Family STRUTHIONIDÆ, Vig.

Genus Dromaius, Vieill.

I formerly entertained an opinion that there were two species of Emu inhabiting Australia, but I have not had sufficient proofs that such is the case. The small specimens in the possession of the Linnean Society of London and in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, may only be stunted birds which had been kept in captivity, but as some doubt still remains in my mind the subject should be kept in view.

New Zealand is the only country wherein the members of this genus now exist; but they doubtless formerly ranged over that continent of which the greater part is submerged beneath the surface of the ocean, and of which a few isolated spots—New Zealand, Norfolk and Phillip Islands among others—alone remain.

Genus Otis, Linn.

A country better adapted than Australia for the members of this genus can scarcely be imagined, yet singularly enough only one species has yet been found there. Africa may be considered the cradle of the race, for it is on that continent that they are most numerous; Europe and India are also inhabited by various species. The Otis nigriceps of the plains of Upper India, and the O. Australis are beautiful representatives of each other in the respective countries they inhabit.

• Otis Australis, Gray in Griff. An. King., vol. iii. p. 305.

The range of this bird over the country is probably universal; both Dr. Leichardt and Mr. Gilbert observed it within the tropical portion of Australia, and Captain Sturt found it in the desert interior.

Family CHARADRIADÆ, Leach.

Genus Œdicnemus, Temm.

The Œdicnemi occur in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, in which latter country one if not two species exist that are not found elsewhere.

The birds of this form inhabiting the northern coast have longer legs and shorter wings, and I have no doubt are distinct; but I have not seen a sufficient number of specimens to enable me to affirm that such is actually the case.

Genus Esacus, Less.

The genera Œdicnemus and Esacus are merely modifications of the same form; the variation in that of the bill being expressly adapted for procuring the kinds of food upon which the species respectively subsist; the Œdicnemus frequenting the stony deserts of the interior of the country feeds upon insects of various kinds, and the tender shoots of herbage; while the Esacus, resorting to the salt-marshes and the shores of the sea, lives upon crabs, mollusks and other marine animals.

So far as our knowledge extends, the present bird is confined to the shores of the northern and north-western parts of Australia. It is beautifully represented in India by the E. recurvirostris, and these two species are all that are known to ornithologists.

I believe that there is no country in the world of any extent the shores of which are not inhabited by one or other of the numerous species of this genus; but it would seem that all those which exist in the southern hemisphere are totally different from those of the northern.

Two species inhabit Australia, viz.

Genus Lobivanellus, Strikl.

Two species of this beautiful form inhabit Australia, one the northern and the other the southern parts of the country; I believe they are both confined to this portion of the globe. Other species are found in India and Africa.

Genus Sarciophorus, Strickl.

A genus nearly allied to the last, and of which a single species inhabits Australia; like Lobivanellus, it is an Old World form.

Genus Squatarola, Cuv.

The single species of this genus inhabits Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.

Genus Charadrius, Linn.

The Australian fauna comprises two species of this form, of which one, the Charadrius veredus, might, perhaps, with propriety be separated into a distinct genus, or placed in that of Eudromias.

Genus Eudromias, Boie.

Of this genus of upland Plovers two species at least are known, viz. the E. morinellus of Europe and the E. Australis of Australia.

This bird inhabits the low hills and plains of the interior, a kind of habitat precisely similar to that of its European prototype.

Since my account of this species was written some additional information has been acquired respecting it.

“This singular bird,” says Captain Sturt, in the Appendix to his Account of his recent expedition into the interior of South Australia, “made its appearance in 1841 suddenly on the plains of Adelaide, seeming to have come from the north. It occupied the sand-hills at the edge of the Mangrove swamps and fed round the puddles of water on the plains. This bird afforded my friend, Mr. Torrens, an abundant harvest, as it was numerous round his house; but although some few have visited South Australia every subsequent year, they have never appeared in such numbers as on the first occasion. It runs very fast along the ground. Mr. Browne and I met or rather crossed several flights of these birds in August of 1845, going south. They were on the large open plains and were very wild.”

Genus Hiaticula, G. R. Gray.

