In 1873 Elwes pointed out that the Himalayan avifauna extended into north-west China and established the Himalo-Chinese sub-region.
A similarly mixed avifauna has been found in the mid-Miocene beds of various other parts of France, Germany and Italy.
Here may be interpolated a short account of the very peculiar avifauna found in the Tertiary strata of Santa Cruz in Patagonia.
The main affinities of the avifauna are, of course, Australian.
Most interesting is the avifauna of the Sandwich islands; entirely devoid of Psittaci and of Coraciiformes, these islands show an extraordinary development of its peculiar family Drepanidae, which are probably of South or Central American descent.