Not quite so ancient as the Dippers, but likewise Asiatic in their origin, are the Bullfinches (_Pyrrhula_). The closely allied Pine-Grosbeak (_Pinicola enucleator_) has already been referred to (p. 191) as a member of the Siberian migration. The distribution of the European Bullfinch (_P. europæa_) is very interesting, as it occurs in two distinct forms, by some authorities regarded as races, by others as species. In all probability these two races owe their origin to two different migrations from the same ancestral stock. We may suppose that _P. europæa_ came to Europe along with the Oriental migration, spreading chiefly over the south and west, while another branch developed in Siberia into the larger and more brilliant race (_P. major_), which subsequently entered the neighbouring continent with the Siberian fauna. The latter race inhabits, according to Mr. Saunders, Northern and Eastern Europe, and also Siberia. All the other species--there are eight more--except one, are found in Asia. This one species, which inhabits the Azores, appears to be more closely related to one of the Siberian bullfinches than to the European. It stands isolated, and is an extraordinary instance of discontinuous distribution, as no Bullfinch inhabits either Madeira or the Canary Islands. We must assume that the form connecting it with the Asiatic probably lived in Southern Europe, and has become extinct.
One of the most typically Oriental genera of birds is _Phasianus_, to which our Common Pheasant belongs. Out of twenty species, nineteen are found exclusively in Asia, most of them being confined to the central plateaux of that continent. Only one species passes the confines of Asia into Greece, Turkey, and Southern Russia. This is _Phasianus colchicus_. Formerly, however, the Pheasant appears to have had a wider range in Europe, for three species are known fossil from France. Altogether, it is not quite certain whether the Pheasant is not really an indigenous bird in the British Islands, having survived from pre-glacial times. It is believed that the Romans brought it to England, but there is no record of an introduction at that time.
Among the older Oriental bird migrants might be mentioned the Fire-crested Wren (_Regulus ignicapillus_), which has even occasionally visited England. It becomes commoner as we go south-eastward. In Asia Minor it is more abundant than the Gold-crest; and throughout the year it is resident in Southern Europe, where it occurs in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sardinia, and Malta. On the opposite shore, in North-west Africa, it again makes its appearance, and its range extends westward to the Canaries (_R. teneriffæ_) and Madeira (_R. maderensis_).