PROBLEMS OF DISTRIBUTION AND THEIR SOLUTION. 151 



The zoology of New Zealand is peculiar. It has no native quad- 

 rupeds, if we except a couple of bats j it possesses an almost 

 Hibernian freedom from reptiles in that it has no snakes, only three 

 genera of lizards, and but one frog. There are 34 genera of land 

 birds, and of these 16 are absolutely confined to New Zealand ; and 

 to these are to be added five special genera of aquatic birds, making 

 21 marked genera in all. Amongst their birds, these islands include 

 the chief species of "wingless" forms. The Moas of New Zealand 

 represent an extinct wingless race, whilst the curious Apteryx (fig. 16) 

 remains to represent the wingless tribes of to-day. The winged birds 

 include special forms of starlings (Creadion : Heterolocha, &c.) ; the 

 curious crook-billed plovers (Anarhynchus), which alone of all birds 

 have the bill twisted to the side ; and species of swallows, fly-catchers, 

 &c., are also included in the ornithological catalogue of these islands. 

 In New Zealand is found the kakapoe (Stringops habroptilns] or owl- 

 parrot, which burrows in the ground, and whose powers of flight have 

 deteriorated ; and the curious JVotorms, a peculiar genus of rails, 

 likewise possessing short and useless wings, may be lastly mentioned 

 amongst the bird productions of these islands. 



Included amongst the few lizards of New Zealand is the famous 

 Hatteria, which in reality forms a connecting link between lizards 

 and crocodiles, and even shows 

 bird-affinities in its ribs. Hat- 

 teria thus remains isolated and 

 solitary in its structure amid 

 the lizard -class. 



Turning now to Australia 

 itself, we note that land to be 

 the abode of the lower quad- 

 rupeds comprised within the 

 two orders Monotremala and 

 Marsupialia, which are repre- 

 sented by the Ornithorhynchus 

 and Echidna^ and by the 

 kangaroos (fig. 17), wombats, 

 phalangers, and allied animals 

 respectively. No monotreme 

 whatever, and no marsupial 

 forms save the single family 

 of the New World opossums 

 exist without the boundaries of 

 Australia. These animals re- 

 present in their varied types the orders of higher mammals distributed 

 over the other regions of the earth ; and the Australian region thus 

 presents us with the home and headquarters of the lowest, and, in 



FIG. 17. KANGAROO. 



