AN AUSTRALIAN BIRD BOOK. 
ORDER XI. — GRUIFORMES. 
P. 43. GRUIDAE (1), CRANES, 19 sp.— 1(1)A., 8(2)0., 
9(1)P., 7(5)E., 3(0)Nc., 2(0)N1. 
1 111 Australian Crane, Native Companion, Brolga, Anti- 
3 gone australasiana, A. Nom. r. plains 42 
Deep silvery-gray; wing-quills black; naked red patch 
about face, throat; legs, feet black; f., smaller. In- 
sects, lizards, bulbous roots, seeds. 
P. 44. Aramidae, Courlans, Llmpkin, 2 sp. — l(0)Nc., 
2(1)N1. 
As no Bustard occurs in the regions between Australia and India, 
this bird supplies a good example of what is known to zoo- 
geographers as "discontinuous distribution.'* "Discontinuous 
distribution," as applied to land animals, e.^r., marsupials found 
in America and Australia, ratite birds in South America, South 
Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, or the tapir, found in Cen- 
tral America and Malaysia, implies a land connexion (not neces- 
sarily complete at any one period) to allow of the gradual spread 
of the animals. Of course, as flying birds can pass easily from 
one region to another, "discontinuous distribution," as applied to 
them, cannot have so much importance attached to it as indicat- 
ing previous land connexions. 
Australia, fortunately, has one representative of Order XI. — 
Cranes. This is the Native Companion, the only true Crane found 
in Australia. These are interesting birds, with their "quadrille 
