INTRODUCTION. 
H 
of birds were obtained, most of whicli were new to science and vvere described by Lesson. The voyage of 
the ‘ Astrolabe ’ also contains the description and figures of some Papuan birds, written by Messrs. Quoy 
and Galmard, the naturalists attached to this expedition, as they had been to that of the ‘ Uranie.’ In 
1854 the volume on the ‘ Zoology ’ of the ‘ Voyage an Pole Sud ’ contained some more descriptions of New-. 
Guinea birds, and then French enterprise in Pa|)uasia seems to have stood still till quite recently, when a 
young naturalist, M. Letm Laglalze, sent from that region some very interesting and important novelties in. 
the way of birds. 
The Dutch, however, to whom belongs the western half of the island at the present time, were very 
active in New Guinea during the second half of the century, and some admirable collections were made by 
Solomon Miiller and Maklot. These formed the foundation of the splendid series of Papuan birds in the. 
Leyden Museum, which is still one (»f its chief glories.. Many of the species were figured by Temminck in, 
the ‘Planches Colorlees,*^ and also by Muller and Schlegel in the well-known ‘ Verhandelingen.’ 
While Dr. Sclater was writing his memoir, and placing the zoology of New Guinea as it were on a 
])roper basis of knowledge, our great countryman, A. R. Wallace, was at work on that wonderful exploration 
of the Malay Archipelago which will render his name famous for all time. Most of Mr. Wallace’s, 
discoveries were epitomized and catalogued in the late George Robert Gray’s ‘ List of the Birds of New 
Guinea’ (185&) ; but many more species were described by the traveller himself, and a most complete list 
of the Mammals and Birds of Papuasia and the Moluccas was given by Dr. Otto Finsch in his ‘ Neu-Guinea 
nnd seine Bewohner’ (1805). 
Fired by the success of the English traveller Wallace in their East-Indian possessions, the Dutch nation 
provided a sum of money for several years to compass the zoological exploration of Papuasia, and, under 
the guidance of the late Professor Schlegel, several energetic collectors were despatched, Bernstein, Von 
Rosenberg, Hoedt, and others, who obtained extensive results, so that once more the scientific prestige of 
the Dutch nation was paramount in Papuasia, and many islands, hitherto unvlsited by Europeans, yielded 
important novelties. Then came the celebrated expedition of Dr. A. B. Meyer, whereby a further number 
of new species were discovered, to be followed by the extensive explorations of Signor D’Albertis and 
Dr. Beccari. D’Albertis discovered Drepanm'iiis in the Arfak Mountains in 1872, and visiting afterwards 
the southern and south-eastern portions of New Guinea, he met with Harpyojysis and other’ remarkable 
new genera of birds, many of which have been figured in the present work. Dr. Beccari sent some most 
interesting and wonderful birds from the Arfak Mountains and many of the islands of the Papuan Subregion, 
where also the hunters employed by an enterprising Dutch naturalist, Mr. Bruijn, have obtained many 
rare and new species. To this gentleman and to Mr. Riedel science is indebted for many important 
contributions to zoological science. 
During the time which ela])sed since Mr. Wallace’s successful labours in the Malay Archipelago, 
Englishmen had been busy in exploring many of the outlying groups of islands to the eastward of New 
Guinea; and Captain Richards, Mr. Brazier, Mr. Cockerell, and other naturalists discovered many new 
species of birds in the Solomon Islands, and quite recently an energetic explorer, Mr. C. M. Woodford, has 
brought home a most interesting collection from this Archipelago. The Rev. George Brown and Mr. L. C. 
Layard have also done much to explore the natural history of New Britain and the adjacent islands, which 
were also visited by Dr. Finsch, to whom we owe much enduring work in the same locality and in the 
Caroline Islands. The collectors of the celebrated Hamburg firm, Messrs. Godetfroy, have also explored 
Ponape and other islands to the west of New Guinea, and the names of Kubary, Graeffe, and Klein- 
schmidt will always remain famous amongst those of the explorers of these little-known and Inaccessible 
localities. For the exploration of the Admiralty group of islands we are indebted to the ‘ Challenger ’ 
expedition. Nor have Englishmen been idle in their newly-acquired province of South-eastern New 
Guinea. Mr. Goldie, Mr. Octavius Stone, and the well-known missionaries the Rev. Mr. Lawes and the 
Rev. Mr. Macfarlane, have done wonders in procuring collections from the neighbourhood of Port Moresby, 
from whence also an interesting collection was sent by a young American explorer. Dr, James. The 