Five species of this genus inhabit Australia, and others occur in New Zealand, the Indian Islands, India, Europe, Africa and America, consequently few genera have their members more widely dispersed. Almost all the species found in Australia are peculiar to the country, and are more numerous on the southern than they are on the northern parts of that continent; shingly beaches and low flat shores are their principal places of resort.

Genus Erythrogonys, Gould.

Generic characters.

Bill longer than the head, straight, rather depressed; nostrils basal, linear; wings long and powerful, the first feather the longest; tertiaries nearly as long as the primaries; tail short and nearly square; legs long; toes four in number, slender, the hind-toe extremely diminutive and free, the outer toe united to the middle one nearly to the first joint; thighs naked above the knee.

The single species of this genus appears to be strictly Australian, for I have never seen examples from any other country.

In structure, actions and economy this elegantly formed bird is very nearly allied to the Hiaticulæ on the one hand, and the Schœnicli on the other.

Genus Glareola, Briss.

I have for many years questioned the propriety of placing the Pratincoles in the same group with the Plovers, or even in the same order, believing them as I do to be a terrestrial form of the Fissirostral birds. Linnæus placed them near the Swallows, and I think he was right in so doing; and Mr. Blyth, one of the most philosophical of ornithologists, entertains, I believe, the same opinion; but as nearly all other writers have placed them with the Charadriadæ, I have adopted their view of the subject, and have accordingly retained them in that group.

Species of this genus inhabit India, the Indian Islands, Europe and Africa.

Genus Himantopus., Briss.

Europe, India and Africa are inhabited by one, North America by a second, South America by a third and perhaps a fourth, New Zealand by a fifth, and Australia by a sixth species of this elegant but singular genus; the Australian bird, which is more abundant in the southern than in the northern parts of the country, is perhaps the finest and most ornamental of the whole.

Genus Chladorhynchus, G. R. Gray.

The only known species of this form is peculiar to Australia.

Observed in great numbers by Captain Sturt, during his journey into the interior, in the Appendix to which he says,—“This singular bird, with legs so admirably adapted by their length for wading into the shallow lakes and sheets of water, near which it is found, was seen in large flocks. It was very abundant on Lepson’s Lake to the northward of Cooper’s Creek; and on Strzelecki’s Creek it was sitting on the water with other wild fowl making a singular plaintive whistle.”

Genus Recurvirostra, Linn.

This form, like that of Himantopus, is widely distributed over the globe, since species inhabit America, Africa, Europe, India and Australia, in which latter country, as in Europe, only one species is found, viz.

Genus Limosa, Briss.

Two very distinct species of this genus inhabit Australia, one the southern and the other the northern divisions of the country; others occur in Java, Sumatra, India, Africa, Europe and North America.

Genus Schœniclus, Mœhr.

I have figured four species of this genus as inhabiting Australia, not more than one, or at most two, of which, however, is or are peculiar to that country. The species of this genus range over many degrees of latitude, and occur in America as well as in most parts of the Old World.

This species, I believe, also inhabits India and Japan.

The only known species of this form inhabits Java, Sumatra, India and Europe, and as I killed a specimen in Australia that country must also be included within its range.

Genus Actitis, Ill.

One species of this genus inhabits Australia, where it represents the Actitis hypoleucus of Europe and Actitis macularius of America.

Genus Glottis, Nils.

The only species of this genus found in Australia appears to me to be identical with the Glottis Glottoïdes of India.

Genus Totanus, Bechst.

Of this genus two species are all that have yet been discovered in Australia; one of these I have regarded as identical with the Totanus stagnatilis of Europe, and if this view be correct, then the range of the species will extend from Asia to Australia; certain it is that I have seen specimens from all the intermediate countries which are strictly identical with the European bird. The second species is an inhabitant of the north coast, and is allied to the T. calidris.

Genus Strepsilas, Ill.

If any bird may be regarded as a Cosmopolite it is the Turnstone, for it inhabits the sea-shores of every part of the globe.

Genus Scolopax, Linn.

