Chapter XXXI: Part III: Zoological Geography (11)

Among Mammalia we have the remarkable fact of a group of marsupials inhabiting South America, and extending even into the temperate regions of North America, while they are found in no other part of the globe beyond the limits of the Australian region; and this has often been held to be evidence of a former connection between the two countries. A preliminary objection to this view is, that the opossums seem to be rather a tropical group, only one species reaching as far as 42° south latitude on the west coast of South America; but whatever evidence we have which seems to require a former union of these countries shows that it took place, if at all, towards their cold southern limits, the tropical faunas on the whole showing no similarity. This is not a very strong objection, since climates may have changed in the south to as great an extent as we {399}know they have in the north. Perhaps a more important consideration is, that _Didelphys_ is a family type unknown in Australia; and this implies that the point of common origin is very remote in geological time. But the most conclusive fact is that in the Eocene and Miocene periods this very family, Didelphyidæ, existed in Europe, while it only appeared in America in the Post-pliocene or perhaps the Pliocene period; so that it is really an Old-World group, which, though long since extinct in its birthplace, has survived in America, to which country it is a comparatively recent emigrant. Primeval forms of marsupials we know abounded in Europe during much of the Secondary epoch, and no doubt supplied Australia with the ancestors of the present fauna. It is clear, therefore, that in this case there is not a particle of evidence for any former union between Australia and South America; while it is almost demonstrated that both derived their marsupials from a common source in the northern hemisphere.

Birds offer us more numerous but less clearly defined cases of this kind. Among Passeres, the wonderful lyre bird (_Menura_) is believed by some ornithologists to be decidedly allied to the South American Pteroptochidæ, while others maintain that it is altogether peculiar, and has no such affinity. The Australian Pachycephalidæ have also been supposed to find their nearest allies in the American Vireonidæ, but this is, perhaps, equally problematical. That the mound-makers (Megapodiidæ) of the Australian region are more nearly allied to the South American curassows (Cracidæ) than to any other family, is perhaps better established; but if proved, it is probably due, as in the case of the marsupials, to the survival of an ancient and once wide-spread type, and thus lends no support to the theory of a land connection between the two regions. A recent author, Professor Garrod, classes _Phaps_ and other Australian genera of pigeons along with _Zenaida_ and allied South American forms; but here again the affinity, if it exists, is so remote that the explanation already given will suffice to account for it. There remain only the penguins of the genus _Eudyptes_; and these have almost certainly passed from one region to the other, but {400}no actual land connection is required for birds which can cross considerable arms of the sea.

Reptiles again seem to offer no more support to the view than do mammalia or birds. Among snakes there are no families in common that have not a very wide distribution. Among lizards the Gymnopthalmidæ are the only family that favour the notion, since they are found in Australia and South America, but not in the Oriental region. Yet they occur in both the Palæarctic and Ethiopian regions, and their distribution is altogether too erratic to be of any value in a case of this kind; and the same remarks apply to the tortoises of the family Chelydidæ.

The Amphibia, however, furnish us with some more decided facts. We have first the family of tree-frogs, Pelodryade, confined to the two regions; _Litoria_, a genus of the family Hylidæ peculiar to Australia, but with one species in Paraguay; and in the family Discoglossidæ, the Australian genus _Chiroleptes_ has its nearest ally in the Chilian genus _Calyptocephalus_.

Fresh-water fishes give yet clearer evidence. Three groups are exclusively found in these two regions; _Aphritis_, a fresh-water genus of Trachinidæ, has one species in Tasmania and two others in Patagonia; the Haplochitonidæ inhabit only Terra del Fuego, the Falkland Islands and South Australia; while the genus _Galaxias_ (forming the family Galaxidæ) is confined to South Temperate America, Australia, and New Zealand. We have also the genus _Osteoglossum_ confined to the tropical rivers of Eastern South America, the Indo-Malay Islands and Australia.

It is important here to notice that the heat-loving Reptilia afford hardly any indications of close affinity between the two regions, while the cold-enduring amphibia and fresh-water fish, offer them in abundance. Taking this fact in connection with the absence of all indications of close affinity among the mammalia and terrestrial birds, the conclusion seems inevitable that there has been no land-connection between the two regions within the period of existing species, genera, or families. Yet some interchange of amphibia and fresh-water {401}fishes, as of plants and insects, has undoubtedly occurred, but this has been effected by other means. If we look at a globe we see at once how this interchange may have taken place. Immediately south of Cape Horn we have the South Shetland Islands and Graham's land, which is not improbably continuous, or nearly so, with South Victoria land immediately to the south of New Zealand. The intervening space is partly occupied by the Auckland, Campbell, and Macquaries' Islands, which, there is reason to believe are the relics of a great southern extension of New Zealand. At all events they form points which would aid the transmission of many organisms; and the farthest of the Macquaries' group, Emerald Island, is only 600 miles from the outlying islets of Victoria land. The ova of fish will survive a considerable time in the air, and the successful transmission of salmon ova to New Zealand packed in ice, shows how far they might travel on icebergs. Now there is evidently some means by which ova or young fishes are carried moderate distances, from the fact that remote alpine lakes and distinct river systems often have the same species. Glaciers and icebergs generally have pools of fresh water on their surfaces; and whatever cause transmits fish to an isolated pond might occasionally stock these pools, and by this means introduce the fishes of one southern island into another. Batrachians, which are equally patient of cold, might be transported by similar means; while, as Mr. Darwin has so well shown, (_Origin of Species_, 6th Ed. p. 345) there are various known modes by which plants might be transmitted, and we need not therefore be surprised that botanists find a much greater similarity between the production of the several Southern lands and islands, than do zoologists. It is important to notice that, however this intercommunication was effected, it has continued down to the epoch of existing species; for Dr. Günther finds the same species of fresh-water fish (_Galaxias attenuatus_) inhabiting Tasmania, New Zealand, the Falkland Islands, and Temperate South America; while another species is common to New Zealand and the Auckland Islands. We cannot believe that a land connection has existed between all these remote lands within the period of existence of this one species of fish, {402}not only on account of what we know of the permanence of continents and deep oceans, but because such a connection must have led to much more numerous and important cases of similarity of natural productions than we actually find. And if within the life of _species_ such interchange may have taken place across seas of greater or less extent, still more easy is it to understand, how, within the life of _genera_ and _families_, a number of such interchanges may have occurred; yet always limited to those groups whose conditions of life render transmission possible. Had an actual land connection existed within the temperate zone, or during a period of warmth in the Antarctic regions, there would have been no such strict limitations to the inter-migration of animals. It may be held to support the view that floating ice has had _some_ share in the transmission of fish and amphibia, when we find that in the case of the narrow tropical sea dividing Borneo from Celebes and the Moluccas, no proportionate amount of transmission has taken place, but numerous species, genera, and whole families, terminate abruptly at what we have other reasons for believing to be the furthest limits of an ancient continent. We can hardly suppose, however, that this mode of transmission would have sufficed for such groups as tree-frogs, which are inhabitants of the more temperate or even warm portions of the two southern lands. Some of these cases may perhaps be explained by the supposition of a considerable extent of land in the South-Temperate and Antarctic regions now submerged, and by a warm or temperate climate analogous to that which prevailed in the Arctic regions during some part of the Miocene epoch; while others may be due to cases of survival in the two areas of once wide-spread groups, a view supported in the case of the Amphibia by the erratic manner in which many of the groups are spread over the globe.

