_Plate III.--Scene on the Borders of North-West China and Mongolia with Characteristic Mammalia and Birds._--The mountainous districts of Northern China, with the adjacent portions of Thibet and Mongolia, are the head-quarters of the pheasant tribe, many of the most beautiful and remarkable species being found there only. In the north-western provinces of China and the southern parts of Mongolia may be found the species figured. That in the foreground is the superb golden pheasant (_Thaumalea picta_), a bird that can hardly be surpassed for splendour of plumage by any denizen of the tropics. The large bird perched above is the eared pheasant (_Crossoptilon auritum_), a species of comparatively sober plumage but of remarkable and elegant form. In the middle distance is Pallas's sand grouse (_Syrrhaptes paradoxus_), a curious bird, whose native country seems to be the high plains of Northern Asia, but which often abounds near Pekin, and in 1863 astonished European ornithologists by appearing in considerable numbers in Central and Western Europe, in every part of Great Britain, and even in Ireland. Plate III. [Illustration] CHARACTERISTIC ANIMALS OF NORTH CHINA. The quadruped figured is the curious racoon dog (_Nyctereutes procyonoides_), {227}an animal confined to North China, Japan, and the Amoor Valley, and having no close allies in any other part of the globe. In the distance are some deer, a group of animals very abundant and varied in this part of the Palæarctic region. _Reptiles and Amphibia._--Reptiles are scarce in North China, only four or five species of snakes, a lizard and one of the Geckotidæ occurring in the country round Pekin. The genus _Halys_ is the most characteristic form of snake, while _Callophis_, an oriental genus, extends to Japan. Among lizards, _Plestiodon_, _Maybouya_, _Tachydromus_, and _Gecko_ reach Japan, the two latter being very characteristic of the Oriental region. Amphibia are more abundant and interesting; _Hynobius_, _Onychodactylus_, and _Sieboldtia_ (Salamandridæ) being peculiar to it, while most of the European genera are also represented. _Fresh-water Fish._--Of these there are a few peculiar genera; as _Plecoglossus_ (Salmonidæ) from Japan; _Achilognathus_, _Pseudoperilampus_, _Ochetobius_, and _Opsariichthys_ (Cyprinidæ); and there are many other Chinese Cyprinidæ belonging to the border land of the Palæarctic and Oriental regions.