GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\___________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS |SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+------------+-----------+------------ | | | | | -- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --?|1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3 -- | | | | | The Artamidæ, or Swallow-shrikes, are a curious group of birds, ranging over the greater part of the Oriental and Australian regions as far east as the Fiji Islands and south to Tasmania. Only a single species inhabits India, and they are more plentiful in Australia than in any other locality. The only well-marked genus is _Artamus_. There are a few Madagascar birds belonging to the genus _Artamia_, which some ornithologists place in this family, others with the Laniidæ, but which are here classed with the Oriolidæ. {289}FAMILY 37.--ALAUDIDÆ. (15 Genera, 110 Species.) GENERAL DISTRIBUTION. __________________________________/\__________________________________ / \ NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS. -----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------ | | | | | -- 2. 3 -- |-- 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2. 3. 4 |1. 2 -- -- | | | | | The Alaudidæ, or Larks, may be considered as exclusively belonging to the great Eastern continent, since the Nearctic, Neotropical, and Australian regions have each only a single species. They abound most in the open plains and deserts of Africa and Asia, and are especially numerous in South Africa. The genera, including those recently established by Mr. Sharpe, are as follows:--