From an examination of the facts presented by the various classes of vertebrates, we are, then, led to the conclusion, that there is no evidence of a former land-connection between the Australian and Neotropical regions; but that the various scattered resemblances in their natural productions {403}that undoubtedly occur, are probably due to three distinct causes.

First, we have the American Didelphyidæ, among Mammals, and the Cracidæ, among birds, allied respectively to the Marsupials and the Megapodiidæ of Australia. This is probably more a coincidence than an affinity, due to the preservation of ancient wide-spread types in two remote areas, each cut off from the great northern continental masses, in which higher forms were evolved leading to the extinction of the lower types. In each of these southern isolated lands the original type would undergo a special development; in the one case suited to an arboreal existence, in the other to a life among arid plains.

The second case is that of the tree-frogs, and the genus _Osteoglossum_ among fishes; and is most likely due to the extension and approximation of the two southern continents, and the existence of some intermediate lands, during a warm period when facilities would be afforded for the transmission of a few organisms by the causes which have led to the exceptional diffusion of fresh-water productions in all parts of the world. As however _Osteoglossum_ occurs also in the Sunda Islands, this may be a case of survival of a once wide-spread group.

The third case is that of the same genera and even species of fish, and perhaps of frogs, in the two countries; which may be due to transmission from island to island by the aid of floating ice, with or without the assistance of more intervening lands than now exist.

Having arrived at these conclusions from a consideration of the vertebrata, we shall be in a position to examine how far the same causes will explain, or agree with, the distribution of the invertebrate groups, or elucidate any special difficulties we may meet with in the relations of the sub-regions.

_Insects._

The insects of the Australian region are as varied, and in some respects as peculiar as its higher forms of life. As we have already indicated in our sketch of the Oriental region, a vast number of forms inhabit the Austro-Malay sub-region {404}which are absent from Australia proper. Such of these as are common to the Malay archipelago as a whole, have been already noted; we shall here confine ourselves more especially to the groups peculiar to the region, which are almost all either Australian or Austro-Malayan, the Pacific Islands and New Zealand being very poor in insect life.

_Lepidoptera._--Australia itself is poor in butterflies, except in its northern and more tropical parts, where green _Ornithopteræ_ and several other Malayan forms occur. In South Australia there are less than thirty-five species, whereas in Queensland there are probably over a hundred. The peculiar Australian forms are few. In the family Satyridæ, _Xenica_ and _Heteronympha_, with _Hypocista_ extending to New Guinea; among the Lycænidæ, _Ogyris_ and _Utica_ are confined to Australia proper, and _Hypochrysops_ to the region; and in Papilionidæ, the remarkable _Eurycus_ is confined to Australia, but is allied to _Euryades_, a genus found in Temperate South America (La Plata), and to the _Parnassius_ of the North-Temperate zone.

The Austro-Malay sub-region has more peculiar forms. _Hamadryas_, a genus of Danaidæ, approximates to some South American forms; _Hyades_ and _Hyantis_ are remarkable groups of Morphidæ; _Mynes_ and _Prothoë_ are fine Nymphalidæ, the former extending to Queensland; _Dicallaneura_, a genus of Erycinidæ, and _Elodina_, of Pieridæ, are also peculiar forms. The fine _Ægeus_ group of _Papilio_, and _Priamus_ group of _Ornithoptera_, also belong exclusively to this region.

_Xois_ is confined to the Fiji Islands, _Bletogona_ to Celebes, and _Acropthalmia_ to New Zealand, all genera of Satyridæ. Seventeen genera in all are confined to the Australian region.

Among the Sphingina, _Pollanisus_, a genus of Zygænidæ, is Australian; also four genera of Castniidæ--_Synemon_, _Euschemon_, _Damias_, and _Cocytia_, the latter being confined to the Papuan islands. The occurrence of this otherwise purely South American family in the Australian region, as well as the affinity of _Eurycus_ and _Euryades_ noticed above, is interesting; but as we have seen that the genera and families of insects are more permanent than those of the higher animals, and as the groups in question are {405}confined to the warmer parts of both countries, they may be best explained as cases of survival of a once wide-spread type, and may probably date back to the period when the ancestors of the Marsupials and Megapodii were cut off from the rest of the world.

_Coleoptera._--The same remark applies here as in the Lepidoptera, respecting the affinity of the Austro-Malay fauna to that of Indo-Malay Islands; but Australia proper is much richer in beetles than in butterflies, and exhibits much more speciality. Although the other two parts of the Australian region (Polynesia and New Zealand) are very poor in beetles, it will, nevertheless, on the whole compare favourably with any of the regions except the very richest.

Cicindelidæ are not very abundant. _Therates_ and _Tricondyla_ are the characteristic genera in Austro-Malaya, but are absent from Australia, where we have _Tetracha_ as the most characteristic genus, with one species of _Megacephala_ and two of _Distypsidera_, a genus which is found also in New Zealand and some of the Pacific Islands. The occurrence of the South American genus, _Tetracha_, may perhaps be due to a direct transfer by means of intervening lands during the warm southern period; but considering the permanence of coleopterous forms (as shown by the Miocene species belonging almost wholly to existing genera), it seems more probable that it is a case of the survival of a once wide-spread group.

