The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 1

Chapter XXXIII: Part III: Zoological Geography (13)

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_Birds._--About 145 species of birds are natives of New Zealand, of which 88 are waders or aquatics, leaving 57 land-birds {451}belonging to 34 genera. Of this latter number, 16, or nearly half, are peculiar; and there are also 5 peculiar genera of waders and aquatic birds, making 21 in all. Of the remaining genera of land-birds, four are cosmopolite or of very wide range, while the remainder are characteristic of the Australian region. The following is a list of the Australian genera found in New Zealand: _Sphenæacus_, _Gerygone_, _Orthonyx_ (Sylviidæ); _Graucalus_ (Campephagidæ); _Rhipidura_ (Muscicapidæ); _Anthochæra_ (Meliphagidæ); _Zosterops_ (Dicæidæ); _Cyanoramphus_ (Platycercidæ); _Carpophaga_ (Columbidæ); _Hieracidea_ (Falconidæ); _Tribonyx_ (Rallidæ). Besides these there are several genera of wide range, as follows:--_Anthus_ (Motacillidæ); _Hirundo_ (Hirundinidæ); _Chrysococcyx_, _Eudynamis_ (Cuculidæ); _Halcyon_ (Alcedinidæ); _Coturnix_ (Tetraonidæ); _Circus_ (Falconidæ); _Athene_ (Strigidæ).

Most of the above genera are represented by peculiar New Zealand species, but in several cases the species are identical with those of Australia, as in the following: _Anthochæra carunculata_, _Zosterops lateralis_, _Hirundo nigricans_, and _Chrysococcyx lucidus_; also one--_Eudynamis taitensis_--which is Polynesian.

We now come to the genera peculiar to New Zealand, which are of especial interest:

LIST OF GENERA OF BIRDS PECULIAR TO NEW ZEALAND.

No. of
Family and Genus. Species. Remarks.

SYLVIIDÆ.
1. Myiomoira 3 Allied to Petroica, an Australian genus
2. Miro 2 " " " "

TIMALIIDÆ (?)
3. Turnagra 2 Of doubtful affinities.

SITTIDÆ.
4. Xenicus 3 Of doubtful affinities.
5. Acanthisitta 1 Of doubtful affinities.

PARIDÆ.
6. Certhiparus 2 Of doubtful affinities.

MELIPHAGIDÆ.
7. Prosthemadera 1 Peculiar genera of honeysuckers, a
8. Pogonornis 1 family which is confined to the
9. Anthornis 3 Australian Region.

STURNIDÆ. {452}
10. Creadion 2 These three genera are probably
11. Heterolocha 1 allied, and perhaps form a distinct
12. Callæas 2 family.

NESTORIDÆ.
13. Nestor 3 A peculiar family of Parrots.

STRINGOPIDÆ.
14. Stringops 1 A peculiar family of Parrots.

STRIGIDÆ.
15. (Sceloglaux) 1 s.g. of Athene.

RALLIDÆ.
16. Ocydromus 6 Allied to _Eulabeornis_, an Australian
genus.
17. Notornis 1 Allied to _Porphyrio_, a genus of wide
range.

CHARADRIIDÆ.
18. Thinornis 1
19. Anarhynchus 1

ANATIDÆ.
20. Hymenolæmus 1 Allied to _Malacorhynchus_, an Australian
genus.
APTERYGIDÆ.
21. Apteryx 4 Forming a peculiar family.

We have thus a wonderful amount of speciality; yet the affinities of the fauna, whenever they can be traced, are with Australia or Polynesia. Nine genera of New Zealand birds are characteristically Australian, and the eight genera of wide range are Australian also. Of the peculiar genera, 7 or 8 are undoubtedly allied to Australian groups. There are also four Australian and one Polynesian _species_. Even the peculiar _family_, Nestoridæ is allied to the Australian Trichoglossidæ. We have therefore every gradation of similarity to the Australian fauna, from identical species, through identical genera, and allied genera, to distinct but allied families; clearly indicating very long continued yet rare immigations from Australia or Polynesia; immigrations which are continued down to our day. For resident ornithologists believe, that the _Zosterops lateralis_ has found its way to New Zealand within the last few years, and that the two cuckoos now migrate annually, the one from Australia, the other from some {453}part of Polynesia, distances of more than 1,000 miles! These facts seem, however, to have been accepted on insufficient evidence and to be in themselves extremely improbable. It is observed that the cuckoos appear annually in certain districts and again disappear; but their course does not seem to have been traced, still less have they ever been actually seen arriving or departing across the ocean. In a country which has still such wide tracts of unsettled land, it is very possible that the birds in question may only move from one part of the islands to another.

_Islets of the New Zealand Sub-region._

We will here notice the smaller islands belonging to the sub-region, as it is chiefly their birds that possess any interest.

