The geographical distribution of animals, with a study of the relations ...

chap, xii.] THE ORIENTAL REGION. 329adapted to local conditions to be expelled ; so that it is amongthese groups alone that we find any considerable number, of whatare probably the remains of the ancient fauna of a now submergedsouthern continent.777. Himalayan or Indo-Chinese Suh-region.This, which is probably the richest of allthe sub-regions, andperhaps one of the richest of all tracts of equal extent on theface of the globe, is essentially a forest-covered, mountainouscountry, mostly within the tropics, but on its northern marginextending some degrees beyond it, and rising in a continuousmountain range till it meets and intercalates with the Manchuriansub-division of the Palsearetic region. The peculiarmammalia, birds and insects of this sub-region begin to appearat the very foot of the Himalayas, but Dr. Gunther has shownthat many of the reptiles characteristic of the plains of Indiaare found to a height of from 2,000 to 4,000 feet.In Sikhim, which may be taken as a typical example of theHimalayan portion of the sub-region, it seems to extend to analtitude of little less than 10,000 feet, that being the limit of thecharacteristic Timaliidse or babbling thrushes ;while the equallycharacteristic Pycnonotidse, or bulbuls, and Treronidse, or thickbilledfruit-pigeons, do not, according to Mr. Blanford, reachquite so high. We may perhaps take 9,000 feet as a goodapproximation over a large part of the Himalayan range; butit is evidently not possible to define the line with any greatprecision. Westward, the sub-region extends in diminishingbreadth, till it terminates in or near Cashmere, where the faunaof the plains of India almost meets that of the Palaearcticregion, at a moderate elevation. Eastward, it reaches into EastThibet and North-westChina, where Pere David has found alarge number of the peculiar types of the Eastern Himalayas.fauna, in general features identical, extends over Burmah andSiam to South China; mingling with the Palaearctic fauna inthe mountains south of the Yang-tse-kiang river, and withthat of Indo-Malaya in Tenasserim, and to a lesser extent inSouthern Siam and Cochin China.Yol. I.—23A