If the slight difference which occurs in the Snipes from Port Essington on the north and from Van Diemen’s Land on the south be regarded as mere local variations, then only one species of this form exists in Australia.

Captain Sturt informs us that this Snipe is common in South Australia, but scarce in the interior of the country; that it breeds in great numbers in the valley of Mypunga, but is only to be found in those localities where the ground is constantly soft.

The few species comprised in this genus are widely dispersed over the face of the globe; one inhabits the southernmost parts of America, another South Africa, a third India, and a fourth Australia. They affect different situations from those resorted to by the true Snipes, usually selecting drier ground and knolls under low bushes contiguous to marshy lands, where they can readily procure food and water.

“This beautiful bird,” says Captain Sturt, “was very scarce in the interior, and indeed is not common anywhere. Some three or four couples visit my residence at Grange yearly, and remain in the high reeds at the bottom of the creek, among which they doubtless breed, but I never found one of their nests. They lie basking in the shade of a tree on the sand-hills during the day, and separate when alarmed.”

Genus Numenius, Linn.

Three species of this form are found in Australia, to which part of the globe they are confined, and wherein they represent the species inhabiting the northern hemisphere, with which their habits, actions and economy are strictly in accordance.

Family ARDEIDÆ, Leach.

Subfamily TANTALINÆ, G. R. Gray.

Genus Geronticus, Wagl.

The three species of Ibises inhabiting Australia have been separated by ornithologists into as many genera, and the difference which exists in their habits and economy tends to prove the propriety of their subdivision; for while the Geronticus congregates in flocks of thousands and mainly subsists upon caterpillars, grasshoppers and locusts, a kind of food which it readily obtains on the heated plains, the Threskiornis assembles in small companies of from four to six in number and resorts to the rushy banks of the lagoons and other humid situations, and feeds upon newts, frogs, lizards, snakes and fish, and the Falcinellus resorts to similar situations, but I have had no opportunity of observing its habits.

I have never seen examples of this species from any other country than Australia, which would therefore appear to be its restricted habitat.

Genus Threskiornis, G. R. Gray.

Found in most parts of Eastern Australia during wet seasons.

This species is numerous in the northern and eastern districts of Australia, whence its range extends throughout the whole of the islands to India and Europe.

Subfamily GRUINÆ, G. R. Gray.

Genus Grus, Linn.

Species of this genus inhabit Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and Australia.

The Australian Crane is a noble bird, and is deservedly admired both by the Aborigines and Europeans. The eastern and northern parts of the country are the only localities yet known to be inhabited by this fine bird; future research may however find that it possesses a wider range.

Subfamily PLATALEINÆ, Bonap.

Genus Platalea, Linn.

Two species of this genus inhabit Australia, both of which are, I believe, peculiar to that country, where they perform precisely the same offices as their prototypes in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

Subfamily CICONINÆ, G. R. Gray.

Genus Mycteria, Linn.

The noble species of this genus inhabiting Australia is, I believe, identical with the bird of the same form inhabiting India, and if such be the case, then it enjoys a wide range of habitat. Africa and America are inhabited by species belonging to this or to a very nearly allied genus.

Subfamily ARDEINÆ, G. R. Gray.

Genus Ardea, Linn.

The Herons range over every part of the globe. The sixteen species inhabiting Australia include examples of the genera Ardea, Herodias, Nycticorax, Botaurus and Ardetta, and I think they should be still further divided, the Reef Herons, Herodias jugularis, H. Greyii, &c. differing considerably both in structure and habits from the other members of the genus; the Ardea pacifica and A. Novæ-Hollandiæ also, are not typical Ardeæ, but fill a station intermediate between the true Herons and the Egrets.

Numerous in the southern but rare within the tropical parts of Australia.

Frequents the whole of the southern coasts of Australia and Van Diemen’s Land.

Found on the north coast of Australia, and I believe also in the Indian Islands.

The range of this species, which is very rare in Australia, appears to extend to the southern parts of India.

Nearly every part of the globe is tenanted by members of this genus. Those inhabiting Australia are very nearly allied to, but I believe are quite distinct from, the species found in India, Europe and America, and of which they are the Australian representatives.

