214 Essays. 



the eagle, are all directed to certain points and confined witMn limits, 

 invisible, indeed, to the natural eye, yet as impassable and as exclusive as a 

 v^^all o£ brass. ' Hither shalt thou come, but no further ' v^ith safety or 

 comfort to thyself ! This command, although not pronounced, is a part of 

 the natural instinct of every animal in a state of nature."* 



Some few birds are said to be cosmopolite, while many are common to 

 several continents and extend their range over half the globe ; but the vast 

 majority of species are circumscribed in their range by narrow geographical 

 limits, beyond which they seldom or never wander. 



New Zealand affords a striking example of this fact ; for, if we except the 

 sea birds and some of the waders, our ornithology is strictly and exclusively 

 local. Hardly a single species is common to any other country, while many 

 of the genera are peculiar to our fauna. At the same time, the zoological 

 peculiarities of the great natural division to which New Zealand belongs are 

 strongly manifest. These distinguishing features of Australasian zoology 

 are the total absence of large quadrupeds, the paucity of the smaller, and 

 the vast preponderance of the class Aves ; while the latter is characterized 

 by the high development of the families MeliphagidcB and Psittacidcd and the 

 entire absence of Picidce, or true woodpeckers. In this respect the orni- 

 thology of this region presents a striking contrast to that of Europe, the fauna 

 of which does not contain a single species of parrot, while the woodpeckers are 

 comparatively numerous ; and turning to the meliphagous genera, we find 

 that the peculiar organization restricted in Africa, America, and India to the 

 smallest birds in creation, is here developed to so high a degree that it com- 

 prises about one-sixth of the Australian perchers and includes many birds of 

 appreciable size. 



Any one at all acquainted with the zoology of New Zealand cannot have 

 failed to remark these general characteristic features of the Australasian 

 division, while it is equally apparent that New Zealand and the adjacent 

 islands form together a distinct section, possessing an exclusive fauna, and 

 marked by strong peculiarities. 



The first published list of birds of this country was drawn up by G-. E. 

 G-ray, Esq., of the British Museum, and appeared in 1843 in the Appendix 

 to Dr. Dieffenbach's Travels. This list contained the names of eighty-four 

 recorded species, but many of these were of doubtful authority, and were 

 afterwards expunged. 



Subsequently, in "The Voyage of H.M.SS. Erebus and Terror," the 

 same naturalist produced a more complete list, embracing the birds of New 

 Zealand and the neighbouring islands, accompanied by short specific 



* Introduction to " Birds of Western Africa." Ifat. Lib. 