Carabidæ are well represented, there being no less than 94 peculiar genera, of which 19 are confined to New Zealand. The Australian genera of most importance are _Carenum_ (68 species), _Promecoderus_ (27 species), _Silphomorpha_ (32 species), _Adelotopus_ (27 species), _Scaraphites_ (25 species), _Notonomus_ (18 species), _Gnathoxys_ (12 species), _Eutoma_ (9 species), _Ænigma_ (15 species), _Lacordairea_ (8 species), _Pamborus_ (8 species), _Catadromus_ (4 species),--the latter found in Australia and Celebes. Common to Australia and New Zealand are _Mecodema_ (14 species), _Homalosoma_ (32 species), _Dicrochile_ (12 species), and _Scopodes_ (5 species). The larger genera, confined to New Zealand only, are _Metaglymma_ (8 species), and _Demetrida_ (3 species). The curious genus _Pseudomorpha_ (10 species), is divided between California, Brazil, {406}and Australia; and the Australian genera, _Adelotopus_, _Silphomorpha_, and _Sphallomorpha_, form with it a distinct tribe of Coleoptera. These being all confined to the warmer regions, and having so scattered a distribution, are no doubt the relics of a widespread group. The Australian genus, _Promecoderus_, has, however, closely allied genera (_Cascelius_ and its allies), in Chili and Patagonia; while two small genera confined to the Auckland Islands (_Heterodactylus_ and _Pristancyclus_) are allied to a group found only in Terra-del-Fuego and the Falkland Islands, (_Migadops_); and in these cases we may well believe that a direct transmission has taken place by some of the various means already indicated.

In Lucanidæ, Australia is only moderately rich, having 7 peculiar genera. The most important are _Ceratognathus_ and _Rhyssonotus_, confined to Australia; _Lissotes_ to Australia and New Zealand; _Lamprima_ to Australia and Papua. _Mitophyllus_ and _Dendroblax_ inhabit New Zealand only; while _Syndesus_ is found in Australia, New Caledonia, and tropical South America.

The beautiful Cetoniidæ are poorly represented, there being only 3 peculiar genera;--_Schizorhina_, mainly Australian, but extending to Papua and the Moluccas; _Anacamptorhina_, confined to New Guinea, and _Sternoplus_ to Celebes. _Lomaptera_ is very characteristic of the Austro-Malay Islands. This almost tropical family shows no approximations between the Australian and Neotropical faunas.

In Buprestidæ, the Australian region is the richest, possessing no less than 47 genera, of which 20 are peculiar to it. Of these, 15 are peculiar to Australia itself, the most important being _Stigmodera_ (212 species), _Ethon_ (13 species), and _Nascio_ (3 species); _Cisseis_ (17 species), and the magnificent _Calodema_ (3 species), are common to Australia and Austro-Malaya; while _Sambus_ (10 species) and _Anthaxomorpha_ (4 species), with some smaller groups, are peculiarly Austro-Malayan. In this family occur several points of contact with the Neotropical region. _Stigmodera_ is said to have a species in Chili, while there are undoubtedly several allied genera in Chili and South Temperate America. The genus _Curis_ has 5 Australian and 3 Chilian species, and {407}_Acherusia_ has 2 species in Brazil, 1 in Australia. These resemblances may probably have arisen from intercommunication during the warm southern period, when floating timber would occasionally transmit a few larvæ of this family from island to island across the antarctic seas. When the cold period returned, they would spread northward, and become more or less modified under the new physical conditions and organic competition, to which they were subjected.

We now come to the very important group of Longicorns, in which the Australian region as a whole, is very rich, possessing 360 genera, of which 263 are peculiar to it. Of these about 50 are confined to the Austro-Malay Islands, 12 to New Zealand, and the remainder to Australia proper with Tasmania. Of the genera confined to, or highly characteristic of Australia, the following are the most important:--_Cnemoplites_, belonging to the Prionidæ; _Phoracantha_, to the Cerambycidæ; _Zygocera_, _Hebecerus_, _Symphyletes_, and _Rhytidophora_, to the Lamiidæ. Confined to the Austro-Malay Islands are _Tethionea_ (Cerambycidæ): _Tmesisternus_, _Arrhenotus_, _Micracantha_, and _Sybra_ (Lamiidæ); but there are also such Malayan genera as _Batocera_, _Gnoma_, _Praonetha_, and _Sphenura_, which are very abundant in the Austro-Malay sub-region. A species of each of the Australian genera, _Zygocera_, _Syllitus_, and _Pseudocephalus_, is said to occur in Chili, and one of the tropical American genus, _Hammatochærus_, in tropical Australia; an amount of resemblance which, as in the case of the Buprestidæ, may be imputed to trans-oceanic migration during the Southern warm period. This concludes our illustrations of the distribution of some of the more important groups of Australian insects; and it will be admitted that we have not met with any such an amount of identity with the fauna of Temperate South America, as to require us to modify the conclusions we arrived at from a consideration of the vertebrate groups.

_Land-Shells._--The distribution of many of the larger genera of land-shells is very erratic, while others are exceedingly restricted, so that it requires an experienced conchologist to investigate the affinities of the several groups, and thus work {408}out the important facts of distribution. All that can be done here is to note the characteristic and peculiar genera, and any others presenting features of special interest.

In the great family of the snails (Helicidæ), the only genera strictly confined to the region are, _Partula_, now containing above 100 species, and ranging over the Pacific from the Solomon Isles on the west, to the Sandwich Islands and Tahiti on the east; and _Achatinella_, now containing nearly 300 species, and wholly confined to the Sandwich Islands. _Pfeifferia_ is confined to the Philippine Islands and Moluccas; _Cochlostyla_ to the Indo-Malay Islands and Australia; _Bulimus_ occurs in most of the insular groups, including New Zealand, but is absent from Australia.

Among the Aciculidæ, the widely-scattered _Truncatella_ is the only genus represented. Among Diplommatinidæ, _Diplommatina_ is the characteristic genus, ranging over the whole region, and found elsewhere as far as India, with one species in Trinidad. The extensive family Cyclostomidæ, is not well represented. Seven genera reach the Austro-Malay Islands, one of which, _Registoma_, is confined to the Philippines, Moluccas, New Caledonia, and the Marshall Islands. _Omphalotropis_ is the most characteristic genus, ranging over the whole region; _Callia_ is confined to the Philippines, Ceram, and Australia; _Realia_ to New Zealand and the Marquesas. The genus _Helicina_ alone represents the Helicinidæ, and is found in the whole region except New Zealand. The number of species known from Australia is perhaps about 300; while the Polynesian sub-region, according to Mr. Harper Pease, contains over 600; the Austro-Malay Islands will furnish probably 200; and New Zealand about 100; making a total of about 1,200 species for the whole region.

AUSTRALIAN SUB-REGIONS.

