We now come to the genera peculiar to New Zealand, which are of especial interest:
List of Genera of Birds Peculiar to New Zealand.
| Sylviidæ. | ||
| 1. Myiomoira | 3 | Allied to Petroica, an Australian genus |
| 2. Miro | 2 | All"ed to Petr"ica, an Austr"lian ge" |
| Timaliidæ (?) | ||
| 3. Turnagra | 2 | Of doubtful affinities. |
| Sittidæ. | ||
| 4. Xenicus | 3 | Of doubtful affinities. |
| 5. Acanthisitta | 1 | Of doubtful affinities. |
| Paridæ. | ||
| 6. Certhiparus | 2 | Of doubtful affinities. |
| Meliphagidæ. | ||
| 7. Prosthemadera | 1 | Peculiar genera of honeysuckers, a family which is confined to the Australian Region. |
| 8. Pogonornis | 1 | |
| 9. Anthornis | 3 | |
Sturnidæ. | ||
| 10. Creadion | 2 | These three genera are probably allied, and perhaps form a distinct family. |
| 11. Heterolocha | 1 | |
| 12. Callæas | 2 | |
| Nestoridæ. | ||
| 13. Nestor | 3 | A peculiar family of Parrots. |
| Stringopidæ. | ||
| 14. Stringops | 1 | A peculiar family of Parrots. |
| Strigidæ. | ||
| 15. (Sceloglaux) | 1 | s.g. of Athene. |
| Rallidæ. | ||
| 16. Ocydromus | 6 | Allied to Eulabeornis, an Australian genus. |
| 17. Notornis | 1 | Allied to Porphyrio, a genus of wide range. |
| Charadriidæ. | ||
| 18. Thinornis | 1 | |
| 19. Anarhynchus | 1 | |
| Anatidæ. | ||
| 20. Hymenolæmus | 1 | Allied to Malacorhynchus, an Australian genus. |
| Apterygidæ. | ||
| 21. Apteryx | 4 | Forming a peculiar family. |
We have thus a wonderful amount of speciality; yet the affinities of the fauna, whenever they can be traced, are with Australia or Polynesia. Nine genera of New Zealand birds are characteristically Australian, and the eight genera of wide range are Australian also. Of the peculiar genera, 7 or 8 are undoubtedly allied to Australian groups. There are also four Australian and one Polynesian species. Even the peculiar family, Nestoridæ is allied to the Australian Trichoglossidæ. We have therefore every gradation of similarity to the Australian fauna, from identical species, through identical genera, and allied genera, to distinct but allied families; clearly indicating very long continued yet rare immigations from Australia or Polynesia; immigrations which are continued down to our day. For resident ornithologists believe, that the Zosterops lateralis has found its way to New Zealand within the last few years, and that the two cuckoos now migrate annually, the one from Australia, the other from some part of Polynesia, distances of more than 1,000 miles! These facts seem, however, to have been accepted on insufficient evidence and to be in themselves extremely improbable. It is observed that the cuckoos appear annually in certain districts and again disappear; but their course does not seem to have been traced, still less have they ever been actually seen arriving or departing across the ocean. In a country which has still such wide tracts of unsettled land, it is very possible that the birds in question may only move from one part of the islands to another.
Islets of the New Zealand Sub-region.
We will here notice the smaller islands belonging to the sub-region, as it is chiefly their birds that possess any interest.
Norfolk Island.—The land-birds recorded from this island amount to 15 species, of which 8 are Australian, viz.: Climacteris scandens, Symmorphus leucopygius, Zosterops tenuirostris and Z. albogularis, Halcyon sanctus, Platycercus pennanti, Carpophaga spadicea, Phapspicata and P. chalcoptera. Of the peculiar species three belong to Australian genera; Petroica, Gerygone, and Rhipidura; one to a cosmopolitan genus, Turdus. So far the affinity seems to be all Australian, and there remain only three birds which ally this island to New Zealand,—Nestor productus, Cyanoramphus rayneri, and Notornis alba. The former inhabited the small Phillip Island (close to Norfolk Island) but is now extinct. Being a typical New Zealand genus, quite incapable of flying across the sea, its presence necessitates some former connexion between the two islands, and it is therefore perhaps of more weight than all the Australian genera and species, which are birds capable of long flights. The Cyanoramphus is allied to a New Zealand broad-tailed parroquet. The Notornis alba is extinct, but two specimens exist in museums, and it is even a stronger case than the Nestor, as showing a former approximation or union of this island with New Zealand. A beautiful figure of this bird is given in the Ibis for 1873.
Lord Howe's Island.—This small island, situated half-way between Australia and Norfolk Island, is interesting, as containing a peculiar species of the New Zealand genus Ocydromus, or wood-hen (O. sylvestris). There is also a peculiar thrush, Turdus vinitinctus. Its other birds are wholly of Australian types, and most of them probably Australian species. The following have been observed, and no doubt constitute nearly its whole indigenous bird fauna. Acanthiza sp., Rhipidura sp., Pachycephala gutturalis, Zosterops strennuus and Z. tephropleurus, Strepera sp., Halcyon sp., and Chalcophaga chrysochlora. The two species of Zosterops are peculiar. The Ocydromus is important enough to ally this island to New Zealand rather than to Australia; and if the white bird seen there is, as supposed, the Notornis alba which is extinct in Norfolk Island, the connection will be rendered still more clear.
Chatham Islands.—These small islands, 450 miles east of New Zealand, possess about 40 species of birds, of which 13 are land-birds. All but one belong to New Zealand genera, and all but five are New Zealand species. The following are the genera of the land-birds: Sphenæacus, Gerygone, Myiomoira, Rhipidura, Zosterops, Anthus, Prosthemadera, Anthornis, Chrysococcyx, Cyanoramphus, Carpophaga, Circus. The peculiar species are Anthornis melanocephala, Myiomoira diffenbachi and M. traversi, Rhipidura flabellifera, and a peculiar rail incapable of flight, named by Captain Hutton Cabalus modestus. It is stated that the Zosterops differs from that of New Zealand, and is also a migrant; and it is therefore believed to come every year from Australia, passing over New Zealand, a distance of nearly 1,700 miles! Further investigation will perhaps discover some other explanation of the facts. It is also stated, that the pigeon and one of the small birds (? Gerygone or Zosterops) have arrived at the islands within the last eight years. The natives further declare, that both the Stringops and Apteryx once inhabited the islands, but were exterminated about the year 1835.
The Auckland Islands.—These are situated nearly 300 miles south of New Zealand, and possess six land-birds, of which three are peculiar,—Anthus aucklandicus, Cyanoramphus aucklandicus, and C. malherbii, the others being New Zealand species of Myiomoira, Prosthemadera, and Anthornis. It is remarkable that two peculiar parrots of the same genus should inhabit these small islands; but such localities seem favourable to the Platycercidæ, for another peculiar species is found in the remote Macquarie Islands, more than 400 miles farther south. A peculiar species and genus of ducks, Nesonetta aucklandica, is also found here, and as far as yet known, nowhere else. A species of the northern genus Mergus is also found on these islands, and has been recently obtained by Baron von Hügel.