_Norfolk Island._--The land-birds recorded from this island amount to 15 species, of which 8 are Australian, viz.: _Climacteris scandens_, _Symmorphus leucopygius_, _Zosterops tenuirostris_ and _Z. albogularis_, _Halcyon sanctus_, _Platycercus pennanti_, _Carpophaga spadicea_, _Phapspicata_ and _P. chalcoptera_. Of the peculiar species three belong to Australian genera; _Petroica_, _Gerygone_, and _Rhipidura_; one to a cosmopolitan genus, _Turdus_. So far the affinity seems to be all Australian, and there remain only three birds which ally this island to New Zealand,--_Nestor productus_, _Cyanoramphus rayneri_, and _Notornis alba_. The former inhabited the small Phillip Island (close to Norfolk Island) but is now extinct. Being a typical New Zealand genus, quite incapable of flying across the sea, its presence necessitates some former connexion between the two islands, and it is therefore perhaps of more weight than all the Australian genera and species, which are birds capable of long flights. The _Cyanoramphus_ is allied to a New Zealand broad-tailed parroquet. The _Notornis alba_ is extinct, but two specimens exist in museums, and it is even a stronger case than the _Nestor_, as showing a former approximation or union of this island with New Zealand. A beautiful figure of this bird is given in the _Ibis_ for 1873.

_Lord Howe's Island._--This small island, situated half-way between Australia and Norfolk Island, is interesting, as containing a peculiar species of the New Zealand genus _Ocydromus_, or {454}wood-hen (_O. sylvestris_). There is also a peculiar thrush, _Turdus vinitinctus_. Its other birds are wholly of Australian types, and most of them probably Australian species. The following have been observed, and no doubt constitute nearly its whole indigenous bird fauna. _Acanthiza_ sp., _Rhipidura_ sp., _Pachycephala gutturalis_, _Zosterops strennuus_ and _Z. tephropleurus_, _Strepera_ sp., _Halcyon_ sp., and _Chalcophaga chrysochlora_. The two species of _Zosterops_ are peculiar. The _Ocydromus_ is important enough to ally this island to New Zealand rather than to Australia; and if the white bird seen there is, as supposed, the _Notornis alba_ which is extinct in Norfolk Island, the connection will be rendered still more clear.

_Chatham Islands._--These small islands, 450 miles east of New Zealand, possess about 40 species of birds, of which 13 are land-birds. All but one belong to New Zealand genera, and all but five are New Zealand species. The following are the genera of the land-birds: _Sphenæacus_, _Gerygone_, _Myiomoira_, _Rhipidura_, _Zosterops_, _Anthus_, _Prosthemadera_, _Anthornis_, _Chrysococcyx_, _Cyanoramphus_, _Carpophaga_, _Circus_. The peculiar species are _Anthornis melanocephala_, _Myiomoira diffenbachi_ and _M. traversi_, _Rhipidura flabellifera_, and a peculiar rail incapable of flight, named by Captain Hutton _Cabalus modestus_. It is stated that the _Zosterops_ differs from that of New Zealand, and is also a migrant; and it is therefore believed to come every year from Australia, passing over New Zealand, a distance of nearly 1,700 miles! Further investigation will perhaps discover some other explanation of the facts. It is also stated, that the pigeon and one of the small birds (? _Gerygone_ or _Zosterops_) have arrived at the islands within the last eight years. The natives further declare, that both the _Stringops_ and _Apteryx_ once inhabited the islands, but were exterminated about the year 1835.

_The Auckland Islands._--These are situated nearly 300 miles south of New Zealand, and possess six land-birds, of which three are peculiar,--_Anthus aucklandicus_, _Cyanoramphus aucklandicus_, and _C. malherbii_, the others being New Zealand species of _Myiomoira_, _Prosthemadera_, and _Anthornis_. It is remarkable that two peculiar parrots of the same genus should inhabit these small islands; but such localities seem favourable to the Platycercidæ, for another peculiar species is found in the remote Macquarie Islands, more than 400 miles farther south. A peculiar species and genus of ducks, _Nesonetta aucklandica_, is also found here, and as far as yet known, nowhere else. A species of the northern genus _Mergus_ is also found on these islands, and has been recently obtained by Baron von Hügel.

Plate XIII.

SCENE IN NEW ZEALAND, WITH SOME OF ITS REMARKABLE BIRDS.

{455}_Plate XIII. Illustrating the peculiar Ornithology of New Zealand._--Our artist has here depicted a group of the most remarkable and characteristic of the New Zealand birds. In the middle foreground is the Owl-parrot or Kakapoe (_Stringops habroptilus_), a nocturnal burrowing parrot, that feeds on fern-shoots, roots, berries, and occasionally lizards; that climbs but does not fly; and that has an owl-like mottled plumage and facial disc. The wings however are not rudimentary, but fully developed; and it seems to be only the muscles that have become useless for want of exercise. This would imply, that these birds have not long been inhabitants of New Zealand only, but were developed in other countries (perhaps Australia) where their wings were of use to them.

Beyond the Kakapoe are a pair of the large rails, _Notornis mantelli_; heavy birds with short wings quite useless for flight, and with massive feet and bill of a red colour. On the right is a pair of Kiwis (_Apteryx australis_), one of the queerest and most unbird-like of living birds. It has very small and rudimentary wings, entirely concealed by the hair-like plumage, and no tail. It is nocturnal, feeding chiefly on worms, which it extracts from soft earth by means of its long bill. The genus _Apteryx_ forms a distinct family of birds, of which four species are now known, besides some which are extinct. They are allied to the Cassowary and to the gigantic extinct _Dinornis_. On the wing are a pair of Crook-billed Plovers (_Anarhynchus frontalis_), remarkable for being the only birds known which have the bill bent sideways. This was at first thought to be a malformation; but it is now proved to be a constant character of the species, as it exists even in the young chicks; yet the purpose served by such an anomalous structure is not yet discovered. {456}No country on the globe can offer such an extraordinary set of birds as are here depicted.

