98 Capt. F. W. Hntton on the Origin of the 



question which has been lately much discussed in France. 

 M. Blanchard maintains that all were included; M. Alph. 

 Milne-Edwards thinks that the Chatham Islands only were 

 connected with New Zealand ; and Dr. H. Filhol, while 

 allowing a former land extending down to the Auckland Islands, 

 doubts whether Campbell Island ever formed part of it *, his 

 reasons being partly geological considerations which compel 

 him to think that this island only appeared above the sea at 

 the close of the Pliocene, and partly the absence of all land- 

 birds and lizards. Mr. Wallace says, " Whether this early 

 land extended eastward to the Chathams and southward to 

 the Macquaries we have no means of ascertaining ; but as 

 the intervening sea appears to be not more than about 1500 

 fathoms deep, it is quite possible that such an amount of 

 subsidence may have occurred "f. To try to form an opinion 

 of our own we must examine the faunas and floras of these 

 islands. 



Chatham Islands. — Distant 400 miles from New Zealand, 

 the fundamental rock of the main island is a micaceous 

 slate J, upon which lie Miocene limestone and volcanic rocks. 

 Pitt's Island is composed of volcanic rocks and limestone, 

 with some lignite and shale. It is more than 600 feet high, 

 while the main island does not attain to that altitude. There 

 appear to be no raised beaches or other signs of recent eleva- 

 tion §. There are twenty- one species of land-birds, of which 

 six are endemic, and of these four are representatives of New- 

 Zealand species ||. The gold cuckoo is identical with that of 

 New Zealand and Australia. It migrates annually to and 

 from the islands, and Mr. Potts informs me that it has been 

 seen on the beach at the north-west point of the island, quite 

 exhausted and wet with sea-spray. This was in October, the 

 month in which the bird always arrives. There is, I believe, 

 no proof that Apteryx, Stringojys, or Ocydromus ever lived on 

 these islands, and no moa-bones have been found there. But 

 on Pitt's Island there is a flightless rail (Cabalas modestus) 



* See N. Z. Journ. of Sci. i. pp. 251, 259. 

 t ' Island Life,' p. 455. 

 % Haast, Trans. N. Z. Inst. i. p. 180. 

 § Travels, Trans. N. Z. Inst. iv. p. 63. 



'| Chatham Islands. Xkw Zealand. 



Anthornis melanoeephcda represents A. melanwa. 



Spherueacus mfescens „ S. punctatus. 



Gen/gone albofrontata „ G. igata, 



Myioscopus Ti'aversi „ M. albifrons. 



Rutin* Dieffi nbachii, 

 ( 'abalus modestus. 



