44 Mr. A. li. 'Evans : lolth the [Ibis, 



to give some account of my ornithological experiences 

 in that wonderful Continent ; and it may possibly be of 

 interest to my fellow-workers of the B. O. U. to learn what 

 birds are usually to be met with by a traveller in the early 

 southern spring through the more temperate districts. At 

 that season migration has hardly begun, so that the list 

 must necessarily consist mainly of residents ; while it must 

 also be noted that a large number of the characteristic 

 Australian birds, such as the " Native Companion/' the 

 Mound-builder, and the Emu, are inhabitants of the 

 interior or of wild and difficult country, which can only 

 be reached by special expeditions limited neither by time 

 nor expense. It should, moreover, be remembered that many 

 birds are necessarily overlooked in the foliage of the tall 

 gum-trees by those who are pressed for time. Still it 

 will be seen that I was able to observe no fewer than 128 

 species of the 395 assigned by Dr. Leach to Victoria in his 

 admirable little book on Australian birds ; and Victoria 

 is there stated to differ little from the whole Continent, 

 if we exclude the tropical forms in Queensland and omit 

 subspecies. 



Leaving Southampton with my wife on June 24, 1914, 

 I travelled by way of the Canadian Pacific Railway to 

 Vancouver City, and thence to New Zealand, touching at 

 Honolulu and Suva, where introduced birds alone can 

 be seen about the towns. This was a great disappointment 

 to one who had written on the Hawaiian avifauna, but was 

 not unexpected; foreign Doves and Mynas were of course 

 plentiful, but it was not until I i-eached New Zealand 

 that I came across my first example of a native species. 

 Fog delayed our boat for a whole day in Auckland 

 Harbour, and so we were lucky enough to be able to take 

 train through stretches of flowering gorse (introduced) 

 and cabbage- palm swamps to the vicinity of Frankton, 

 where we wandered to the foot of the neighbouring 

 " ranges " and found a pair of the local Fantail {Rhipidura 

 fabelllfera) preparing to breed, besides seeing other birds in 

 the distance. 



