

INTEODUCTION. 



In my General Introduction (vol. L, pp. xviii. to lviii.) I have dealt so fully with the distinguish- 

 ing features of the New Zealand Ornis that I do not propose to do more now than to offer some 

 remarks and observations suggested by a general purview of the subject, and principally in 

 relation to certain facts and inferences that appear to me to bear directly on the great doctrine of 

 the evolution of species by a natural process of descent with modification — that is to say, the 

 ever-operating law of natural selection by variation and the survival of the fittest. The views 

 which I shall here elaborate have already appeared in my paper entitled ' Illustrations of Darwin- 

 ism '* (' Trans. N.Z. Inst.,' 1895, vol. xxvii., pp. 75-104), and I take this opportunity of revising 

 and amplifying them, so as to bring them down to date. 



The ornithology of New Zealand, apart from its intrinsic interest, presents to the thoughtful 

 naturalist several aspects of great philosophical significance. Not the least of these is that of the 

 many peculiar forms which it contains, and their local distribution, because of the remarkable 

 evidence hereby furnished in support of the now generally accepted Darwinian theory of the 

 creation of species in the organic world — that is to say, by a natural and gradual modification of 

 character, due to the survival of the fittest in the universal struggle for existence. 



The principle of natural selection is expressed by Darwin himself as that of " the preserva- 

 tion during the battle of life of varieties which possess any advantages in structure, constitution, 

 or instinct." He says, and with great force: "In scientific investigations it is permitted to 



* This paper, reprinted in pamphlet form, was sent to Sir Joseph Hooker, amongst other scientific friends, ajiti I 

 had the pleasure of receiving the following letter of acknowledgment from that distinguished naturalist : — 



"My dear Buller, 



" Yesterday I received yours of 10th May [1895] , and this morning your ' Illustrations of Darwinism.' Such is 

 my avidity for anything relating to the natural history of New Zealand that I read your papers through at once and 

 with very great pleasure. They reminded one of ' White's Selborne ' and interested me exceedingly. I go along 

 with you throughout the Darwinism discussion, especially with regard to so-called degraded types being in reality 

 advanced ones 



" How profoundly interesting is the islet fauna of New Zealand ! Much of this is new to me. I wonder when 

 their plants will receive the same treatment as you give to their birds, &c. I hope that you will gather your facts into 

 a general work on the natural history of New Zealand. Your difficulty will then be to keep it down to a moderate size, 

 especially as I hope you will illustrate plentifully. A good map will be necessary, as it is impossible to find in the 

 ordinary ones many of the places you mention. . . . ." 



To my mind Sir Joseph Hooker could not have paid a higher compliment to the literary quality of these papers. 

 From boyhood White's ' Natural History of Selborne ' has been one of my favourite books, as I suppose it has been with 

 every student of ornithology. It is thus referred to by the learned author of the article on Ornithology in the 

 ' Encyclopaedia Britannica ' : "It has passed through a far greater number of editions than any other work on natural 

 history in the whole world, and has become emphatically an English classic, the graceful simplicity of its style, 

 the elevating tone of its spirit, and the sympathetic chords it strikes recommending it to every lover of Nature, while 

 the strictlv scientific reader can find few errors in the statements it contains, whether of matter of fact or opinion. 

 It is almost certain that more than half the zoologists of the British Islands for the past seventy years or more 

 have been infected with their love of the study by Gilbert White, and it can hardly be supposed that his influence will 

 cease." 



