THE FIELD NATURALIST'S KNOWLEDGE. 59
METEOROLOGY AND ZOOLOGY,
Though animals are not so sensitive to climate and weather as
plants, yet Meteorology plays a most important part in their distribu-
tion, especially of the lower forms. It would almost appear as if the
higher the organism the greater range of climate can it live in. Man,
the highest of all, can live in every climate of the globe, and the
Horse, the Dog, the Ox and the Ass, can all flourish by his side in
almost every region of the earth. Though Marsupials were the only
indigenous Mammalia found in Australia, yet the Sheep of the colder
and more humid climate of England, when taken there, flourishes
remarkably well in the hot and dry climate of the Australian interior.
The Horse is a noble animal, we all know, and it serves mankind
faithfully, alike across the frozen tundras of Siberia, the vast steppes
of Central Asia, or on the hot plains of India. It draws the plough
for the northern farmer of Manitoba, serves the sugar-planter of
tropical Surinam, and revels on the pampas of southern South
America.
The Elephant, clothed only by a little hair, we find from the
frozen Mammoth of the River Lena, lived in the northern part
of the Asian continent. But here in this very county of Essex the
remains of Elephas in the brickpits of Ilford and Grays strikingly
attest the former abundance of Elephants in the valley of the Thames,
even as they are now in the jungle-filled valleys of Africa and India.
The tropical Tiger, too, will ascend the slopes of the Himalayas
to the region of eternal snow, and the American representative of
the Lion, the Puma, is seen on similar elevations on the Andes.
On the other hand lower organisms are more restricted, and lowly
forms of life are often most restricted in their climatic range.
Possessing the marvellous power of flight through the air, birds
can change their locality speedily and at will, and as the sun's southern
declination increases they can wing their way to less northern coun-
tries, and so continue to enjoy, as it were, perpetual summer. Thus
the same birds are found at different seasons in far distant regions
possessing markedly different climates. But although it is thus more
difficult to fix the distinctive habitat of avian species yet the climate
especially suited to many is well known. Many birds that are com-
mon in the South of England are rare in the North and many that
are well known here are altogether absent there, while many migra-
tory birds do not pass a certain latitude. On the other hand, as is