534 Mr. P. L. Sclater un the Geographical 



IV. — The Australian Region {Regio Australiana). 



(a) Extent. — New Guinea and the Moluccas, and adjacent 

 islands up to Wallace's line, Australia, Tasmania, New Zea- 

 land, and the Pacific Islands, 



(b) Characteristic Forms. — The Australian Region is, as is 

 universally allowed, better characterized by distinct forms of 

 animal life than any other region of the earth's surface. As 

 regards Mammals this is certainly the case, but in the Class 

 of Birds perhaps it is a question whether the Neotropical 

 Region is not even more distinct. Be this as it may, it is 

 easy to point out the principal types of bird-life that charac- 

 terize the Australian Region, and I will proceed to do so in 

 a few words. 



In the first place, the Paradiseidce, the Mtnuridce, the 

 Atrichiida, and the Casuariidte are four families absolutely 

 confined to tlie Australian Region. Besides these, two well- 

 marked groups of Parrots — the Trichoglossidce and the 

 Cacatuidoe — are essentially Australian, and only occur ex- 

 ceptionally outside the limits of that region. The same may 

 be said of the Meliphagida and the Megapodiidce, of both 

 of which families only slightly intruding representatives are 

 found within the Oriental Region. 



As Mr. Wallace has well pointed out, of all these families 

 the Honey-suckers [Meliphagidre) are peculiarly characteristic 

 of the Australian Ornis. The family abounds in genera and 

 species, and extends over the whole region, including the 

 Pacific Islands. Only one single species of it has yet been 

 met with outside of the limits of the Australian Region. 



(c) Subregions. — Compared with Australia the mainland 

 of New Guinea and the adjacent islands form a distinct and 

 well-marked subregion, which has many peculiar types of its 

 own. As examples of these we may mention Amblyomis, 

 Melanopyrrhus, Peftops, Rectes, Manucodia, Paradisea, As- 

 trapia, Gymnocorvus, Nasiterna, and others. New Zealand 

 has also many distinct ornithic types, such as Neomorpha, 

 Prosthemadera, Anthornis, Acatithisitta, Mohoa, Certhiparus, 

 Turnagra, Creadtoii, Nes;tor^ Strigops, and Apteryx, and 



