204 A. G. Campbell, The Birds of King Island. [.suv-ii 



only be accounted for by this fact. The existence, however, of 

 these on King Island has yet to be proved, though remains of 

 an extinct wombat of the Tasmanian species have been dis- 

 covered in the sand dunes. But when an examination is made 

 of the existing avifauna, it is impossible to dispute its distinctly 

 Tasmanian character. Of some 80 species recorded from King 

 Island 14 are purely Tasmanian, 64 are common to both Tas- 

 mania and the mainland (one, a Wren, however, has recently 

 been made a new species), while only two are peculiar to the 

 mainland : one, a small land form (Cisticola), is migratory, and 

 has apparently just overstepped its southern limit ; another does 

 not count for much, being a sea bird with roving habit. 



In November, 1887, an examination was made of King Island 

 by an expedition organised by the Field Naturalists' Club of 

 Victoria. An account of the birds identified, together with other 

 reports, appeared in the official journal of the Club, the Vic- 

 torian Naturalist, vol. iv., No. 9. 



The list published therein is a record of 69 species, most of 

 which are land forms either peculiar to Tasmania or found both 

 in Tasmania and on the mainland. Though 1 1 more species are 

 now added to the list, there are doubtless some still unrecorded. 

 A residence of several seasons on the island would be the only 

 effectual means of noting all the birds, particularly those that 

 are merely visitants. 



It may not be an inopportune time to publish a few extra 

 notes which were collected during a visit in November last; for 

 the face of King Island has so altered during the last fifteen years 

 that it may not be long before some forms are driven away or 

 killed out, as a result of the opening up of the land for dairy 

 farming and cattle rearing. Year by year the native timber 

 (eucalyptus) is becoming less ; even now it is a difficult matter 

 to get sufficient for fencing purposes, and the only large tracts 

 on the island, along the east coast, have been decimated by bush 

 fires. The characteristic vegetation is a short, thick scrub, 

 consisting of tea-tree, both Leptospernium and Melaleuca, Banksia, 

 or native honeysuckle, and the broad-leaved " boobyalla " 

 (^Myoporum). This scrub occupies sheltered hillsides and 

 pockets between the sand hills, but on the flat areas, which are 

 boggy at some seasons, mostly fresh-water tea-tree {Melaleuca) 

 is found. The gum trees (principally. E. globulus) are found 

 along the valleys of some of the rivulets, and in one or two 

 patches away from running water. Growing in the kindly shade 

 of the eucalypts are frequently found blackwood acacia, hazel, 

 and " boobyalla " trees, with an occasional tree fern, while the 

 ground is clothed with several varieties of ground ferns. 



At Pass River there is an excellent patch of native timber, 

 with the birds undisturbed ; but that is practically the only spot 

 on the west coast of which this can be said. From a bird's 

 point of view, it is now like an oasis in a desert of pasture. 



