57o THE I^ATURAL inSTORY [ciiAr. xxxix. 



The birds of New Guinea offer the greatest possible 

 coutmst to the Mammalia, since they are more iiuuierous, 

 more beautifid, and aff'oixl moi-e new, curious, and elegant 

 Ibrms tliiHi those of any other isliind on the globe. 

 Besides the Birds of Paradise, which we havtt dready 

 sulhcieiitly considered, it passesses a number of other 

 curious birds, which in the eyes of the ornithologist 

 almost serves to distinguish it as one of tlie primary 

 divisions of the earth. Among its thirty species of 

 paiTots are the Great J»Uick Cockatoo, and tlie little rigid- 

 tailed Nasiterna, the giant and the dwarf of the whole 

 tribe. The bLire-headed Dasyptilus is one of the most 

 singular paiTots known; while the beautiful little long- 

 tailed Cliarmosyna, and tlie great variety of gorgeouiily- 

 coioured lories, have no parallels elsewhere. Of pigeons 

 it possesses about fm-ty distinct species* among which arc 

 the magniticent crowned pigeons, now so well known in 

 our aviaries, and pre-eminent both for size and beauty ; 

 the curious Trugon ternistris, wliich approaches the still 

 more strange Didunculns of Siimoa ; and a new genua 

 (Henicophaps), discovered by myself, which possesses a 

 very long and powerful bill, quite uidike that of any other 

 pigeon. Among its sixteen kingfishers, it possesses the 

 curious hook-billed Macrorhina, and a red and blue 

 Tanysiptera, the most beautiful of that beautiful genus. 

 Among its perching birds are tlie fine genus of crow-like 

 starlings, with brilliant plumage (Manucodia) ; the curious 

 pale-coloured crow (Gymiioconms senex) ; the abnormal 

 red and black llycatcher (I'eltops blainvillii) ; the curious 

 little boat-bdled tiycatchera (Macliierirhyuchus) i and the 

 elegant blue flycatcher- wrens (Todopsis). 



The natuiulist will obtain a clearer idea of the variety 

 and inteiv-st ol" the productions of this country, by the 

 statement, that its laud birds belong to 108 geucm, of 

 winch 2y are exclusively charactei-istic of it- while 35 

 belong to that limited area which includes the Moluccas 

 and Korth Australia, and whose species of these genera 

 ha%'e been entii'ely derived from New GuUiea, About 

 one-half of the New Guinea genera are found also in 

 Australia, about one-third in India and the Indo-Malay 

 islands. 