Few of the great zoological regions comprise four divisions so strongly contrasted as these, or which present so many interesting problems. We have first the Austro-Malay Islands, an equatorial forest-region teeming with varied and beautiful forms of life; next we have Australia itself, an island-continent with its satellite {409}Tasmania, both tropical and temperate, but for the most part arid, yet abounding in peculiar forms in all the classes of animals; then come the Polynesian Islands, another luxuriant region of tropical vegetation, yet excessively poor in most of the higher groups of animals as well as in some of the lower; and lastly, we have New Zealand, a pair of temperate forest-clad islands far in the southern ocean, with a very limited yet strange and almost wholly peculiar fauna. We have now to consider the general features and internal relations of the faunas of each of these sub-regions, together with any external relations which have not been discussed while treating the region as a whole.

_I. Austro-Malayan Sub-region._

The central mass on which almost every part of this sub-region is clearly dependent, is the great island of New Guinea, inhabited by the Papuan race of mankind; and this, with the surrounding islands, which are separated from it by shallow seas and possess its most marked zoological features, are termed Papua. A little further away lie the important groups of the Moluccas on one side and the Eastern Papuan Islands on the other, which possess a fauna mainly derivative from New Guinea, yet wanting many of its distinctive types; and, in the case of the Moluccas possessing many groups which are not Australian, but derived from the adjacent Oriental region. To the south of these we have the Timor group, whose fauna is clearly derivative, from Australia, from Java, and from the Moluccas. Lastly comes Celebes, whose fauna is most complex and puzzling, and, so far as we can judge, not fundamentally derivative from any of the surrounding islands.

_Papua, or the New Guinea Group._--New Guinea is very deficient in Mammalia as compared with Australia, though this apparent poverty may, in part, depend on our very scanty knowledge. As yet only four of the Australian families of Marsupials are known to inhabit it, with nine genera, several of which are peculiar. It also possesses a peculiar form of wild pig; but as yet no other non-marsupial terrestrial mammal has been discovered, except a rat, described by Dr. Gray as _Uromys {410}aruensis_, but about the locality of which there seems some doubt.[13] Omitting bats, of which our knowledge is very imperfect, the Papuan Mammals are as follows:--

Family. Genus. Species.

Suidæ _Sus_ 1 Eastern limit of the genus.
Muridæ _Uromys_ 1 Aru Islands (?)
Dasyuridæ _Phascogale_ 1 Australian genus.
" _Antechinus_ 1 " "
" _Dactylopsila_ 1 To North Australia only.
" _Myoictis_ 1 Aru islands only.
Peramelidæ _Perameles_ 1 New Guinea only.
Macropodidæ _Dendrolagus_ 2 New Guinea only.
" _Dorcopsis_ 2 Papua only.
Phalangistidæ _Cuscus_ 7 Celebes to New Guinea.
" _Belideus_ 1 Australia and Moluccas.

We have here no sign of any approach to the Mammalian fauna of the Oriental region, for though _Sus_ has appeared, the Muridæ (rats and mice) seem to be wanting.

In Birds the case is very different, since we at once meet with important groups, either wholly, or almost peculiar to the Papuan fauna. According to a careful estimate, embodying the recent discoveries of Meyer and D'Albertis, there are 350 species of Papuan land-birds comprised in 136 genera. About 300 of the species are absolutely peculiar to the district, while 39 of the genera are exclusively Papuan or just extend into the Moluccas, or into North Australia where it closely approaches New Guinea. In analysing the genera we may set aside 31 as having a wide range, and being of no significance in distribution; such are most of the birds of prey, with the genera _Hirundo_, _Caprimulgus_, _Zosterops_; and others widely spread in both the Oriental and Australian regions, as _Dicæum_, _Munia_, _Eudynamis_, &c. Of the remainder, as above stated, about 39 are peculiar to the Papuan fauna, 50 are characteristic Australian genera; 9 are more especially Malayan, and as much Australian as Oriental; while 7 only, appear to be typically Oriental with a discontinuous distribution, none of them occurring in the Moluccas.

{411}This Papuan fauna is so interesting and remarkable, that it seems advisable to give lists of these several classes of generic types.

I. Genera occurring in the Papuan Islands which are characteristic of the Australian region (89). Those marked with an asterisk are exclusively Papuan.

Sylviidæ _Malurus_, _Gerygone_, _Petroica_, _Orthonyx_.
Certhiidæ _Climacteris_.
Sittidæ _Sittella_.
Oriolidæ _Mimeta_.
Campephagidæ _Graucalus_, _Lalage_.
Dicruridæ *_Chætorhynchus_.
Muscicapidæ *_Peltops_, _Monarcha_, *_Leucophantes_, _Microeca_,
_Sisura_, _Myiagra_, *_Machærirhynchus_,
_Rhipidura_, *_Todopsis_.
Pachycephalidæ _Pachycephala_.
Laniidæ *_Rectes_.
Corvidæ _Cracticus_, *_Gymnocorvus_.
Paradiseidæ *_Paradisea_, *_Manucodia_, *_Astrapia_, *_Parotia_,
*_Lophorina_, *_Diphyllodes_, *_Xanthomelus_,
*_Cicinnurus_, *_Paradigalla_, *_Epimachus_,
*_Drepanornis_, *_Seleucides_, _Ptilorhis_,
_Æluroedus_, *_Amblyornis_.
Meliphagidæ _Myzomela_, _Entomophila_, _Glicyphila_, _Ptilotis_,
*_Melidectes_, *_Melipotes_, *_Melirrhophetes_,
_Anthochæra_, _Philemon_, *_Euthyrhynchus_,
_Melithreptes_.
Nectariniidæ _Chalcostetha_, *_Cosmetira_.
Artamidæ _Artamus_.
Pittidæ *_Melampitta_.
Cuculidæ *_Caliechthrus_.
Alcedinidæ _Alcyone_, *_Syma_, _Dacelo_, *_Tanysiptera_,
*_Melidora_.
Podargidæ _Podargus_, _Ægotheles_.
Caprimulgidæ _Eurostopodus_.
Cacatuidæ _Cacatua_, *_Microglossus_, _Licmetis_, *_Nasiterna_.
Platycercidæ _Aprosmictus_
Palæornithidæ _Tanygnathus_, _Eclectus_, _Geoffroyus_,
*_Cyclopsitta_.
Trichoglossidæ _Trichoglossus_, *_Charmosyna_, _Eos_, _Lorius_.
Nestoridæ *_Dasyptilus_.
Columbidæ _Ptilopus_, _Carpophaga_, _Ianthoenas_,
_Reinwardtoenas_, *_Trugon_, *_Henicophaps_,
_Phlogoenas_, *_Otidiphaps_, *_Goura_.
Megapodiidæ _Talegallus_, _Megapodius_.
Falconidæ *_Henicopernis_.
Casuariidæ _Casuarius_.