_Reptiles._--These consist almost wholly of lizards, there being no land-snakes and only one frog. Twelve species of lizards are known, belonging to three genera, one of which is peculiar, as are all the species. _Hinulia_, with two species, and _Mocoa_, with four species (one of which extends to the Chatham Islands), belong to the Scincidæ; both are very wide-spread genera and occur in Australia. The peculiar genus _Naultinus_, with six species, belongs to the Geckotidæ, a family spread over the whole world.

The most extraordinary and interesting reptile of New Zealand is, however, the _Hatteria punctata_, a lizard-like animal living in holes, and found in small islands on the north-east coast, and more rarely on the main land. It is somewhat intermediate in structure between lizards and crocodiles, and also has bird-like characters in the form of its ribs. It constitutes, not only a distinct family, Rhyncocephalidæ, but a separate order of reptiles, Rhyncocephalina. It is quite isolated from all other members of the class; and is probably a slightly modified representative of an ancient and generalised form, which has been superseded in larger areas by the more specialized lizards and saurians.

The only representatives of the Ophidia are two sea-snakes of Australian and Polynesian species, and of no geographical interest.

_Amphibia._--The solitary frog indigenous to New Zealand, belongs to a peculiar genus, _Liopelma_, and to the family Bomburatoridæ, otherwise confined to Europe and temperate South America.

_Fresh-water Fishes._--There are, according to Captain Hutton, 15 species of fresh-water fish in New Zealand, belonging to 7 genera; six species, and one genus (_Retropinna_), being peculiar. _Retropinna richardsoni_ belongs to the Salmonidæ, and is the only example of that family occurring in the Southern hemisphere, where it is confined to New Zealand and the Chatham Islands. The wide distribution of _Galaxias attenuatus_--from the {457}Chatham Islands to South America--has already been noticed; while another species, _G. fasciatus_, is found in the Chatham and Auckland Isles as well as New Zealand. A second genus peculiar to New Zealand, _Neochanna_, allied to _Galaxias_, has recently been described. _Prototroctes oxyrhynchus_ is allied to an Australian species, but belongs to a family (Haplochitonidæ) which is otherwise South American. An eel, _Anguilla latirostris_, is found in Europe, China, and the West Indies, as well as in New Zealand! while the genus _Agonostoma_ ranges to Australia, Celebes, Mauritius, and Central America.

_Insects._--The great poverty of this class is well shown by the fact, that only eleven species of butterflies are known to inhabit New Zealand. Of these, six are peculiar, and one, _Argyrophenga_ (Satyridæ), is a peculiar genus allied to the Northern genus _Erebia_. The rest are either of wide range, as _Pyrameis cardui_ and _Diadema bolina_; or Australian, as _Hamdyaas zoilus_; while one, _Danais erippus_, is American, but has also occurred in Australia, and is no doubt a recent introduction into both countries. Only one _Sphinx_ is recorded, and no other species of the Sphingina except the British currant-moth, _Ægeria tipuliformis_, doubtless imported. Coleoptera are better represented, nearly 300 species having been described, all or nearly all being peculiar. These belong to about 150 genera, of which more than 50 are peculiar. No less than 14 peculiar genera belong to the Carabidæ, mostly consisting of one or two species, but _Demetrida_ has 3, and _Metaglymma_ 8 species. Other important genera are _Dicrochile_, _Homalosoma_, _Mecodema_, and _Scopodes_, all in common with Australia. _Mecodema_ and _Metaglymma_ are the largest genera. Even the Auckland Islands have two small genera of Carabidæ found nowhere else.

Cicindelidæ are represented in New Zealand by 6 species of _Cicindela_, and 1 of _Dystipsidera_, a genus peculiar to the Australian region.

The Lucanidæ are represented by two peculiar genera, _Dendroblax_ and _Oxyomus_; two Australian genera, _Lissotes_ and _Ceratognathus_; and by the almost cosmopolite _Dorcus_.

The Scarabeidæ consist of ten species only, belonging to four {458}genera, two of which are peculiar (_Odontria_ and _Stethaspis_); and two Australian (_Pericoptus_ and _Calonota_). There are no Cetoniidæ.

There is only one Buprestid, belonging to the Australian genus _Cisseis_. The Elateridæ, (about a dozen species,) belong mostly to Australian genera, but two, _Metablax_ and _Ochosternus_, are peculiar.

There are 30 species of Curculionidæ, belonging to 22 genera. Of the genera, 12 are peculiar; 1 is common to New Zealand and New Caledonia; 5 belong to the Australian region, and the rest are widely distributed.

Longicorns are, next to Carabidæ, the most numerous family, there being, according to Mr. Bates (_Ann. Nat. Hist._, 1874), about 35 genera, of which 26 are peculiar or highly characteristic, and 7 of the others Australian. The largest and most characteristic genera are _Æmona_ and _Xyloteles_, both being peculiar to New Zealand; few of the remainder having more than one or two species. _Demonax_ extends to the Moluccas and S. E. Asia. A dozen of the genera have no near relations with those of any other country.

Phytophaga are remarkably scarce, only two species of _Colaspis_ being recorded; and there is only a single species of _Coccinella_.

