112 REPORT 1875. 



Guinea, whicli comprehend several new and most interesting forms, in a memoir 

 read before the Academy of Berlin (38) ; and Dr. Bleeker some years ago gave a 

 list of the Eeptiles obtained by v. Rosenberg in that island, and enumerated the 

 Papuan Reptiles then kno"mi to him (39). 



All these expeditions, however, have been directed towards the western penin- 

 sula of New Guinea, which alone is yet in any way explored by naturalists. Of the 

 greater south-eastern portion of the island we have as yet very little information. 

 A Cassowary * and a Kangaroo t, brought away by the ' Basilisk ' from the 

 southern coast, both proved to be new to science, as did likewise a Paradise-bird 

 obtained in the same district by M. d'Albertis J. This is sufficient to give us an 

 idea of what we may expect to find when the interior of this part of New Guinea 

 is explored. And I may take this opportunity of mentioning that a most active 

 and energetic traveller is perhaps at this very moment at work there. M. L. SJ. 

 d'Albertis, of whose previous labours I have just spoken, returned to the East last 

 autumn. Letters received from him by his Italian friends in June last state that 

 he had at the time of writing already succeeded in reaching Yule Island near 

 Mously Bay on the S.E. coast of New Guinea, and proposed to establish his head- 

 quarters there for expeditions into the interior. 



3. New Ireland, New Bbitain, and the Solomon Islands. 



I devote a few words specially to these islands because they are easy of access 

 from Sydney, and because their productions are of particular interest, belonging, as 

 they do, to the Papuan and not to the Polynesian faima. I have put together what 

 is known of the birds of the Solomon's group in a paper read before the Zoological 

 Society in 1869 (40). Seeing tlie interesting resvdts obtained from the examination 

 of one small jar of birds collected here by an unscientific person, there can be little 

 doubt of the value of what would be discovered on the more complete investigation 

 of the group. As regards New Ireland and New Britain, we have but scattered 

 notices to refer to. The last-named island is, we know, the home of a peculiar 

 Cassowary {Casuarms hennettt). 



A list of the fishes of the Solomon Islands is given by Dr. Gunther in Mr. 

 Brenchley's ' Cruise of the Cm-a^oa ' (41), which I shall allude to again presently. 



VII. THE PACIFIC REGION. 



Of this Region, where Mammals (except a few Bats) are altogetlier absent, and 

 Birds are the predominant form of Vertebrate life, I will say a few final words rmder 

 three heads : — 



1. Neio Zealand, \ 2. Polynesia. \ 3. The Sandwich Islands. 



1. New Zealand. 



In New Zealand, of all our Colonies, most attention has lately been devoted to 

 natural history, and several excellent natm-alists are laboming hard and well ; I 

 need only mention the names of 'Dr. Hector, Dr. Haast, Capt. F. W. Hutton, and 

 Mr. Bidler. The commendable plan of affiliating the various local Societies 

 to one Central Institute has resulted in the production of an excellent scientific 

 Jom-nal, already in its sixth volume, which contains a mass of most interesting- 

 papers on the fauna and flora of the Colony (1). To refer to these memoirs in 

 detail is quite unnecessary ; but it is obvious, on turning over the pages of the 

 volumes of the ' Transactions of the New-Zealand Institute,' how great are the 

 exertions now being made to perfect our knowledge of the natm-al products, both 

 recent and extinct, of our antipodean Colony. 



Mr. W. L. Buller's beautiful volume on the Ornithology of New Zealand, finished 

 in 1873 (2), is likewise a most creditable production both to the author and to 



* Casuarius piciicollis, Scl., P. Z. S. 1875, p. 85. 



t Dorcopsis lucinosa (D'Albertis), v. Garrod, P. Z. S. 1875, p. 48. 



X Paradisea raggiana, Solater, P. Z. S. 1873, p. 559. 