The chief points of interest here are the richness and specialization of the parrots, pigeons, and kingfishers; the wonderful paradise-birds; the honeysuckers; and some remarkable flycatchers. {412}The most prominent deficiencies, as compared with Australia, are in Sylviidæ, Timaliidæ, Ploceidæ, Platycercidæ, and Falconidæ.

II. The genera which are characteristic of the whole Malay Archipelago are the following (10):--

1. _Erythrura_ (Ploceidæ)
2. _Pitta_ (Pittidæ)
3. _Ceyx_ (Alcedinidæ)
4. _Calao_ (Bucerotidæ)
5. _Dendrochelidon_ (Cypselidæ)
6. _Loriculus_ (Psittacidæ)
7. _Macropygia_ (Columbidæ)
8. _Chalcophaps_ "
9. _Caloenas_ "
10. _Baza_ (Falconidæ)

III. The curious set of genera apparently of Indo-Malayan origin, but unknown in the Moluccas, are as follows:--

1. _Eupetes_ (Cinclidæ)
2. _Alcippe_ (Timaliidæ)
3. _Pomatorhinus_ "
4. _Arachnothera_ (Nectariniidæ)
5. _Prionochilus_ (Dicæidæ)
6. _Eulabes_ (Sturnidæ)

The above six birds are very important as indicating past changes in the Austro-Malay Islands, and we must say a few words about each. (1) _Eupetes_ is very remarkable, since the New Guinea birds resemble in all important characters that which is confined to Malacca and Sumatra. They are probably the survivors of a once wide-spread Malayan group. (2) _Alcippe_ or _Drymocataphus_ (for in which genus the birds should be placed is doubtful) seems another clear case of a typical Indo-Malayan form occurring in New Guinea and Java, but in no intervening island. (3) _Pomatorhinus_ is a most characteristic Himalayan and Indo-Malayan genus, occurring again in New Guinea and also in Australia, but in no intermediate island. The New Guinea bird seems as nearly related to Oriental as Australian species. (4) _Arachnothera_ is exactly parallel to _Alcippe_, occurring nowhere east of Borneo except in New Guinea. (5) _Prionochilus_, a small black bird, sometimes classed as a distinct genus, but evidently allied to the _Prionochili_ of the Indo-Malay Islands. (6) _Eulabes_, the genus which contains the well known Mynahs of India, extends east of Java as far as Flores, but is not found in Celebes or the Moluccas. The two New Guinea species are sometimes classed in different genera, but they are undoubtedly allied to the Mynahs of India and Malaya.

We find then, that while the ornithology of New Guinea is {413}preeminently Australian in character and possesses many peculiar developments of Australian types, it has also--as might be expected from its geographical position, its climate, and its vegetation--received an infusion of Malayan forms. But while one group of these is spread over the whole Archipelago, and occasionally beyond it, there is another group which presents the unusual and interesting feature of discontinuous distribution, jumping over a thousand miles of island-studded sea from Java and Borneo to New Guinea itself. It is a parallel case to that of Java in the Oriental region, which we have already discussed, but the suggested explanation in that case is more difficult to apply here. The recent soundings by the _Challenger_ show us, that although the several islands of the Moluccas are surrounded by water from 1,200 to 2,800 fathoms deep, yet these seas form inclosed basins with rims not more than from 400 to 900 fathoms deep, suggesting the idea of great lakes or inland seas which have sunk down bodily with the surrounding land, or that enormous local and restricted elevations and subsidences have here occurred. We have also the numerous small islands and coral banks south of Celebes and eastward towards Timor-Laut and the Aru Islands, indicating great subsidence; and it is possible that there was an extension of Papua to the west, approaching sufficiently near to Java to receive occasional straggling birds of Indo-Malay type, altogether independent of the Moluccas to the north.

_Bright Colours and Ornamental Plumage of New Guinea Birds._--One of the most striking features of Papuan ornithology is the large proportion which the handsome and bright-coloured birds bear to the more obscure species. That this is really the case has been ascertained by going over my own collections, made at Aru and New Guinea, and comparing them with my collection made at Malacca--a district remarkable for the number of handsome birds it produces. Using, as nearly as possible, the same standard of beauty, about one-third of the Malacca birds may be classed as handsome,[14] while in Papua the proportion comes out exactly one-half. This is due, in part to the great abundance of {414}parrots, cockatoos, and lories, almost all of which are beautiful; and of pigeons, more than half of which are very beautiful; as well as to the numerous kingfishers, most of which are excessively brilliant. Then we have the absence of thrushes, and the very small numbers of the warblers, shrikes, and Timaliidæ, which are dull-coloured groups; and, lastly, the presence of numerous gay pittas, flycatchers, and the unequalled family of paradise-birds. A large number of birds adorned with metallic plumage is also a marked feature of this fauna, more than a dozen genera being so distinguished. Among the remarkable forms are _Peltops_, a flycatcher, long classed as one of the Indo-Malayan Eurylæmidæ, which it resembles both in bill and coloration; _Machærirhynchus_, curious little boat-billed flycatchers; and _Todopsis_, a group of terrestrial flycatchers with the brilliant colours of _Pitta_ or _Malurus_. The paradise-birds present the most wonderful developments of plumage and the most gorgeous varieties of colour, to be found among passerine birds. The great whiskered-swift, the handsomest bird in the entire family, has its head-quarters here. Among kingfishers the elegant long-tailed _Tanysipteræ_ are preeminent, whether for singularity or beauty. Among parrots, New Guinea possesses the great black cockatoo, one of the largest and most singular birds in the order; _Nasiterna_, the smallest of known parrots; and _Charmosyna_, perhaps the most elegant. Lastly, among the pigeons we have the fine crowned-pigeons, the largest and most remarkable group of the order.

Plate X.

SCENE IN NEW GUINEA, WITH CHARACTERISTIC ANIMALS.

_Plate X. Illustrating the Ornithology of New Guinea._--The wonderful ornithological fauna we have just sketched, could only be properly represented in a series of elaborate coloured plates. We are obliged here to confine ourselves to representing a few of the more remarkable types of form, as samples of the great number that adorn this teeming bird-land. The large central figure is the fine twelve-wired paradise-bird (_Seleucides albus_), one of the most beautiful and remarkable of the family. Its general plumage appears, at first sight, to be velvety black; but on closer examination, and by holding the bird in various lights, it is found that every part of it glows with the most exquisite metallic tints--rich bronze, intense violet, and, on the {415}edges of the breast-feathers, brilliant green. An immense tuft of dense plumes of a fine orange-buff colour, springs from each side of the body, and six of these on each side terminate in a black curled rachis or shaft, which form a perfectly unique adornment to this lovely bird. To appreciate this wonderful family (of which no good mounted collection exists) the reader should examine the series of plates in Mr. Elliot's great work on the Paradiseidæ, where every species is figured of the size of life, and with a perfection of colouring that leaves little to be desired.

