^°go2^' i HUTTON, Pengui7is. g 



of the birds inhabiting the Falkland Islands is larger than those 

 of the birds found on Tristan d'Acunha, and that these again 

 are larger than those of birds from Kerguelen's Island, while 

 the Falkland Islands' birds have a smaller bill than any of the 

 others. Also the birds inhabiting St. Paul and Amsterdam are 

 bluer in colour and have longer head plumes than those from 

 New Zealand or the Falkland Islands. 



Altogether, I should conclude that natural selection has been 

 instrumental in forming the family characters, and that sexual 

 selection has been the cause of some of the generic and specific 

 characters, but that there are other generic and specific char- 

 acters which arc not due either to one or the other. At the 

 same time there is not the least reason for supposing that any 

 of the characters are due to the action of the environment. 



Birds of North^Eastern Victoria. 



By a. G. Campbell, Melbourne. 



It is difficult to believe that any one tract of country has 

 yielded up all its treasures ot knowledge concerning the comings 

 and goings of its natural inhabitants. The State of Victoria, 

 although comparatively small, is of varied physical character, 

 and wherever systematic and earnest search has been made 

 something new or of fresh interest has been brought to light. 

 As a community we are acknowledging the fact that far too 

 little is known of the fauna, particularly the birds, which 

 undoubtedly bear a very important connection with the welfare 

 of a country. We find that native birds, formerly unconcerned 

 onlookers of our labours in the field, are now demanding and 

 taking for themselves a share of our profits, and we also find 

 that in other quarters our productions are threatened by 

 increasing hordes of noxious insects. It is time we sought an 

 explanation, and endeavoured as far as possible to set matters 

 near their former level of interdependence. By encouraging 

 the insectivorous birds to live with us we will find them our 

 greatest friends, for we shall then be fighting the hordes of the 

 insect world with Nature's own weapons. 



A sad mistake is made, too, in clearing off all the natural 

 timber from the face of the country. Where a patch is still 

 left standing we can see with what delight the birds still cling- 

 to it, congregating there and making it a centre of operations 

 on the surrounding open country. 



Nearly three years' residence in the agricultural and viti- 

 cultural area of north-eastern Victoria, bordering the River 

 Murray, proved to be full of opportunities for acquiring a 

 knowledge of the bird inhabitants of that district, and the result, 



