the 
mammiferous races; but I am not aware that the collections 
made by le Capitaine Dastugue, by myself, and others, have yet 
been submitted to the scrutiny of herpetologists, and the speci¬ 
mens which have been hitherto reported on in Paris have been 
chiefly collected only on the coasts. How the singular contrast 
between the mammalian dissimilarity and the general zoological 
similarity is to be explained, remains to be unfolded by the 
coming f Philosophic Naturalist/ foretold by Mr. Breeds Re¬ 
viewer above alluded to. Unless the progenitors of the carni¬ 
vores can have crossed the Great Desert from the south, which 
in its present state I should conceive scarcely possible, I dare 
offer no conjecture. 
But when we come to the ornithology of North Africa, then 
it is that the zoological union with Europe is most complete. 
The first work with which I am acquainted on the Algerian 
birds is the brochure of M. Alfr. Malherbe, published at Metz 
in 1846. Of the 191 species in this catalogue, 186 are common 
to Europe; one ( Cuculus abyssinicus) is incorrectly inserted, and 
four are distinct species— Pica mauritanica , described by M. Mal¬ 
herbe in 1843; Parus ledouci , Malh. 1842; Parus cceruleanus, 
Malh. 1842; and Picus numidicus, Malh. 1842. This latter has 
since, it is said, been found to inhabit Spain. 
