To return to the composition of the European fauna, we now know positively that a number of the mammals and birds inhabiting Central and Eastern Europe are of Siberian origin. How they came, and when, will form the subject for discussion in Chapter V. At present it will suffice to mention that in the superficial deposits belonging to the Pleistocene series of the North European plain have been discovered the remains of many typical members of the Siberian Steppe-fauna. Some of these, such as the Saiga-Antelope (_Saiga tartarica_), Fig. 2, still inhabit portions of Eastern Europe, whilst others have retreated to their native land. But it might be asked, how is it known that these species did not originate in Europe, and thence migrate to Siberia? Because if they had originated on our continent, they would have spread there. They would have invaded Northern and Southern Europe, and they would probably have left some remains in Spain, Italy, or Greece. They would also have left some of their relations in Europe; but all their nearest allies, too, are Asiatic. Moreover,--and this completes, I think, the proof of their Siberian origin,--the Pleistocene remains of these animals in Europe become less abundant, and the number of species likewise decreases, as we proceed from east to west. With these remains of Steppe animals are generally associated those of others, which we must also look upon as Siberian emigrants, such as the Pikas or tailless Hares belonging to the genus _Lagomys_, the pouched Marmots (_Spermophilus_), and others. Some of them, as I have mentioned, still inhabit Central and Eastern Europe, whilst others have a wider distribution on our continent.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.--The Saiga-Antelope (_Saiga tartarica_). (From Lydekker's _Royal Natural History_, vol. ii. p. 298.)]
This migration must have been an unusually large one. It has been suggested that the Glacial period had some connection with it, and there can be little doubt, as we shall see later on, that a change of climate probably brought about this great Siberian invasion of Europe. But other causes might tend in the same direction, such as want of sufficient food after a few years of great increase of any particular species. It is not known to what we owe the periodic visits of the Central Asiatic Sandgrouse (_Syrrhaptes paradoxus_), Fig. 3, but certain it is that immense flocks of these birds invade Europe from time to time at the present day, just as those mammals may have done in past ages.