PDF - Wallace Online

CHAP, xviii.] BIRDS. 367
The Grebes are universally distributed. The genera are
Podiceps (26 sp.), cosmopolitan ; and Podilymbus (2 sp.), confined
to North and South America. Some ornithologists group these
birds with the Colymbidse.
Neotropical
scb-regions.
Family 125.—ALCID^. (7 Genera, 28 Species.)
Nearctic
Sub-regions.
General Distribution.
Pal^arctic
Sub-regions.
1 4 1-3.4.
Ethiopian
Sub-regions.
Oriental
Sub-regions.
Australian
Sub-regions.
The Alcidse, comprising the Auks, Guillemots, and Puffins,
are confined to the North Temperate and Arctic regions, where
they represent the Penguins of the Antarctic lands. One of
the most remarkable of these birds, the Great Auk, formerly
abundant in the North Atlantic, is now extinct. The genera are
as follows :
—
Alca (2 sp.). North Atlantic and Arctic seas ; Fratercula (4
sp.), Arctic and North Temperate zones ; Ceratorhina ( 2 sp.),
North Pacific ; Simorhynchus (8 sp.). North Pacific ; Brachy-
rhamphus (3 sp.). North Pacific to Japan and Lower California
Uria (8 sp.), Arctic and North Temperate zones ; Merguhis (1
sp.), North Atlantic and Arctic Seas. The last three genera
constitute the family Uriidae, of some ornithologists.
General Remarks on the Distribution of the Anseres.
The Anseres, or Swimmers, being truly aquatic birds, possess,
as might be expected, a large number of cosmopolitan families
and genera. No less than 5 out of the 8 families have a world-
wide distribution, and the others are characteristic either of the
North or the South Temperate zones. Hence arises a pecu-
liarity of distribution to be found in no other order of birds
the Temperate being richer than the Tropical regions. The Ne-
arctic and Palaiarctic regions each have seven families of Anseres,
two of w^hich, the Colymbidse and Alcidae, are peculiar to them.
The Ethiopian, Australian, and Neotropical regions, which all
;