The other orders of Insects appear to be equally deficient. Hymenoptera are very poorly represented, only a score of species being yet known; but two of the genera are peculiar, as are all the species. The Neuroptera and Heteroptera are also very scarce, and several of the species are wide-spread forms of the Australian region. The few species of Homoptera are all peculiar. The Myriapoda afford some interesting facts. There are nine or ten species, all peculiar. One genus, _Lithobius_, ranges over the northern hemisphere as far south as Singapore, and probably through the Malay Archipelago, but is not found in Australia. _Henicops_ occurs elsewhere only in Tasmania and Chili. _Cryptops_, only in the north temperate zone; while two others, _Cermatia_ and _Cormocephalus_, both occur in Australia.

{459}_Land-Shells._--Of these, 114 species are known, 97 being peculiar. Three species of _Helix_ are also found in Australia, and five more in various tropical islands of the Pacific. _Nanina_, _Lymnæa_, and _Assiminea_, are found in Polynesia or Malaya, but not in Australia. _Amphibola_ is an Australian genus, as is _Janella_. _Testacella_ and _Limax_ belong to the Palæarctic region.

From the Chatham Islands, 82 species of shells are known, all being New Zealand species, except nine, which are peculiar.

_The Ancient Fauna of New Zealand._--One of the most remarkable features of the New Zealand fauna, is the existence, till quite recent times, of an extensive group of wingless birds,--called Moas by the natives--many of them of gigantic size, and which evidently occupied the place which, in other countries, is filled by the mammalia. The most recent account of these singular remains, is that by Dr. Haast, who, from a study of the extensive series of specimens in the Canterbury museum, believes, that they belong to two families, distinguished by important differences of structure, and constitute four genera,--_Dinornis_ and _Miornis_, forming the family Dinornithidæ; _Palapteryx_ and _Euryapteryx_, forming the family Palapterygidæ. These were mostly larger birds than the living _Apteryx_, and some of them much larger even than the African ostrich, and were more allied to the Casuariidæ and Struthionidæ than to the Apterygidæ. No less than eleven species of these birds have been discovered; all are of recent geological date, and there are indications that some of them may have been in existence less than a century ago, and were really exterminated by man. Remains have been found (of apparently the same recent date) of species of _Apteryx_, _Stringops_, _Ocydromus_, and many other living forms, as well as of _Harpagornis_, a large bird of prey, and _Cnemiornis_, a gigantic goose. Bodies of the _Hatteria punctata_ have also been found along with those of the Moa, showing that this remarkable reptile was once more abundant on the main islands than it is now.

_The Origin of the New Zealand Fauna._--Having now given {460}an outline sketch of the main features of the New Zealand fauna and of its relations with other regions, we may consider what conclusions are fairly deducible from the facts. As the outlying Norfolk, Chatham, and Lord Howe's Islands, are all inhabited (or have recently been so) by birds of New Zealand type or even identical species, almost incapable of flight, we may infer that these islands show us the former minimum extent of the land-area in which the peculiar forms which characterise the sub-region were developed. If we include the Auckland and Macquarie Islands to the south, we shall have a territory of not much less extent than Australia, and separated from it by perhaps several hundred miles of ocean. Some such ancient land must have existed to allow of the development and specialization of so many peculiar forms of birds, and it probably remained with but slight modifications for a considerable geological period. During all this time it would interchange many of its forms of life with Australia, and there would arise that amount of identity of genera between the two countries which we find to exist. Its extension southwards, perhaps considerably beyond the Macquaries, would bring it within the range of floating ice during colder epochs, and within easy reach of the antarctic continent during the warm periods; and thus would arise that interchange of genera and species with South America, which forms one of the characteristic features of the natural history of New Zealand.

Captain F. W. Hutton (to whose interesting paper on the Geographical relations of the New Zealand Fauna we are indebted for some of our facts) insists upon the necessity of former land-connections in various directions, and especially of an early southern continental period, when New Zealand, Australia, Southern Africa, and South America, were united. Thus he would account for the existence of Struthious birds in all these countries, and for the various other groups of birds, reptiles, fishes, or insects which have no obvious means of traversing the ocean,--and this union must have occurred before mammalia existed in any of these countries. But such a supposition is quite unnecessary, if we consider that all wingless land-birds and some water-birds (as the Gare-fowl {461}and Steamer Duck) are probably cases of abortion of useless organs, and that the common ancestors of the various forms of Struthiones may have been capable of a moderate degree of flight; or they may have originated in the northern hemisphere, as already explained in Chap. XI. p. 287. The existence of two, if not three, distinct families of these birds in New Zealand, proves that the original type was here isolated at a very early date, and being wholly free from the competition of mammalia, became more differentiated than elsewhere. The _Hatteria_ is probably coeval with these early forms, and is the only relic of a whole order of reptiles, which once perhaps ranged far over the globe.