Below the _Seleucides_ is one of the elegant racquet-tailed king-hunters (_Tanysiptera galatea_) whose plumage of vivid blue and white, and coral-red bill, combined with the long spatulate tail, renders this bird one of the most attractive of the interesting family of kingfishers. On a high branch is seated the little Papuan parroquet (_Charmosyna papuensis_), one of the Trichoglossidæ, or brush-tongued parrots,--richly adorned in red and yellow plumage, and with an unusually long and slender tail. On the ground is the well-known crowned pigeon (_Goura coronata_), a genus which is wholly confined to New Guinea and a few of the adjacent islands. One of the very few Papuan mammals, a tree-kangaroo (_Dendrolagus inustus_), is seated on a high branch. It is interesting, as an arboreal modification of a family which in Australia is purely terrestrial; and as showing how very little alteration of form or structure is needed to adapt an animal to such a different mode of life.

_Reptiles and Amphibia._--Of these classes comparatively little is at present known, but there is evidence that the same intermixture of Oriental and Australian forms that occurs in birds and insects, is also found here. Dr. A. B. Meyer, the translator of this work into German, and well known for his valuable discoveries in New Guinea, has kindly furnished me with a manuscript list of Papuan reptiles, from which most of the information I am able to give is derived.

Of Snakes, 24 genera, are known, belonging to 11 families. Six of the genera are Oriental,--_Calamaria_, _Cerberus_, _Chrysopelea_, _Lycodon_, _Chersydrus_, and _Ophiophagus_. Four are Australian,--_Morelia_, {416}_Liasis_, _Diemenia_, and _Acanthophis_; while four others are more especially Papuan,--_Dibamus_ (Typhlopidæ), _Brachyorros_--a sub-genus of the wide-spread _Rhabdosoma_ (Calamariidæ), found also in Timor; _Nardoa_ and _Enygrus_ (Pythonidæ), ranging from the Moluccas to the Fiji Islands. The rest are either common to the Oriental and Australian regions or of wide range.

Of Lizards also, 24 genera are recorded, belonging to 5 families. Three only are peculiarly Oriental,--_Eumeces_, _Tiaris_, and _Nycteridium_; but another, _Gonyocephalus_, is Malayan, ranging from Java and Borneo to the Pelew Islands. Three are Australian,--_Cyclodus_, _Heteropus_, and _Gehyra_; while six are especially Papuan,--_Keneuxia_ (extending to the Philippines), _Elania_, _Carlia_ (to North Australia), _Lipinia_ (to the Philippine Islands), and _Tribolonotus_,--all belonging to the Scincidæ; and _Arua_ belonging to the Agamidæ. We must add _Cryptoblepharus_, which is confined to the Australian region, except a species in Mauritius. The other genera have a wider distribution.

The preponderant Oriental element in the snakes as compared with the lizards, is suggestive of the dispersal of the former being dependent on floating trees, or even on native canoes, which for an unknown period have traversed these seas, and in which various species of snakes often secrete themselves. This seems the more probable, as snakes are usually more restricted in their range than lizards, and exhibit less numerous examples of widespread genera and species. The other orders of reptiles present no features of interest.

Of Amphibia only 8 genera are known, belonging to 6 families. _Rana_, _Hylarana_, and _Hyla_ are wide-spread genera, the former being, however, absent from Australia. _Hyperolius_, _Pelodryas_, _Litoria_, and _Asterophrys_ are Australian; while _Platymantis_ is Polynesian, with a species in the Philippine Islands. Hence it appears that the amphibia, so far as yet known, exhibit no Oriental affinity; and this is a very suggestive fact. We have seen (p. 29) that salt water is almost a complete barrier to the dispersal of these creatures; so that the wholly Australian character of the Papuan batrachia is what we might expect, if, as here advocated, no actual land connection between {417}the Oriental and Australian regions, has probably occurred during the entire Tertiary and Post-tertiary periods.

_Insects._--The general character of the Papuan insects has been sufficiently indicated in our sketch of the Entomology of the region. We will here only add, that the metallic lustre so prevalent among the birds, is also apparent in such insects as _Sphingnotus mirabilis_, a most brilliant metallic Longicorn; _Lomaptera wallacei_ and _Anacamptorhina fulgida_, Cetonii of intense lustre; _Calodema wallacei_ among the Buprestidæ; and the elegant blue _Eupholi_ among the weevils. Even among moths we have _Cocytia durvillii_, remarkable for its brilliant metallic colours.

_The Moluccas._--The islands of Gilolo, Bouru, and Ceram, with several smaller islands adjacent, together with Sanguir, and perhaps Tulour or Salibaboo to the north-west, and the islands from Ke to Timor-Laut to the south-east, form the group of the Moluccas or Spice-Islands, remarkable for the luxuriance of their vegetation and the extreme beauty of their birds and insects. Their Mammalia are of Papuan character, with some foreign intermixture. Two genera of the New Guinea marsupials, _Belideus_ and _Cuscus_, abound; and we have also the wide-spread _Sus_. But besides these, we find no less than five genera of placental Mammals quite foreign to the Papuan or Australian faunas. These are 1. _Cynopithecus nigrescens_, found only in the small island of Batchian, and probably introduced from Celebes, where the same ape occurs. 2. _Viverra tangalunga_, a common Indo-Malayan species of civet, probably introduced. 3. _Cervus hippelaphus_, var. _Moluccensis_, a deer abundant in all the islands, very close to a Javan species and almost certainly introduced by man, perhaps very long ago. 4. _Babirusa alfurus_, the babirusa, found only in the island of Bouru, and perhaps originally introduced from Celebes. 5. _Sorex_ sp., small shrews. With the exception of the last, _all_ these species are animals habitually domesticated and kept in confinement by the Malays; and when we consider that none of the smaller Mammalia of Java and Borneo, numbering at least fifty different species, are found {418}in any of the Moluccas, we can hardly suppose that such large animals as the deer and ape, could have reached them by natural means. There is every reason to believe, therefore, that the indigenous Mammalia of the Moluccas are wholly of Papuan stock, and very limited in number.

