the west being exceedingly moist and leaving only a short and irregular
dry season, the east being as dry and parched up, and having but a short
wet season. This change, however, occurs about the middle of Java, the
eastern portion of that island having as strongly marked seasons as
Lombock and Timor. There is also a difference in physical geography; but
this occurs at the eastern termination of the chain where the volcanoes
which are the marked feature of Java, Bali, Lombock, Sumbawa, and
Flores, turn northwards through Gunong Api to Banda, leaving Timor with
only one volcanic peak near its centre, while the main portion of the
island consists of old sedimentary rocks. Neither of these physical
differences corresponds with the remarkable change in natural
productions which occurs at the Straits of Lombock, separating the
island of that name from Bali, and which is at once so large in amount
and of so fundamental a character, as to form an important feature in
the zoological geography of our globe.
The Dutch naturalist Zollinger, who resided a long time on the island of
Bali, informs us that its productions completely assimilate with those
of Java, and that he is not aware of a single animal found in it which
does not inhabit the larger island. During the few days which I stayed
on the north coast of Bali on my way to Lombock, I saw several birds
highly characteristic of Javan ornithology. Among these were the
yellow-headed weaver (Ploceus hypoxantha), the black grasshopper thrush
(Copsychus amoenus), the rosy barbet (Megalaema rosea), the Malay oriole
(Oriolus horsfieldi), the Java ground starling (Sturnopastor jalla), and
the Javanese three-toed woodpecker (Chrysonotus tiga). On crossing over
to Lombock, separated from Bali by a strait less than twenty miles wide,
I naturally expected to meet with some of these birds again; but during
a stay there of three months I never saw one of them, but found a
totally different set of species, most of which were utterly unknown
not only in Java, but also in Borneo, Sumatra, and Malacca. For example,
among the commonest birds in Lombock were white cockatoos and three
species of Meliphagidae or honeysuckers, belonging to family groups
which are entirely absent from the western or Indo-Malayan region of the
Archipelago. On passing to Flores and Timor the distinctness from the
Javanese productions increases, and we find that these islands form a
natural group, whose birds are related to those of Java and Australia,
but are quite distinct from either. Besides my own collections in
Lombock and Timor, my assistant Mr. Allen made a good collection in
Flores; and these, with a few species obtained by the Dutch naturalists,
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