Some Groups, However,
Such As The Aquatic Birds, The Waders, And The Birds Of Prey, Are
Great Wanderers; Other Groups Are Little Known Except To
Ornithologists.
I shall therefore refer chiefly to a few of the
best known and most remarkable families of birds as a sample of
the conclusions furnished by the entire class.
The birds of the Indo-Malay region have a close resemblance to
those of India; for though a very large proportion of the species
are quite distinct, there are only about fifteen peculiar genera,
and not a single family group confined to the former district.
If, however, we compare the islands with the Burmese, Siamese,
and Malayan countries, we shall find still less difference, and
shall be convinced that all are closely united by the bond of a
former union. In such well-known families as the woodpeckers,
parrots, trogons, barbets, kingfishers, pigeons, and pheasants,
we find some identical species spreading over all India, and as
far as Java and Borneo, while a very large proportion are common
to Sumatra and the Malay peninsula.
The force of these facts can only be appreciated when we come to
treat the islands of the Austro-Malay region, and show how
similar barriers have entirely prevented the passage of birds
from one island to another, so that out of at least three hundred
and fifty land birds inhabiting Java and Borneo, not more than
ten have passed eastward into Celebes. Yet the Straits of
Macassar are not nearly so wide as the Java sea, and at least a
hundred species are common to Borneo and Java.
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