The birds are much more varied and interesting. About 200 species of land-birds are now known, belonging to 85 genera. Of the species about 15 are Indo-Malayan, 32 Papuan, and about 140 peculiar. Of the genera only two are peculiar,--_Semioptera_, a paradise bird, and _Lycocorax_, a singular form of Corvidæ; but there is also a peculiar rail-like wader, _Habroptila_. One genus, _Basilornis_, is found only in Ceram and Celebes; another, _Scythrops_, is Australian, and perhaps a migrant. About 30 genera are characteristic Papuan types, and 37 others, of more or less wide range, are found in New Guinea and were therefore probably derived thence. There remains a group of birds which are not found in New Guinea, and are either Palæarctic or Oriental. These are 13 in number as follows:--

1. Monticola.
2. Acrocephalus.
3. Cisticola.
4. Hypolais.
5. Criniger.
6. Butalis.
7. Budytes.
8. Corydalla.
9. Hydrornis.
10. Batrachostomus.
11. Loriculus.
12. Treron.
13. Neopus.

Of these the _Monticola_, found only in Gilolo, appears to be a straggler or migrant from the Philippine islands. _Acrocephalus_, of which four species occur, is a wide-spread group; one of the Moluccan birds is an Australian and another a North-Asian species, which perhaps indicates that there has long been some migration southward from island to island, across the Moluccas. _Cisticola_ is a genus of very wide range, extending to Australia. _Hypolais_ is probably a modified form of a Chinese or Javanese species. _Criniger_ is a pure Indo-Malay form, represented here by three fine species. _Butalis_ is a Chinese species, no doubt straggling southward. _Budytes_ and _Corydalla_ are widespread Oriental and Palæarctic species or slight modifications of them. _Hydrornis_ is a Malayan form of Pittidæ. _Batrachostomus_ is a distinct representative of a purely Indo-Malay genus. {419}_Loriculus_ is Malayan, and especially Philippine, but it reaches as far as Mysol. _Treron_ is here at its eastern limit, and is represented in Bouru and Ceram by one of the most beautiful species. _Neopus_, a Malayan eagle, is said to occur in the Moluccas. We find then only three characteristic Indo-Malay types in the Moluccas,--_Criniger_, _Batrachostomus_, and _Treron_. All are represented by distinct and well marked species, indicating a somewhat remote period since their ancestors entered the district, but all are birds of considerable powers of flight, so that a very little extension of the islands in a south-westerly direction would afford the means of transmission, but this could not well have been by way of Celebes, because the two former genera are unknown in that island.

It is evident, therefore, that the Moluccas are wholly Papuan in their zoology; yet they are no less clearly derivative, and must have obtained their original immigrants under conditions that rendered a full representation of the fauna impossible. Such remarkable and dominant types as the eleven genera of Paradiseidæ, with _Cracticus_, _Rectes_, _Todopsis_, _Machærirhynchus_, _Gerygone_, _Dacelo_, _Podargus_, _Cyclopsitta_, _Microglossum_, _Nasiterna_, _Chalcopsitta_, and _Goura_,--all characteristic Papuan groups, found in almost all the islands and most of them very abundant, are yet totally absent from the Moluccas. Taking this, in conjunction with the absence of the two genera of Papuan kangaroos and the other smaller groups of marsupials, and we must be convinced that the Moluccas cannot be mere fragments of the old Papuan land, or they would certainly, in some one or other of their large and fertile islands, have preserved a more complete representation of the parent fauna. Most of the Moluccan birds are very distinct from the allied species of New Guinea; and this would imply that the entrance of the original forms took place at a remote period. The two peculiar genera with clearly Papuan affinities, show the same thing. The cassowary, found only in the large island of Ceram and distinct from any Papuan species, would however seem to have required a land connection for its introduction, almost as much as any of the larger mammalia.

{420}Taking all the facts into consideration, I would suggest as the most probable explanation, that if the Moluccas ever formed part of the main Papuan land, they were separated at an early date, and subsequently so greatly submerged as to destroy a large proportion of their fauna. They have since risen, and have probably been larger than at present, and rather more closely approximated to the parent land, whence they received a considerable immigration of such animals as were adapted to cross narrow seas. This gave them several Papuan forms, but still left them without a number of the types more especially confined to the forest depths, or powerful enough to combat the gales which often blow weaker flyers out to sea. Most of the birds whose absence from the Moluccas is so conspicuous belong to one or other of these classes.

Among the most characteristic birds of the Moluccas are the handsome crimson lories of the genera _Lorius_ and _Eos_. These are found in every island (but not in Celebes or the Timor group); and a fine species of _Eos_, peculiar to the small islands of Siau and Sanguir, just north of Celebes, obliges us to place these with the Moluccas instead of with the former island, to which they seem most naturally to belong. The crimson parrots of the genus _Eclectus_ are almost equally characteristic of the Moluccas, and add greatly to the brilliancy of the ornithology of these favoured islands.

_Reptiles._--The Reptiles, so far as known, appear to agree in their distribution with the other vertebrates. In some small collections from Ceram there were no less than six of the genera peculiar to the Australian region, and which were before only known from Australia itself. These are, of snakes, _Liasis_ and _Enygrus_, genera of Pythonidæ; with _Diemenia_ and _Acanthophis_ (Elapidæ); of lizards, _Cyclodus_, a genus of Scincidæ; and of Amphibia, a tree-frog of the genus _Pelodryas_.

_Insects--Peculiarities of the Moluccan Fauna._--In insects the Moluccas are hardly, if at all, inferior to New Guinea itself. The islands abound in grand _Papilios_ of the largest size and extreme beauty; and it is a very remarkable fact, that when the closely-allied species of the Moluccas and New Guinea are compared, {421}the former are almost always the largest. As examples may be mentioned, _Ornithoptera priamus_ and _O. helena_ of the Moluccas, both larger than the varieties (or species) of Papua; _Papilio ulysses_ and _deiphobus_ of Amboyna, usually larger than their allies in New Guinea; _Hestia idea_, the largest species of the genus; _Diadema pandarus_ and _Charaxes euryalus_, both larger than any other species of the same genera in the whole archipelago. It is to be noted also, that in the Moluccas, the very largest specimens or races seem always to come from the small island of Amboyna; even those of Ceram, the much larger island to which it is a satellite, being almost always of less dimensions. Among Coleoptera, the Moluccas produce _Euchirus longimanus_, one of the largest and most remarkable of the Lamellicornes; _Sphingnotus dunningi_, the largest of the Austro-Malayan Tmesisterninæ; a _Sphenura_, the largest and handsomest of an extensive genus; an unusually large _Schizorhina_ (Cetoniidæ); and some of the most remarkable and longest-horned Anthotribidæ. Even in birds the same law may be seen at work,--in the _Tanysiptera nais_ of Ceram, which has a larger tail than any other in the genus; in _Centropus goliath_ of Gilolo, being the largest and longest-tailed species; in _Hydrornis maximus_ of Gilolo, the largest and perhaps the most elegantly and conspicuously coloured of all the Pittidæ; in _Platycercus amboinensis_, being pre-eminent in its ample blue tail; in the two Moluccan lories and _Eos rubra_, being more conspicuously red than the allied New Guinea species; and in _Megapodius wallacei_ of Bouru, being the only species of the genus conspicuously marked and banded.