Still less does any other form of animal inhabiting New Zealand, require a land connection with distant countries to account for its presence. With the example before us of the Bermudas and Azores, to which a great variety of birds fly annually over vast distances, and even of the recent arrival of new birds in New Zealand and Chatham Island, we may be sure that the ancestors of every New Zealand bird could easily have reached its shores during the countless ages which elapsed while the _Dinornis_ and _Apteryx_ were developing. The wonderful range of some of the existing species of lizards and fresh-water fish, as already given, proves that they too possess means of dispersal which have sufficed to spread them, within a comparatively recent period, over countries separated by thousands of miles of ocean; and the fact that a group like the snakes, so widely distributed and for which the climate of New Zealand is so well adapted, does not exist there, is an additional proof that land connection had nothing to do with the introduction of the existing fauna. We have already (p. 398), discussed in some detail the various modes in which the dispersal of animals in the southern hemisphere has been effected; and in accordance with the principles there established, we conclude, that the New Zealand fauna, living and extinct, demonstrates the existence of an extensive tract of land in the vicinity of Australia, Polynesia, and the Antarctic continent, without having been once actually connected with either of these countries, since the period when mammalia had peopled {462}all the great continents. That event certainly dates back to Secondary, if not to Palæozoic, times, because so dominant a group must soon have spread over the whole continuous land-area of the globe. We have no reason for believing that birds were an earlier development; and certainly cannot, with any probability, place the origin of the Struthiones before that of Mammals.

_Causes of the Poverty of Insect-life in New Zealand: its Influence on the Character of the Flora._--The extreme paucity of insects in New Zealand, to which we have already alluded, seems to call for some attempt at explanation. No other country in the world, in which the conditions are equally favourable for insect-life, and which has either been connected with, or is in proximity to, any of the large masses of land, presents a similar phenomenon. The only approach to it is in the Galapagos, and in some of the islands of the Pacific; and in each of these cases the absence of mammals leads us to infer, that no connection with a continent has ever taken place. Yet the fauna of New Zealand evidently dates back to a remote geological epoch, and it seems strange that an abundance of indigenous insects have not been developed, especially when we consider the vast antiquity that most of the orders and families, and many of the genera, of insects possess (see p. 166), and that they must always have reached the country in greater numbers and variety than any of the higher animals. The undoubted fact that such an indigenous insect-fauna has not arisen, would therefore lead us to conclude, that insects find the conditions requisite for their development only in the great continental masses of land, in strict adaptation to, and dependance on, a varied fauna and flora of ever-increasing richness and complexity. A small number of widely-separated forms, introduced into a country where the fauna and flora are alike scanty and unrelated to them, seem to have little tendency to vary and branch out into that vast network of insect-life which enriches all the great continents and their once connected islands.

It is a striking confirmation on a large scale, of Mr. Darwin's beautiful theory--that the gay colours of flowers have mostly, or {463}perhaps, wholly been produced, in order to attract insects which aid in their fertilization--that in New Zealand, where insects are so strikingly deficient in variety, the flora should be almost as strikingly deficient in gaily-coloured blossoms. Of course there are some exceptions, but as a whole, green, inconspicuous, and imperfect flowers prevail, to an extent not to be equalled in any other part of the globe; and affording a marvellous contrast to the general brilliancy of Australian flowers, combined with the abundance and variety of its insect-life. We must remember, too, that the few gay or conspicuous flowering-plants possessed by New Zealand, are almost all of Australian, South American, or European _genera_; the peculiar New Zealand or Antarctic genera being almost wholly without conspicuous flowers. In the tropical Galapagos the same thing occurs. Mr. Darwin notices the wretched weedy appearance of the vegetation; and states that it was some time before he discovered that most of the plants were in flower at the time of his visit! And the insect-life was correspondingly deficient, consisting mainly of a few terrestrial beetles.

The poverty of insect-life in New Zealand must, therefore, be a very ancient feature of the country; and it furnishes an additional argument against the theory of land-connection with, or even any near approach to, either Australia, South Africa, or South America. For in that case numbers of winged insects would certainly have entered, and the flowers would then, as in every other part of the world, have been rendered attractive to them by the development of coloured petals; and this character once acquired would long maintain itself, even if the insects had, from some unknown cause, subsequently disappeared.

After the preceding paragraphs were written, it occurred to me, that if this reasoning were correct, New Zealand plants ought to be also deficient in scented flowers; because it is a part of the same theory, that the odours of flowers have, like their colours, been developed to attract the insects required to aid in their fertilization. I therefore at once applied to my friend Dr. Hooker, as the highest authority on New Zealand botany; simply asking whether there was any such observed deficiency. His reply {464}was:--"New Zealand plants are remarkably scentless, both in regard to the rarity of scented flowers, of leaves with immersed glands containing essential oils, and of glandular hairs." There are a few exceptional cases, but these seem even more rare than might be expected, so that the confirmation of theory is very complete. The circumstance that aromatic leaves are also very scarce, suggests the idea that these, too, serve as an attraction to insects. Aromatic plants abound most in arid countries, and on Alpine heights; both localities where winged insects are comparatively scarce, and where it may be necessary to attract them in every possible way. Dr. Hooker also informs, me that since his _Introduction to the New Zealand Flora_ was written, many plants with handsome flowers have been discovered, especially among the _Ranunculi_, shrubby Veronicas, and herbaceous Compositæ. The two former, however, are genera of wide range, which may have originated in New Zealand by the introduction of plants with handsome flowers, which the few indigenous insects would be attracted by, and thus prevent the loss of their gay corollas; so that these discoveries will not much affect the general character of the flora, and its very curious bearing on the past history of the islands through the relations of flowers and insects.

In judging of the relation here supposed to exist, it must be remembered, that if the New Zealand insects have been introduced from the surrounding countries by chance immigrations at distant intervals, then, as we go back into the past the insect fauna will become poorer and poorer, and still more inadequate than at present to lead to the development of attractive flowers and odours. This quite harmonizes with the fact of the ancient indigenous flora being so remarkably scentless and inconspicuous, while a few of the more recently introduced genera of plants have retained their floral attractions.

