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CHAK xv.J THE NEARCTIC EEGION. •
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americanus), and the ground dove {Chamcepelia passerina). The
most regular visitants are a kingfisher (Ceri/le alcyon), the wood-
wagtail (Siurus noveboracensis), the rice-bird {Dolichonyx oryzivo-
rus), and a moorhen {Gallinula galeata). Besides the American
species, four European birds have been taken at the Bermudas:.
Saxicola oenanthe, Alauda arvensis (perhaps introduced), Grex
pratensis, and Scolopax gallinago.
A common American lizard, Plestiodon longirostris, is the only
land reptile found on the islands.
IV. The Sub-Arctic or Canadian Sub-region.
This sub-region serves to connect together the oth(?r three,
since they all merge gradually into it; while to the north it
passes into the circumpolar zone which is common to the Palee-
arctic and Nearctic regions. The greater portion of it is an exten-
sive forest-district, mostly of coniferse; and where these cease
towards the north, barren wastes extend to the polar ocean. It
possesses several northern or arctic forms of Mammalia, such as
the glutton, lemming, reindeer, and elk, which barely enter the
more southern sub-regions ;
as well as the polar bear and arctic
fox ; but it also has some peculiar forms, and many of the most
characteristic Nearctic t}^es. The remarkable musk-sheep
(Ovibos) is confined to this sub-region, ranging over a con-
siderable extent of country north of the forests, as well as
Greenland. It has been extinct in Europe and Asia since the
Post-pliocene epoch. Such purely Nearctic genera as Procyon,
Latax, Erethizon, Jaculus, Fiber, Thomomys, and Hesperomys,
abound, many of them ranging to the shores of Hudson's Bay
and the barren wastes of northern Labrador. Others, such as
Blarina, Condylura, and Mephitis, are found only in Nova Scotia
and various parts of Canada. About 20 species of Mammalia
seem to be peculiar to this sub-region.
Plate XX. Illustrating the Zoology of Canada.—AVe have
here a group of Mammalia characteristic of Canada and the
colder parts of the United States. Conspicuous in the fore-
ground is the skunk {Mephitis mephitiea), belonging to a genus
of the weasel family found only in America. This animal is
YOL. II.—10