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

394 ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY. [part hi.original habitat gives them a great advantage in the luxuriantislands of the Moluccas, to which they have spread. Therethey abound to a remarkable extent, and their eggs furnish aluxurious repast to the natives. They have also reached manyof the smallest islets, and have spread beyond the limitsof theregion to the Philippines, and North-Western Borneo, as wellas to the remote Nicobar Islands.The Platycercidse, or broad-tailed paroquets, are anotherwide-spread Australian group, of weak structure but gorgeouslycoloured, ranging from the Moluccas to New Zealand and theSociety Islands, and very characteristic of the region, to whichthey are strictly confined. The Cockatoos have not quite sowide a range, being confined to the Austro-Malayan and Australiansub-regions, while one species extends into the PhilippineIslands. The other two peculiar families are more restricted intheir range, and will be noticed under the sub-regions to whichthey respectively belong.Of the characteristic families, the Pachycephalidae, or thickheadedshrikes, are especially Australian, ranging over all theregion, except New Zealand ; while only a single species hasspread into the Oriental, and one of doubtful affinity to theEthiopian region. The Artamidae, or swallow-shrikes, are alsoalmost wholly confined to the region, one species only extendingto India. They range to the Fiji Islands on the east, but onlyto Tasmania on the south. These two families must be consideredas really peculiar to Australia. The Podargidae, or frogmouths—large,thick-billed goat- suckers—are strange birds veiycharacteristic of the Australian region, although they haverepresentatives in the Oriental and Neotropical regions. Campephagidae(caterpillar-shrikes) also abound, but they are fairlylepresented both in India and Africa.The Ploceidae, or weaverbirds,are the finches of Australia, and present a variety ofinteresting and beautiful forms.We now come to the kingfishers, a cosmopolitan family ofbirds, yet so largely developed in the Australian region as todeserve special notice. Two-thirds of all the genera are foundhere, and no less than 10 out of the 19 genera in the family are