Vili. INTRODUCTION, 
‘Tasmania is famous for the size and ferocity of its carnassial 
marsupials, also for the superiority of the furs of its phalangers. 
The skins of the opossum and platypus have a large commercial 
value, and find a ready sale in the other colonies ; these mammals 
are rapidly being destroyed. When New Zealand was discovered, 
the only indigenous quadruped was the Maori rat, and the birds 
enjoyed an immunity that was rarely disturbed by the native 
hunters. In some parts wild pigs now roam the forests ; these are 
the ‘* cookies” of the colonists, being so called from the famous 
navigator, who released their primogenitors in Maori land. 
Dogs, which have escaped from civilization and taken to the woods, 
wild cats ; and the stoats, weasels, and ferrets, introduced in the 
vain hope that they would keep down the rabbits, are too much for 
the terrestrial indigenous birds. In the Taranaki district, hunting 
weasels with fox terriers is now a popular pastime. ‘I'he kakapo or 
ground parrot is becoming a scarce bird ; the kiwi is being contined 
to restricted areas, and without care will become one of the 
memories of New Zealand. ‘The huia (says the Standard), after 
which Lord Onslow named the son born during his governorship, is 
to be protected. This has been done at the request of the native 
chiefs, who have from time immemorial worn its feathers as dis- 
tinctive marks. Its present scarcity is, however, so great that, 
when the Governor presented his infant son to the Maori digvities, 
they assured him that the bird, after which the boy was named, 
was practically confined to three districts, so that unless the 
‘*pakehas’’ were restrained from shooting it, the child would never 
have the opportunity of seeing the bird alive. 
The arcicles contained in these pages were mostly written from 
information obtained in fragmentary form, and culied from every 
variety of possible source. ‘he descriptions of venomous snakes, 
the carpet snake, seals, sharks, and cicadw were partly drawn from 
the ‘*Prodromus of Zoology,” by Professor McCoy, whuse lectures 
at the Melbourne University the author attended. Mr. Gould’s 
‘* Mammals and Birds of Australia” furnished some of the descrip- 
tions of the fauna and the avi-fauna; but as the works were 
somewhat antiquated, hence defective, supplementary matter was 
obtained from the ‘* Proceedings,” also from the ‘*‘ ‘lransactions of 
the Zoological Society,’ London, to which Australian naturalists 
contributed. The records of the Linnean Society of New South 
Wales furnished valuable material; so did the works of Ur. Bennett, 
Mr. Thomas, Mr. Krefft, Dr. Ramsay, and Carl Lumholtz. The 
pamphlets of the various Royal Societies of South Australia, 
Queensland, and Tasmania supplied excellent extracts; nor must 
the help from the unfinished work of Mr. Digyles be unacknow- 
ledged. Mr. Gould, being but a sojourner in this land for two 
yeurs, had no time to become acquainted with either the nidification 
of its birds or the extent of their range. He often deplored this 
defect in his work. Since his visit Dr. Ramsay furnished important 
facts on the nesting and range of the well-known birds—a subject 
next treated of by Mr. North. This ornithologist ably combined 
