6o Correspondence. risf'TMiy 



and the Kermadec group, however, will probably result in altering 

 this arrangement. Lord Howe Island may still be regarded as 

 Neo-Zelanic, while Norfolk Island will probably be separated 

 entirely, and classed, with the Kermadecs, as Oceanic. 



New Zealand authors do not appear to have regarded Lord Howe 

 and Norfolk Islands as belonging to their region. On the other 

 hand, Australian authors have in several cases " tacked " them on 

 to the mainland, while Mr. Mathews bodily incorporated them, only 

 to unceremoniously eject them again ! 



I am strongly of opinion that the avifauna of Lord Howe and 

 Norfolk Islands should be included in any list of Australian birds. 

 Both politically come under the control of Australia — Lord Howe 

 Island being a dependency of New , South Wales, and forming 

 part of the State electorate of East Sydney ! while Norfolk 

 Island, though not a dependency in the proper sense of the term, 

 is under the administration of the Governor of New South Wales, 

 and will, in all probability, shortly be placed under the control of 

 the Commonwealth. 



The continent of Australia, with Tasmania, has been divided 

 into regions or sub-regions by various writers. For example. 

 Professor Spencer * proposed the Eyrean, Torresian, and Bassian 

 faunal sub-regions. Hedley t proposed four regions for the 

 marine fauna — viz., the Adelaidean (from Melbourne along the 

 south coast of Australia), the Peronian (east coast of Tasmania, 

 Gippsland, and New South Wales), the Solanderian (from Moreton 

 Bay to Torres Strait), and the Dampierian (from Torres Strait 

 to Houtman's Abrolhos). For the avifauna. Hall t. subdivided 

 each of Spencer's regions into three areas. 



There appears to be no valid reason why the two groups — 

 Lord Howe Island with the Admiralty and other islets, and 

 Norfolk Island with Phillip Island, Nepean Island, and the 

 smaller islets — should not be attached to Australia as an avi- 

 faunal sub-region, for which I propose the name Phillipian, in 

 honour of Cai^tain Phillip, first Governor of New South Wales, 

 under whose administration Norfolk Island was settled, and Lord 

 Howe Island was discovered by the settlement party, in charge 

 of Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball. 



A check-list of the birds of Australia should certainly include 

 all species found in any of the dependencies of Australia. In 

 iqo8 Mr. Mathews adopted the title of " Hand-list of the Birds 

 of Australasia." This, in a geographical sense, should include 

 a far wider region than even the continent of Australia, Tasmania, 

 and their respective dependencies. If, as now appears to be the 

 case, he proposes to amend the title by substituting " Australia " 

 for " Australasia," the lesser region still should include all the 

 dependencies of the Commonwealth, and amongst these are Lord 

 Howe, Norfolk, and the Macquarie Islands. The latter, from a 



* " Horn Scientific Expedition Report" (1896), vol. i., p. 197. 

 t Proc. Linn. Soc. iV.5.Tr. (1903). p. 880. 

 + " Key to the Birds of Australia" (1899). 