Genus Nycticorax, Steph.

Europe, Africa and America are all inhabited by Night Herons; consequently it is one of the most widely-distributed sections of the family.

The single Australian species of this well-defined genus is rendered conspicuously different from all other known species by the cinnamon colour of its back.

“Shot at Cape York and Port Essington, in which latter place it is rather abundant. Yangko of the Cape York aborigines, Alăwool of the Port Essington natives.”—J. M’Gillivray.

Genus Botaurus, Steph.

The Australian Bittern is very similar to the European, B. stellaris.

Genus Ardetta, G. R. Gray.

The members of this genus of Mangrove Bitterns usually frequent the extensive belts of mangroves and low dells covered with reed-beds and dense herbage.

Africa and America are each inhabited by birds of this form, one species of which is also found in Europe, several in India and the adjacent islands, and three in Australia, viz.—

This species is said to inhabit Java and India, and although I have figured it under the name assigned to the Indian and Javanese bird, I am still inclined to believe that it is distinct.

This species, with the little Bittern of the British Islands and several others inhabiting Africa and America, would admit of being separated into a distinct genus.

Of this family no less than sixteen species inhabit Australia, and are comprised in the following genera, viz. Porphyrio, Fulica, Gallinula, Rallus and Porzana, all of which are European forms; and Parra, Eulabeornis and Tribonyx: of the latter, the first is common to India and the Indian Islands, and the other two are confined, so far as we know, to Australia.

Genus Porphyrio, Briss.

Genus Tribonyx, DuBus.

Inhabits the southern parts of Australia and Van Diemen’s Land.

Inhabits the interior of Australia.

“This bird,” says Captain Sturt, “appeared suddenly in South Australia in 1840. It came from the north, fresh flights coming up and pushing on those which had preceded them. It was moreover evident that they had been unaccustomed to the sight of man, for they dropped in great numbers in the streets and gardens of Adelaide and ran about like fowls. At last they increased so much in number as to swarm on all the waters and creeks, doing great damage to the crops in their neighbourhood. They took the entire possession of the creek near my house, and broke down and wholly destroyed about an acre and a quarter of wheat as if cattle had bedded on it. They made their first appearance in November, and left in the beginning of March, gradually retiring northwards as they had advanced.”

Genus Gallinula, Briss.

The true Gallinulæ are very numerous, and are found in nearly every part of the world. Australia is inhabited by a species peculiarly its own, distributed over all the southern parts of the continent.

Nearly allied to, and a representative of, the Water-Hen of Europe, Gallinula chloropus.

Genus Fulica, Linn.

Fulicæ are found in nearly every part of the great continents of Europe, Asia, Africa and America, and one species in Australia.

This bird, which is strictly confined to Australia, is rather smaller than its European ally.

Genus Parra, Linn.

A tropical form, the structure of which is admirably adapted for progression over the aquatic plants and floating leaves of the lagoons and inland waters it frequents and over which it passes with facility; its expansive feet, spreading over a large surface of fallen grasses and leaves, readily sustaining it, which they would not do were they of the ordinary form.

Species of this form are found in India, Africa and America.

Inhabits the northern parts of Australia and New Guinea.

Genus Rallus, Linn.

We have here again a genus of birds the range of the species of which is most extensive, for there is no country in which one or other of them is not to be found.

Genus Eulabeornis, Gould.

Generic characters.

Bill longer than the head, nearly straight, but slightly curved downwards; compressed laterally; nostril long and open, situated in a large groove which runs along the upper mandible for nearly two-thirds of its length from the base; wings rather short and feeble, very much rounded; tertiaries long, nearly reaching to the end of the wing; legs rather long, more powerful than in the genus Rallus; toes not so much lengthened as in that genus; tail long cuneiform; the webs loose and of a decomposed character.

A genus established for the reception of a singular species of Rail inhabiting the north coast of Australia, and in which Mr. G. R. Gray has since placed four other species from different localities.

Genus Porzana, Vieill.

The Porzanæ inhabit Europe, Africa, India and Australia; the four species inhabiting the latter country are generally distributed, even within the tropics.