﻿AUSTRALIAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



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two islands, while all that we know of the others is 

 from a few gleanings made by the French circum- 

 navigating ships on their voyages of discovery. Borneo, 

 New Guinea, and the adjacent islets, are unexplored 

 mines of ornithological riches, where the most splendid 

 of all birds, the Paradisidce, are alone found, and where 

 the zoology of India blends into that of Australia. 



(214.) The Australian province, which may be said 

 to commence with New Guinea, includes New Holland, 

 New Zealand, and the whole of the numerous islands 

 scattered in the Pacific Ocean. Considering that the 

 chief seat of this range is an insular continent, under 

 the British government, unusual facilities for its in- 

 vestigation present themselves, and we can only join in 

 lamenting the apathy of our government in doing 

 scarcely any thing towards prosecuting those scientific 

 objects which would have claimed the first attention of 

 any other European power.* The birds in the im- 

 mediate vicinity of the chief towns have been indus- 

 triously collected, and their skins are continually sent 

 to this country, but we know little or nothing regarding 

 their manners, habits, or internal structure. This is 

 the more to be regretted in regard to the Australian 

 birds, as their forms are altogether peculiar, and seem 

 to present anomalies in nature of which there are no 

 examples in other regions. There are parrots which 

 are honey-suckers, crows that are shrikes, and vultures 

 that are turkeys. The natural habits and economy, no 

 less than the internal structure of these singular birds, 

 require to be thoroughly investigated. The very general 

 taste for natural history which has diffused itself of 

 late years among us, has extended to these distant 

 regions, and there are now several zealous lovers of our 

 charming science settled in different parts of New 

 Holland, who have already contributed valuable ma- 

 terials to illustrate its zoology. To those, more espe- 



* A single naturalist has indeed been placed on the government estab- 

 lishment. This is well. But was the French scientific expedition to 

 Egypt, or that sent by Austria to Brazil, composed of one individual ? 



