BIRDS OF THE AUSTRALIAN REALM. 101 



region, have but two representatives (Manucodia) on the Australian 

 mainland; the bower-birds (Tectonarchinse), on the other hand 

 members of the same family have here their greatest development 

 (seven species), and are associated with two species of rifle-birds 

 (Ptiloris). The Australian region is distinguished by being the 

 sole possessor of the families of lyre-birds (Menuridao) and apteryxes 

 (Apterygidse), the latter one of the most remarkable groups of ex- 

 isting birds (natives of New Zealand), whose exact relationships 

 have not yet been satisfactorily determined. The struthious birds 

 of the genus Dromseus, the emu (two species), are confined to the 

 continent of Australia, as is also one of the genera of brush-turkeys 

 (Leipoa). Talegallus, the true brush- turkey, and Megapodius, the 

 megapod or mound-builder, have both representatives in the Papuan 

 Islands and Australia, the former being restricted to the region 

 under consideration. The greater number of the species of Mega- 

 podidao, some twenty or more, are distributed throughout the 

 Austro-Malaysian islands and Polynesia, with two outlying species 

 in the Philippines, Borneo, and the Nicobar Islands. The parrots 

 have an extensive development, and represent in the main forms 

 that are not known beyond the limits of this and the transition 

 region. "No group of birds gives to Australia so tropical and 

 foreign an air as the numerous species of this great family, by 

 which it is tenanted, each and all of which are individually very 

 abundant. Immense flocks of white cockatoos are sometimes seen 

 perched among the green foliage of the loftiest trees ; the brilliant 

 scarlet breasts of the rose-hills blaze forth from the yellow flowering 

 Acacia3; the Trichoglossi or honey-eating parakeets enliven the 

 flowering branches of the larger Eucalypti with their beauty and 

 their lively actions ; the little grass parakeets rise from the plains 

 of the interior and render these solitary spots a world of anima- 

 tion ; nay, the very towns, particularly Hobart Town and Adelaide, 

 are constantly visited by flights of this beautiful tribe of birds, 

 which traverse the streets with arrow-like swiftness, and chase each 

 other precisely after the manner the Cypseli are seen to do in our 

 own islands. In Tasmania I have seen flocks of from fifty to a 

 hundred of the Platycercus flaviventris, like tame pigeons, at the 

 barn-doors in the farm-yards of the settlers, to which they descend 

 for the refuse grain thrown out with the straw by the threshers. 28 " 

 About sixty species of the order are known from the mainland of 