_Concluding Remarks on the Early History of the Australian Region._

We have already discussed in some detail, the various relations of the Australian sub-regions to the surrounding Regions, and the geographical changes that appear to have taken place. A very {465}few observations will therefore suffice, on the supposed early history of the Australian region as a whole.

It was probably far back in the Secondary period, that some portion of the Australian region was in actual connection with the northern continent, and became stocked with ancestral forms of Marsupials; but from that time till now there seems to have been no further land connection, and the Australian lands have thenceforward gone on developing the Marsupial and Monotremate types, into the various living and extinct races we now find there. During some portion of the Tertiary epoch Australia probably comprised much of its existing area, together with Papua and the Solomon Islands, and perhaps extended as far east as the Fiji Islands; while it might also have had a considerable extension to the south and west. Some light has recently been thrown on this subject by Professor McCoy's researches on the Palæontology of Victoria. He finds abundant marine fossils of Eocene and Miocene age, many of which are strikingly similar to those of Europe at the same period. Among these are Cetaceans of the genus _Squalodon_; European species of Plagiostomous fishes; mollusca and corals closely resembling those of Europe and North America of the same age,--such as numerous Volutes closely allied to those of the Eocene beds of the Isle of Wight, and the genus _Dentalium_ in great abundance, almost or quite identical with European tertiary species. Along with these, are found some living species, but always such as now live farther north in tropical seas. The Cretaceous and Mesozoic marine fossils are equally close to those of Europe.

The whole of these remains demonstrate that, as in the northern so in the southern hemisphere, a much warmer climate prevailed in the Eocene and Miocene periods than at the present time. This is a most important result, and one which strongly supports Mr. Belt's view, before referred to, that the warmer climates in past geological epochs, and especially that of the Miocene as compared with our own, was caused by a diminution of the obliquity of the ecliptic, leading to a much greater uniformity of the seasons for a considerable distance from the equator, and greatly reducing the polar area within which the sun would ever {466}disappear during an entire rotation of the earth. During such a period, tropical forms of marine animals would have been able to spread north and south, into what are now cool latitudes; and identical genera, and even species, might then have ranged along the southern shores of the old Palæarctic continent, from Britain to the Bay of Bengal, and southward along the Malayan coasts to Australia,

Numerous Miocene plant-beds have also been found in Victoria, containing abundance of Dicotyledonous leaves, which are said generally to resemble those of the Asiatic flora, and of the Miocene plant-beds of the Rhine. It is to be hoped these beds will be more closely examined for remains of insects, land-shells, and vertebrates, and that the plants will be carefully preserved and critically studied; for here probably lies hidden the key, that will solve much of the mystery that attaches to the past history of the Australian fauna.

{467}TABLES OF DISTRIBUTION.

In drawing up these tables, showing the distribution of the various classes of animals in the Australian region, the following sources of information have been relied on, in addition to the general treatises, monographs, and catalogues used in compiling the 4th Part of this work.

_Mammalia._--Gould, Mammals of Australia; Waterhouse on Marsupials; Dr. J. E. Gray's List of Mammalia of New Guinea; Müller, Temminck and Schlegel on Mammals of the Moluccas; papers by Dr. Gray; and personal observations by the Author.

_Birds._--Gould's Birds of Australia; Buller's Birds of New Zealand; G. R. Gray's Lists of Birds of Moluccas, &c.; Hartlaub and Finsch on Birds of Pacific Islands; Sclater on Birds of Sandwich Islands; papers by Haast, Hutton, Meyer, Salvin, Schlegel, Sclater, Travers, Lord Walden and the Author.

_Reptiles._--Krefft, Catalogue of Snakes; Gunther, List of Lizards in _Voyage of Erebus and Terror_ (1875); and numerous papers.

{468}TABLE I.

_FAMILIES OF ANIMALS INHABITING THE AUSTRALIAN REGION._

EXPLANATION.

Names in _italics_ show families which are peculiar to the region.

Names inclosed thus (...) show families which only just enter the region,
and are not considered properly to belong to it.

Numbers correspond to the series of numbers to the families in Part IV.

