1895.] The Birds of New Guinea. "eT 
pigeon also, a heavy flyer, has been seen many miles distant 
from the mainland. 
Probably therefore,in New Guinea, although we find a very 
large resident population, we also discover many birds that 
have come from Australia or the Asian Continent to remain 
but a partial period. Mr. Jukes illustrates this view in his 
valuable narrative “ The Voyage of the Fly.” 
“While we were in this neighborhood (in Torres Straits, 
Turtle-back Island) about the end of February, (1845), great 
flocks of the bee-eater which is common in Australia (Merops 
ornatus) were continually passing to the northward. The 
‘white pigeons also (Caropophaga luctuosa) were going in the 
same direction in numerous small flocks, and in March all the 
pigeons left in the islands were young ones. The bee-eaters 
go as far to the southward as Sydney during the summer of 
New South Wales, but we never saw the white pigeons much 
to the southward of Torres Straits.. In September, 1844, they 
were coming thickly from the northward to Endeavour Strait, 
and they seem to return in March. What can be the reason 
of the migration? In these latitudes it is evident that mere 
temperature cannot be the cause of it, although the variation 
of the seasons for different fruits or insects may. I had after- 
wards strong reasons for suspecting, that even on the opposite 
sides of so small a space as Torres Strait, not more than 120 
miles, the seasons are totally different; that the wet season pre- 
vails in New Guinea between March and October, which on 
the north of Australia is the driest part of the year; while 
from October to March, when most rain falls in Australia, it is 
probable that the south coast of New Guinea has its driest 
weather.”—J. B. Jukes’ Voyage of the Fly, Vol. I, p. 157. 
Rich as the entire archipelago is in bird life, many as are 
the species peculiar to this or that island and found no where 
else, it would nevertheless be an unjust limitation to enumer- 
ate only such forms as are confined to the one region and tan- 
not without the compulsion of some extraneous force pass 
beyond the barriers of their island home, to the total exclusion 
of the many additional species of birds that while they may 
not in all cases breed, yet linger for a longer or shorter period 