All these examples, of larger size, of longer tails or other appendages, and of more conspicuous colouring, are probably indications of a less severe struggle for existence in these islands than in the larger tract of New Guinea, with a more abundant and more varied fauna; and this may apply even to the smaller islands, as compared with the larger in the immediate vicinity. The limited number of forms in the small islands compared with a similar area in the parent land, implies, perhaps, less competition and less danger; and thus allows, where all other conditions are favourable, an unchecked and continuous {422}development in size, form, and colour, until they become positively injurious. This law may not improbably apply to the New Guinea fauna itself, as compared with that of Borneo or any other similar country; and some of its peculiarities (such as its wonderful paradise-birds) may be due to long isolation, and consequent freedom from the influence of any competing forms. The difference between the very sober colours of the Coleoptera, and in a less degree of the birds, of Borneo, as compared with their brilliancy in New Guinea, always struck me most forcibly, and was long without any, even conjectural, explanation. It is not the place here to go further into this most curious and interesting subject. The reader who wishes for additional facts to aid him in forming an opinion, should consult Mr. Darwin's _Descent of Man_, chapters x. to xv.; and my own _Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection_, chapters iii. and iv.

_Timor Group._--_Mammalia._--In the group of islands between Java and Australia, from Lombok to Timor inclusive, we find a set of mammals similar to those of the Moluccas, but some of them different species. A wide-spread species of _Cuscus_ represents the Papuan element. A _Sorex_ and a peculiar species of wild pig, we may also accept as indigenous. Three others have almost certainly been introduced. These are, (1.) _Macacus cynomolgus_, the very commonest Malay monkey, which may have crossed the narrow straits from island to island between Java and Timor, though it seems much more probable that it was introduced by Malays, who constantly capture and rear the young of this species. (2.) _Cervus timoriensis_, a deer, said to be a distinct species, inhabits Timor, but it is probably only a variety of the _Cervus hippelaphus_ of Java. This animal is, however, much more likely to have crossed the sea than the monkey. (3.) _Paradoxurus fasciatus_, takes the place of _Viverra tangalunga_ in the Moluccas, both common and wide-spread civets which are often kept in confinement by the Malays. The _Felis megalotis_, long supposed to be a native of Timor, has been ascertained by Mr. Elliot to belong to a different country altogether.

_Birds._--The birds are much more interesting, since they are {423}sufficiently numerous to allow us to determine their relations, and trace their origin, with unusual precision. There are 96 genera and 160 species of land-birds known to inhabit this group of islands; and on a careful analysis, they are found to be almost equally related to the Australian and Oriental regions, 30 genera being distinctly traceable to the former, and the same number to the latter. Their connection with the Moluccas is shown by the presence of the genera _Mimeta_, _Geoffroyus_, _Cacatua_, _Ptilopus_, and _Ianthænas_, together with _Megapodius_ and _Cerchneis_ represented by Moluccan species. _Turacoena_ shows a connection with Celebes, and _Scops_ is represented by a Celebesian species. The connection with Australia is shown by the genera _Sphæcothera_, _Gerygone_, _Myiagra_, _Pardalotus_, _Gliciphila_, _Amadina_, and _Aprosmictus_; while _Milvus_, _Hypotriorchis_, _Eudynamis_, and _Eurystomus_, are represented by Australian species. Other genera confined to or characteristic of the Australian region, are _Rhipidura_, _Monarcha_, _Artamus_, _Campephaga_, _Pachycephala_, _Philemon_, _Ptilotis_, and _Myzomela_.

We now come to the Indo-Malay or Javan element represented by the following genera:

1. Turdus (T.)
2. Geocichla (T.)
3. Zoothera.
4. Megalurus (T.)
5. Orthotomus.
6. Pratincola (T.)
7. Oreicola (T.)
8. Drymocataphus (T.)
9. Parus.
10. Pycnonotus.
11. Oriolus.
12. Pericrocotus.
13. Cyornis (T.)
14. Hypothymis.
15. Tchitrea.
16. Lanius (T.)
17. Anthreptes.
18. Eulabes.
19. Estrilda (T.)
20. Erythrura (T.)
21. Yungipicus.
22. Merops.
23. Pelargopsis.
24. Ceyx.
25. Loriculus.
26. Treron (T.)
27. Iotreron (s.g. of _Ptilopus_).
28. Chalcophaps (T.)
29. Gallus (T.)
30. Strix.

Such genera as _Merops_ and _Strix_, which are as much Australian as Oriental, are inserted here because they are represented by Javan species. The list is considerably swelled by genera which have reached Lombok across the narrow strait from Baly, but have passed no further. Such are _Zoothera_, _Orthotomus_, _Pycnonotus_, _Pericrocotus_ and _Strix_. A much larger number (12) stop short at Flores, leaving only 13, indicated in the list by (T) after their names, which reach Timor. It is evident, therefore, that these islands have been stocked from three chief sources,--the {424}Moluccas (with New Guinea and Celebes,) Australia, and Java. The Moluccan forms may well have arrived as stragglers from island to island, aided by whatever facilities have been afforded by lands now submerged. Most of the remainder have been derived either from Australia or from Java; and as their relations to these islands are very interesting, they must be discussed with some detail.

_Origin of the Timorese Fauna._--We must first note, that 80 species, or exactly one-half of the land-birds of the islands, are peculiar and mostly very distinct, intimating that the immigration commenced long enough back to allow of much specific modification. There is also one peculiar genus of kingfishers, _Caridonax_, found only in Lombok and Flores, and more allied to Australian than to Oriental types. The fine white-banded pigeons (s. g. _Leucotreron_) are also almost peculiar; one other less typical species only being known, a native of N. Celebes. In order to compare the species with regard to their origin, we must first take away those of wide distribution from which no special indications can be obtained. In this case 49 of the land-birds must be deducted, leaving 111 species which afford good materials for comparison. These, when traced to their origin, show that 62 came from some part of the Australian region, 49 from Java or the Oriental region. But if we divide them into two groups, the one containing the species identical with those of the Australian or Oriental regions, the other containing _allied_ or _representative_ species peculiar to the islands, we have the following result:

Species common to the Timorese Islands and the Oriental Region 30
Peculiar Timorese species allied to those of the Oriental Region 19
--
Total 49