580 



NAiUKiL HISTORY [CHAP. XXXIX. 



Australia is very close. It is best marked in the ifain- 

 malia by the aburulauco at marsupials, uiid the almost 

 complete absence of all otlior terrestrial t'onns. Iti birds 

 it \& le$3 striking, aUliou<,di still very clear, for all the re- 

 markable old-worhl form's vvliiuli are altsent troni the one 

 are equally so from the other, such as Theasauts, Grouse^ 

 Vultures, and Woodpeckers ; while Cockatoos, Broail-taded 

 Parrot-s, Podargi, and the great families of the Hooey- 

 suekei*s and Brush-turkeys, with many others, comprising 

 BO less than twenty- four genera of land-birds, are commou 

 to both conntiies, and are entirely couHued to them. 



Wiien we consider the wonderful dissinxdarity of the 

 two i-egiona in all those physical conditions wluch were 

 once supposed to determine the forms of life — Australia, 

 with its open plains, stony deserts, dried up rivers, and 

 chanj^eable temperate climate; New Guinea, with its 

 luxuriant forests, uuifuroily hot» moist, and evergreen — 

 this great situihirity in their productions is almost astound- 

 ingj and unniistakeably points to a common origin. The 

 resemblance is not nearly so strongly marked in insects, the 

 reason obviously being, that tliis class of animals are much 

 more immediately dependent on vegetation and climate 

 than are the more Mghly orgaiuzed birds and Mammalia. 

 Insects also have tar more effective means of distribution, 

 and have spread wdely into every district favoiurabie tct 

 their development and increase. The giant Ornithoptei'Ee 

 have thus spread from New Guinea over the whole Archi- 

 pelago, and as far as the base of the Himalayas ; while the 

 ek'gant long-homed Anthribidse have spread in tlie opposite 

 direction from Malacca to New Guinea, but owing to un- 

 favourable conditions have not been able to establish 

 themselves iu Australia, That country, on the other hand, 

 has developed a variety of flower-haunting Cbafera and 

 Bnprestidie, and numbers of large and curious terrestrial 

 Weevils, scarcely any of which are adapted to the dajnp 

 gloomy forests of New Guinea, wliere entirely diU'erent 

 forms are to be found. There are, however, some groups of 

 insects, constitutiog what appear to be the remains ot the 

 ancient population of the equatorial parts of the Australian 

 region, which are still almost entirely confined to it. Sncli 

 are the interesting subdamily of Longicora coleoptera — 



