Here we see plainly the course of the migration which has been going
on for hundreds or thousands of years, and is still going on at the
present day. Birds entering from Java are most numerous in the island
nearest Java; each strait of the sea to be crossed to reach another
island offers an obstacle, and thus a smaller number get over to the
next island. [The names of all the birds inhabiting these islands are
to be found in the "Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London"
for the year 1863.] It will be observed that the number of birds that
appear to have entered from Australia is much less than those which
have come from Java; and we may at first sight suppose that this is
due to the wide sea that separates Australia from Timor. But this
would be a hasty and, as we shall soon see, an unwarranted
supposition. Besides these birds identical with species inhabiting
Java and Australia, there are a considerable number of others very
closely allied to species peculiar to those countries, and we must
take these also into account before we form any conclusion on the
matter. It will be as well to combine these with the former table thus:
In Lombock. In Flores. In Timor.
Javan birds . . . . . . . . . . .33 23 11
Closely allied to Javan birds . . 1 5 6
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 28 17
Australian birds . . . . . . . . . 4 5 10
Closely allied to Australian birds 3 9 26
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 14 36
We now see that the total number of birds which seem to have been
derived from Java and Australia is very nearly equal, but there is
this remarkable difference between the two series:
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