Mr. A. R. Wallace on the Ornithology of Ceram and Waigiou . 283 
p. 451), may be assumed to be nearly as follows, as far as we 
are at present acquainted with it:— 
Area in 
square miles. 
No. of species 
of Turdus. 
No. of sq. miles 
to eacli species. 
1. Palaearctic ..... 
12,500,000 
16 
780,000 
2. Indian. 
3,100,000 
15 
200,000 
3. ^Ethiopian. 
6,500,000 
.9 
722,000 
4. Australian. 
2,600,000 
5 
520,000 
5. Nearctic ...... 
5,500,000 
12 
458,000 
6. Neotropical. 
5,600,000 
27 
207,000 
The whole earth . . 
35,800,000 
84 
426,000 
Whence it plainly appears that the genus has attained its greatest 
degree of development in South America and India, and that 
the Palsearctic and ^Ethiopian areas are comparatively very poor 
in their number of species. 
XXIX.— On the Ornithology of Ceram and Waigiou . 
By Alfred R. Wallace. 
(Plate IX.) 
Ever since I arrived in the Moluccan seas (now four years ago), 
I have been repeatedly told, “if you want fine birds, go to Ceram 
and the same idea appears to prevail in Europe, for my corre¬ 
spondent writes me, “ Mr. Gould and Mr. Gray both say the 
birds of Ceram are very fine” 
With such encouragement, it was with great expectations I 
started, in October 1859, for the south-western part of the island. 
What was my surprise to find one bird very plentiful that was 
not to be found in Amboyna, and only one , namely the Tropi- 
dorhynchus subcornutus , Temm. ! There was absolutely nothing 
else; and the best birds of Amboyna, as Tanysiptera dea and Lo- 
rius domicella, were so scarce that I could not get a specimen of 
either of them. I changed my locality—I went into the very 
centre of the island; but still nothing new, and birds in general 
scarcer and scarcer. At last, however, after great exertions, I did 
get two more species new to me, Eudynamys ransomi and Corvus 
violaceus; and one, I believe, new to science, and very interesting 
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