The Tiger, It Is True, Is Found In Sumatra And Java,
But Not In Borneo.
But as this animal is known to swim well, it
may have found its way across the Straits of Sunda, or it may
have inhabited Java before it was separated from the mainland,
and from some unknown cause have ceased to exist in Borneo.
In Ornithology there is a little uncertainty owing to the birds
of Java and Sumatra being much better known than those of Borneo;
but the ancient separation of Java as an island is well
exhibited by the large number of its species which are not found
in any of the other islands. It possesses no less than seven
pigeons peculiar to itself, while Sumatra has only one. Of its
two parrots one extends into Borneo, but neither into Sumatra. Of
the fifteen species of woodpeckers inhabiting Sumatra only four
reach Java, while eight of them are found in Borneo and twelve in
the Malay peninsula. The two Trogons found in Java are peculiar
to it, while of those inhabiting Sumatra at least two extend to
Malacca and one to Borneo. There are a very large number of
birds, such as the great Argus pheasant, the fire-backed and
ocellated pheasants, the crested partridge (Rollulus coronatus),
the small Malacca parrot (Psittinus incertus), the great helmeted
hornbill (Buceroturus galeatus), the pheasant ground-cuckoo
(Carpococcyx radiatus), the rose-crested bee-eater (Nyctiornis
amicta), the great gaper (Corydon sumatranus), and the green-
crested gaper (Calyptomena viridis), and many others, which are
common to Malacca, Sumatra, and Borneo, but are entirely absent
from Java.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 201 of 419
Words from 54751 to 55018
of 114260