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138 ZOOLOGICAL GEOGEAPHY. [part hi.
shores of Lake Superior ; 177 being Geodephaga and 39
Longicorns.
Greenland.—This great arctic island must be considered as
belonging to the Nearctic region, sJJice of its six land mammals,
three are exclusively American (Myodes torquatus, Lepus glacialis,
and Ovibos moschatus), while the other three (Vulpes lagopus,
Ursus maritimus, and Bangifer tarandus) are circumpolar. Only
fourteen land-birds are either resident in, or regular migrants to
the country ; and of these two are European [Haliceetus albicilla,
and Falco peregrinus), while three are American (Anthus ludovi-
cianus, Zonotrichia leucophrys, and Lagopus rupestris), the rest
being arctic species common to both continents. The waders
and aquatics (49 in number) are nearly equally divided between
both continents; but the land-birds which visit Greenland as
stragglers are mostly American. Yet although the Nearctic
element somewhat preponderates, Greenland really belongs to
that circumpolar debateable land, which is common to the two
North Temperate regions.
Concluding remarks.—^We have already discussed pretty fully,
though somewhat incidentally, the status and relations of the
Nearctic region ;
first in our chapter on Zoological regions, then
in our review of extinct faunas, and lastly in the earlier part of
this chapter. It will not therefore be necessary to go further
into the question here ; but we shall, in our next chapter, give
a bri^f summary of the general conclusions we have reached as
to the past history and mutual zoological relations of all the
great divisions of the earth.