INTRODUCTION.
of birds were obtained, most of whicli were new to science and were described by Lesson. The voyage of
the ‘ Astrolabe ’ also contains the description and figures o f some Papuan birds, written by Messrs. Quoy
and Gaimard, the naturalists attached to this expedition* as they had been to that o f the ‘ Uranie.’ In
1854 the volume on the ‘ Zoology’ of the ‘ Voyage au Pôle Sud ’ contained some more descriptions o f New-
Guinea birds, and then French enterprise in Papuasia seems to have stood still till quite recently, when a
voung naturalist, M. Léon Laglaize, sent from that region some very interesting and important novelties in
the way o f birds.
The Dutch, however, to whom belongs the western half o f the island at the present time, were very
active in New Guinea during the second half o f the century, and some admirable collections were made by
Solomon Miiller and Maklot. These formed the foundation of the splendid séries of Papuan birds in the
Leyden Museum, which is still one o f its chief glories. Many o f the species were figured by Temminck in
the ‘ Planches Coloriées,’ and also by Miiller and Scblegel in the well-known ‘ Verhandelingen.’
While Dr. SclUter was writing his memoir, amd placing the zoology o f New Guinea as it were on a
proper basis of knowledge, our great countryman, A. R. Wallace, was at work on that wonderful exploration
of the Malay Archipelago which will render n'is name famous for all time. Most o f Mr. Wallace’s
discoveries were epitomized and catalogued in the late George Robert Gray’s ‘ List o f the Birds o f New
Guinea’ (1859) ; but many more species were described by the traveller himself, and a most complete list
o f the Mammals and Birds of Papuasia and the Moluccas was given by Dr. Otto Finsch in his ‘ Neu-Guinea
mid seine Bewobner’ (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 o f 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 unvisited by Europeans, yielded
important novelties. Then came the celebrated expedition o f Dr. A. B. Meyer, whereby a further number
o f new species were discovered, to be followed by the extensive explorations o f Signor D ’Albertis and
Dr. Beccari. D ’Albertis discovered Drepanornis in the Arfak Mountains in 1872, and visiting afterwards
the southern and south-eastern portions of New Guinea, he met with Harpyopsis and other remarkable
new genera of birds, many o f which have been figured in the present work. Dr. Beccari sent some most
interesting and wonderful birds from the Arfak Mountains and many o f 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 elapsed since Mr. Wallace’s successful labours in the Malay Archipelago,
Englishmen had been busy in exploring many o f the outlying groups o f islands to the eastward o f New
Guinea ; and Captain Richards, Mr. Brazier, Mr. Cockerell, and other naturalists discovered many new
species o f 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 o f 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 o f the celebrated Hamburg firm, Messrs. GodefTroy, have also explored
Ponapé and other islands to the west o f New Guinea, and the names o f Kubary, Graeffe, and Klein-
schmidt will always remain famous amongst those of the explorers o f these little-known and inaccessible
localities. For the exploration o f 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. Maefarlane, 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
INTRODUC I ION. in
Australians have also done much to increase our knowledge o f the zoology of South-eastern New Guinea,
and the collections of the ‘ Chevert’ expédition and other explorers, Mr. Masters, Mr. Morton, Mr.
Pettard, and Mr. Broadbent, have been described by Dr. E. P. Ramsay at Sydney, or by ourselves here in
London. The Astrolabe Mountains have been visited by Mr. Goldie, Mr. Hunstein, and Mr. H. O. Forbes,
and have-yielded some surprising and beautiful novelties. Many o f the species discovered originally in the
Arfak Mountains have now been found in the Astrolabe Range, which, however, appears to possess a
certain individual fauna, though we know so little of the mountain-ranges o f the interior o f New Guinea
that it would be impossible to affirm that any species is peculiar to any portion o f the mountain system and
does not extend throughout its entire area.
Before concluding this sketch o f zoological work in New Guinea and the Moluccas, we must allude to
the excellent results obtained by Mr. H. O. Forbes and his heroic wife in the Tenimber Islands. They
were the first Europeans to collect in the dreaded Timor Laut group, and though compelled to work, through
the hostility o f the surrounding natives, in a circumscribed space, the number of new species obtained
reflected tbe greatest credit on the energy o f these brave travellers. Mr. Riedel’s hunters have also
discovered a few new species on the Tenimber Islands.
In the pages o f the present work frequent reference is made to the ‘ Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle
MolUcche’ of Count Salvadori. The present writer knows how difficult, in these days of many books, is the
task o f the man who sets himself to write a monograph o f any group of birds, and to write a complete account
o f the avifauna o f any country is even more tedious. Although the collections stored in the Museo Civico at
Genoa are most complete, the enthusiasm o f the distinguished Director of that Museum, Marquis Doria,
having drawn thereto the collections o f the Italian travellers, as energetic and full o f purpose as he is
himself, yet the treasures in the other museums o f Europe must be collated with the material accumulated
by Italy, if a complete account o f the ornithology of New Guinea has to be compiled. Travelling,
therefore, from country to country, comparing the collections in his charge with those made by English,
French, Dutch, and German travellers, Count Salvadori may well be congratulated on the result which
his thoughtful earnestness obtained, and in tbe great work on Papuan Ornithology o f which he is the author
he has raised up for himself an imperishable reputation. The best tribute which the present writer can
pay to his work exists in a reference to the number o f times which he has been obliged to quote or to copy
Count Salvadori’s writings, because, on the subject o f Papuan Ornithology, he left us little or nothing to
add to the information given by him in the ‘ Ornitologia della Papuasia.’
R. BOWDLER SHARPE.