Mr. Wallace on the Distribution of Passerine Birds

Abstract

IN Mr. Wallace's recently-published work on Geographical Distribution, in more than one place the results arrived at from an inspection of his elaborate tables of genera and families do not agree with the numbers he uses in considering the general bearing of the facts adduced. Thus in his “General Remarks on the Distribution of the Passeres,” vol. ii. pp. 299-302, he says (I.c. p. 300): “The families that are confined to single regions are not very numerous, except in the case of the Neotropical region, which has five, the Australian has only three, the Oriental one, Ethiopian one, and the other regions have no peculiar families.” Adopting his tables of the families of the Passeres, I find the numbers should be really as follows:—