Travers. — On the Distribution of Neiv Zealand Birds. 179 



habitats, and of such occasional visitants as Hirimdo nigricans, Eurystomus 

 pacificus, Platelia regia, and others, but certainly appears to be a heavy task 

 for Nyclicorax caledoniensis and Zoster ops lateralis. Mr. Wallace himself, 

 however, calls attention (in the work above referred to) to the fact, that 

 small and weak birds are often carried accidentally across great widths of 

 ocean by violent gales, and instances the case of the large number of North 

 American birds which are from time to time found on the coasts of Europe 

 during the prevalence of westerly winds. The occurrence in New Zealand, 

 of forms common to it and Australia is, therefore, explicable without resort- 

 ing to any supposition of a former land connection ; and the discovery in 

 New Zealand, within the few years which have elapsed since the colonization 

 of the islands, of no less than eight instances of occasional visitants from 

 Australia and Tasmania, gives strength to the supposition that they were 

 aided in their transit by strong north-westerly winds. In this connection 

 I may mention that the common sparrow has recently found its way to the 

 Chatham Islands without man's intervention, no doubt assisted across the 

 intervening waters by a north-west gale, and although both Mr. Wallace 

 and Dr. Buller treat Zosterops lateralis as a true New Zealand form, I think 

 it pretty certain that we owe its presence here and in the Chathams to a 

 similar cause. The enormous increase in the numbers of this bird which 

 has taken place both in Australia and New Zealand, is evidently due to a 

 corresponding increase in the quantity of suitable food provided by the in- 

 troduction, into both countries, of various kinds of succulent fruits, and of a 

 great variety of foreign insects. The Maoris, who now capture the Zosterops 

 in thousands for potting-down, and who are very shrewd and intelligent 

 observers, unhesitatingly assert that it is a stranger and of comparatively 

 recent appearance in these islands. 



Mr. Wallace is in error, moreover, in supposing that the Zosterops found 

 in the Chathams differs from the form which occurs in the main islands. 



Eeverting now to the principal objects of these notes, I find from the 

 Hand-book that the seven orders which I am dealing with comprise (exclu- 

 sive of occasional visitants from Australia) 19 families, 47 genera, and 88 

 species, the occasional visitants from Australia and Tasmania numbering 

 8 species belonging to 6 families and 7 genera. 



Of the 47 genera, 25 have only one species each, 10 have two species, 7' 

 have three species, 3 have four species, and 2 have five species. 



Of the 88 species (excluding, as above-mentioned, the occasional visi- 

 tants) 66 are peculiar to the main islands the Chathams and the Auck- 

 lands together, 18 are common and peculiar to both the main islands, 8 are 

 common and peculiar to the main islands and the Chathams, 3 are com- 

 mon and peculiar to the main islands and the Aucklands, 22 are common 



