nd more brilliant race (_P. major_), which
subsequently entered the neighbouring continent with the Siberian fauna.
The latter race inhabits, according to Mr. Saunders, Northern and
Eastern Europe, and also Siberia. All the other species--there are eight
more--except one, are found in Asia. This one species, which inhabits
the Azores, appears to be more closely related to one of the Siberian
bullfinches than to the European. It stands isolated, and is an
extraordinary instance of discontinuous distribution, as no Bullfinch
inhabits either Madeira or the Canary Islands. We must assume that the
form connecting it with the Asiatic probably lived in Southern Europe,
and has become extinct.

One of the most typically Oriental genera of birds is _Phasianus_, to
which our Common Pheasant belongs. Out of twenty species, nineteen are
found exclusively in Asia, most of them being confined to the central
plateaux of that continent. Only one species passes the confines of
Asia into Greece, Turkey, and Southern Russia. This is _Phasianus
colchicus_. Formerly, however, the Pheasant appears to have had a wider
range in Europe, for three species are known fossil from France.
Altogether, it is not quite certain whether the Pheasant is not really
an indigenous bird in the British Islands, having survived from
pre-glacial times. It is believed that the Romans brought it to England,
but there is no record of an introduction at that time.

Among the older Oriental bird migrants might be mentioned the
Fire-crested Wren (_Regulus ignicapillus_), which has even occasionally
visited England. It becomes commoner as we go south-eastward. In Asia
Minor it is more abundant than the Gold-crest; and throughout the year
it is resident in Southern Europe, where it occurs in Turkey, Greece,
Italy, Spain, Sardinia, and Malta. On the opposite shore, in North-west
Africa, it again makes its appearance, and its range extends westward to
the Canaries (_R. teneriffae_) and Madeira (_R. maderensis_).

The genus to which our common Goldfinch belongs, viz., _Carduelis_, is
also probably of Oriental origin, and may be looked upon as one of the
earlier migrants. That species (_C. elegans_) breeds throughout Europe,
except in the extreme north, but it is especially abundant in Southern
Europe and North-west Africa. It is also resident in Madeira and the
Canaries. Eastward its range extends to Persia. A larger race (_C.
major_) inhabits Western Siberia and crosses