Vol. IV. 

 1905 



1 Australasian Ornithologists' Union. 93 



Shrikes, and Wood-Swallows, arriving from north end of 

 September and passing north again end of June. 



At present the information obtained from the few notices 

 sent in is merely fragmentary, but enough has come to hand to 

 show that in the course of a few years much valuable information 

 on the migration of our birds will be secured, especially from 

 lighthouses situated on islands. The Administrator of British 

 New Guinea has kindly undertaken to preserve specimens of 

 such birds that he considers migratory for their identification, 

 together with dates as to their arrival, &c. 



D. Le Souef, Hon. Sec. 



Presidential Address — Geographical Origin and Sub' 

 sequent Development of the Land Birds of New 



By Captain F. W. Hutton, F.R.S. 



I WISH to thank the members of the Australasian Ornithologists' 

 Union for the honour they have done me in electing me president 

 for the year. I regret much that distance and professional duties 

 have prevented me from attending any of the meetings, but I 

 have read the papers in The Emu with great satisfaction, and 

 congratulate the editors on the able manner in which they have 

 conducted the publication. 



It was with great reluctance that I accepted the position, for 

 I felt myself quite unequal to follow so eminent an ornithologist 

 as Colonel Legge ; and as I have no special knowledge of any 

 section of Australian ornithology, I must, I am afraid, in this 

 address, limit myself to a few remarks on the land birds of New 

 Zealand. 



The avifauna of New Zealand, although very limited in numbers, 

 contains so many peculiar species that it has always been an 

 object of much interest to ornithologists. Of the non-migratory 

 land birds there are only 104 species, belonging to 60 genera 

 and to 24 different families. Of these, 83 species (80 per cent.) 

 and 28 genera (47 per cent.) are found nowhere else ; while 

 there are no less than five families (Turnagridce , Xcnicidce, 

 NesfoyidcB, StringopidcE, and ApterygidcE) which exclusively 

 belong to New Zealand. This shows long isolation from the 

 rest of the world, during which time the species which origin- 

 ally came to New Zealand have become much modified, while 

 in some cases their relatives, left behind in the old habitations, 

 are now extinct. Now, where were these ancient habitations? 



By Dr. P. L. Sclater and Dr. A. R. Wallace New Zealand is 

 considered to be a subdivision of the Australian region. But 

 nearly one-half the genera of land birds show no connection with 

 Australia ; and the only birds which show a distinctly /Aus- 

 tralian facies are Petroeca, Pseudogerygone, Certhiparus, the 