---------------------+-------------------+-------------------------------
| Sub-regions |
| 1=Austro-Malaya. |
Order and Family | 2=Australia. | Range beyond the Region.
| 3=Polynesia. |
| 4=New Zealand. |
---------------------+----+----+----+----+-------------------------------
| 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. |
---------------------+----+----+----+----+-------------------------------
| | | | |
MAMMALIA. | | | | |
PRIMATES. | | | | |
3. Cynopithecidæ | -- | | | |Oriental and Ethiopian
| | | | |
CHIROPTERA. | | | | |
9. Pteropidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Oriental and Ethiopian
11. Rhinolophidæ | -- | -- | | |The Eastern Hemisphere
12. Vespertilionidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
13. Noctilionidæ | | | | -- |All tropical regions
| | | | |
CARNIVORA. | | | | |
25. (Viverridæ) | -- | | | |Oriental
33. Otariidæ | | -- | | -- |N. and S. temperate zones
35. Phocidæ | | -- | | -- |N. and S. temperate zones
| | | | |
CETACEA. | | | | |
36 to 41. | | | | |Oceanic
| | | | |
SIRENIA. | | | | |
42. Manatidæ | -- | | | |Ethiopian, Oriental
| | | | |
UNGULATA. | | | | |
47. Suidæ | -- | | | |All other regions but Nearctic
50. (Cervidæ) | -- | | | |All other regions but Ethiopian
52. (Bovidæ) | -- | | | |All other regions but
| | | | | Neotropical
| | | | |
RODENTIA. | | | | |
55. Muridæ | -- | -- | | |All other regions
61. (Scuiridæ) | -- | | | |All other regions
| | | | |
MARSUPIALIA. | | | | |
77. _Dasyuridæ_ | -- | -- | | |
78. _Myrmecobiidæ_ | | -- | | |
79. _Peramelidæ_ | -- | -- | | |
80. _Macropodidæ_ | -- | -- | | |
81. _Phalangistidæ_ | -- | -- | | |
82. _Phascolomyidæ_ | | -- | | |
| | | | |
MONOTREMATA. | | | | |
83._Ornithorhynchidæ_| | -- | | |
84. _Echidnidæ_ | | -- | | |
| | | | |
BIRDS. | | | | |
PASSERES. | | | | |
1. Turdidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Cosmopolite
2. Sylviidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
3. Timaliidæ | -- | -- | | -- |Oriental family
5. Cinclidæ | -- | | | |
8. Certhiidæ | -- | -- | | |
9. Sittidæ | -- | -- | | -- |
10. Paridæ | | -- | | -- |
13. Pycnonotidæ | -- | | | |Oriental family
14. Oriolidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental and Ethiopian
15. Campephagidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Oriental and Ethiopian
16. Dicruridæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental and Ethiopian
17. Muscicapidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |The Old World
18. _Pachycephalidæ_| -- | -- | -- | |Almost peculiar to region
19. Laniidæ | -- | -- | -- | |The Old World
20. Corvidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Cosmopolite
21. _Paradiseidæ_ | -- | -- | | |
22. _Meliphagidæ_ | -- | -- | -- | -- |
23. Nectariniidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental and Ethiopian
24. Dicæidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Oriental and Ethiopian
25. _Drepanididæ_ | | | -- | |
30. Hirundinidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
34. Ploceidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Oriental, Ethiopian
35. Sturnidæ | -- | | -- | -- |The Old World
36. Artamidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Oriental
37. Alaudidæ | -- | -- | | |The Old World and N. America
38. Motacillidæ | -- | -- | | -- |The Old World
47. Pittidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental, Ethiopian
49. _Menuridæ_ | | -- | | |Peculiar to Australia
50. _Atrichiidæ_ | | -- | | |Peculiar to Australia
| | | | |
PICARIÆ. | | | | |
51. Picidæ | -- | | | |All other regions
58. Cuculidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
62. Coraciidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental and Ethiopian
63. Meropidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental and Ethiopian
67. Alcedinidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
68. Bucerotidæ | -- | | | |Oriental and Ethiopian
71. Podargidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental
73. Caprimulgidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Cosmopolite
74. Cypselidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Cosmopolite
| | | | |
PSITTACI. | | | | |
76. _Cacatuidæ_ | -- | -- | | |Philippine Islands
77. _Platycercidæ_ | -- | -- | -- | -- |
78. Palæornithidæ | -- | | | |Oriental
79. _Trichoglossidæ_| -- | -- | -- | |
82. _Nestoridæ_ | -- | | | -- |
83. _Stringopidæ_ | | | | -- |
| | | | |
COLUMBÆ. | | | | |
84. Columbidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
84a. _Didunculidæ_ | | | -- | |
| | | | |
GALLINÆ. | | | | |
87. Tetraonidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Old World and N. America
88. (Phasianidæ) | -- | | | |Oriental
89. Turnicidæ | -- | -- | | |The Old World
90. _Megapodiidæ_ | -- | -- | -- | |
| | | | |
ACCIPITRES. | | | | |
96. Falconidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
97. Pandionidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
98. Strigidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
| | | | |
GRALLÆ. | | | | |
99. Rallidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
100. Scolopacidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
103. Parridæ | -- | -- | | |Tropical
104. Glareolidæ | -- | -- | | |The Eastern Hemisphere
105. Charadriidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
106. Otididæ | | -- | | |The Eastern Hemisphere
107. Gruidæ | | -- | | |The Eastern Hemisphere
112. _Rhinochetidæ_ | | | -- | |
113. Ardeidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
114. Plataleidæ | -- | -- | | |Almost cosmopolite
115. Ciconiidæ | -- | -- | | |Widely distributed
| | | | |
ANSERES. | | | | |
118. Anatidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
119. Laridæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
120. Procellariidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
121. Pelecanidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
122. Spheniscidæ | | -- | | -- |S. temperate regions
124. Podicipidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
| | | | |
STRUTHIONES. | | | | |
127. _Casuariidæ_ | -- | -- | | |
128. _Apterygidæ_ | | | | -- |
129. _Dinornithidæ_ | | | | -- |Extinct
130. _Palapterygidæ_ | | | | -- |Extinct
| | | | |
REPTILIA. | | | | |
OPHIDIA. | | | | |
1. Typhlopidæ | -- | -- | | |All regions but Nearctic
2. Tortricidæ | -- | | | |Oriental, S. America,
| | | | | California
3. Xenopeltidæ | -- | | | |Oriental
5. Calamariidæ | -- | -- | | |All warm countries
7. Colubridæ | -- | -- | | |Almost cosmopolite
8. Homalopsidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental, and all other regions
11. Dendrophidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental, Ethiopian,
| | | | | Neotropical
12. Dryiophidæ | -- | | | |Oriental, Ethiopian,
| | | | | Neotropical
13. Dipsadidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental, Ethiopian,
| | | | | Neotropical
15. Lycodontidæ | -- | | | |Ethiopian and Oriental
16. Amblycephalidæ | | -- | | |Oriental, Neotropical
17. Pythonidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Tropical regions, California
19. Acrochordidæ | -- | | | |Oriental
20. Elapidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Tropical regions, Japan,
| | | | | S. Carolina
23. Hydrophidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Oriental, Madagascar, Panama
| | | | |
LACERTILIA. | | | | |
30. Varanidæ | -- | -- | | |Oriental, Africa
33. Lacertidæ | | -- | | |The Eastern Hemisphere
41. Gymnopthalmidæ | -- | -- | -- | |Neotropical, Ethiopian,
| | | | | Palæarctic
42. _Pygopodidæ_ | | -- | | |
43. _Aprasiadæ_ | | -- | | |
44. _Lialidæ_ | | -- | | |
45. Scincidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Almost cosmopolite
48. Acontiadæ | -- | | | |Ethiopian, Oriental
49. Geckotidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Almost cosmopolite
50. Iguanidæ | | | -- | |N. and S. America
51. Agamidæ | -- | -- | -- | |The Eastern Hemisphere
| | | | |
RHYNCOCEPHALINA. | | | | |
53._Rhyncocephalidæ_ | | | | -- |
| | | | |
CROCODILIA. | | | | |
54. Gavialidæ | -- | | | |Oriental
55. Crocodilidæ | -- | -- | | |Tropical regions
| | | | |
CHELONIA. | | | | |
57. Testudinidæ | -- | | | |All other regions
58. Chelydidæ | -- | -- | | |Ethiopian, Neotropical
60. Cheloniidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Marine
| | | | |
AMPHIBIA. | | | | |
ANOURA. | | | | |
7. Phryniscidæ | | -- | | |Ethiopian, Malayan, Neotropical
9. Bufonidæ | -- | | | |All other regions
10. _Xenorhinidæ_ | -- | | | |
11. Engystomidæ | | -- | | |All regions but Palæarctic
12. Bombinatoridæ | | | | -- |Neotropical, Palæarctic
14. Alytidæ | -- | -- | | |All regions but Oriental
15. Pelodryadæ | -- | -- | | |Neotropical
16. Hylidæ | -- | -- | | |All regions but Ethiopian
17. Polypedatidæ | -- | -- | -- | |All the regions
18. Ranidæ | -- | -- | | |Almost cosmopolite
19. Discoglossidæ | -- | -- | | |All regions but Nearctic
| | | | |
FISHES (FRESH-WATER).| | | | |
ACANTHOPTERYGII. | | | | |
11. Trachinidæ | | -- | | |Patagonia (? marine)
35. Labyrinthici | -- | | | |Oriental, S. Africa
37. Atherinidæ | | -- | | |Europe, America
38. Mugillidæ | -- | -- | | -- |Ethiopian, Neotropical
| | | | |
ANACANTHINI. | | | | |
53. _Gadopsidæ_ | | -- | | |
| | | | |
PHYSOSTOMI. | | | | |
59. Siluridæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |All warm regions
61. Haplochitonidæ | | -- | | |Temperate S. America
65. Salmonidæ | | | | -- |Palæarctic, Nearctic
67. Galaxidæ | | -- | | -- |Temperate S. America
78. Osteoglossidæ | | -- | | |All tropical regions
85. (Symbranchidæ) | | -- | | |Oriental, Neotropical
| | | | |
DIPNOI. | | | | |
92. Sirenoidei | | -- | | |Ethiopian, Neotropical
| | | | |
INSECTS. | | | | |
LEPIDOPTERA (PART). | | | | |
DIURNI (BUTTERFLIES).| | | | |
1. Danaidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |All warm regions, and to Canada
2. Satyridæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
3. Elymniidæ | -- | | | |Oriental, Ethiopian
4. Morphidæ | -- | | -- | |Oriental, Neotropical
6. Acræidæ | -- | -- | | |All tropical regions
8. Nymphalidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
9. Libytheidæ | -- | | | |All the other regions
10. Nemeobeidæ | -- | | | |All other regions but Nearctic
13. Lycænidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
14. Pieridæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
15. Papilionidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
16. Hesperidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
| | | | |
SPHINGIDEA. | | | | |
17. Zygænidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite
18. Castniidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Neotropical
19. Agaristidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Oriental, Ethiopian
20. Uraniidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |All tropical regions
23. Sphingidæ | -- | -- | -- | -- |Cosmopolite

TABLE II.

_GENERA OF TERRESTRIAL MAMMALIA AND BIRDS INHABITING THE AUSTRALIAN REGION._

EXPLANATION.

Names in _italics_ show genera peculiar to the region.

Names enclosed thus (...) show genera which just enter the region, but
are not considered properly to belong to it.

Genera truly belonging to the region are numbered consecutively.

_MAMMALIA._

_BIRDS._

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The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 1Chapter XXXIII: Part III: Zoological Geography (13)

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