a successful termination, I was naturally desirous of turning my
attention to the Ornithology of some other region; and a variety of
concurring circumstances induced me to select that of Australia, the
Birds of which, though invested with the highest degree of interest, had
been almost entirely neglected. Dr. Shaw, in his “Zoology of New
Holland,” had devoted a few plates to the subject, from specimens
collected by Sir Joseph Banks during the first voyage of Captain Cook;
the “Birds of New Holland” by Lewin comprised not more than twenty-six
plates; and figures and descriptions of a few species were given in the
earlier voyages of Phillip, White and Collins, and the more recent one
of King. At a subsequent period the late Mr. Vigors and Dr. Horsfield
commenced an elaborate memoir on the Collection of Australian Birds in
the possession of the Linnean Society; but unfortunately, they did not
proceed farther than the _Meliphagidæ_, and the non-completion of their
labours is the more to be regretted, inasmuch as the Linnean Society’s
collection of Australian birds, at that time the finest extant,
comprised many species collected by Mr. Brown during his voyage with the
celebrated navigator Flinders, and was moreover enriched with some
interesting notes by the late Mr. George Caley, by whom the collection
was chiefly formed. Descriptions of many Australian birds were also
included in the works of Latham, Shaw, Cuvier and Vieillot, as well as
in several of the recent French voyages of discovery; still no general
work on the subject had been undertaken, and nearly all that had been
recorded by the various writers above enumerated, had reference almost
exclusively to the productions of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land,
these being almost the only explored portions of that great country. In
the absence, then, of any general work on the Birds of Australia, the
field was comparatively a new one, and of no ordinary degree of
interest, from the circumstance of its being one of the finest
possessions of the British Crown, and from its natural productions being
as remarkable for the anomalous nature of their forms, as for their
beauty, and the singularity of their habits. In the attempt to supply
this desideratum I commenced publishing from the materials then
accessible, but soon found, from the paucity of information extant upon
the subject, that it could not be executed in a manner that would be
satisfactory to my own mind or commensurate with the exigencies of
science; I therefore determined to proceed to Australia and personally
investigate (so far as a stay of two years would allow) the habits and
manners of its birds in a state of nature. Accordingly in May 1838 I
left England, provided, by the liberality of Government, with letters
from Lord Glenelg, at that time Secretary of State for the Colonies, Sir
George Grey, Bart., and Gordon Gairdner, Esq., of the Colonial Office,
recommending me to the countenance and protection of the various
Governors, and requesting them to afford me such aid and assistance in
furtherance of my objects as they might have it in their power to
render; similar favours were also granted me by the authorities of the
Admiralty, who, through their Secretary, Sir John Barrow, directed the
captains and commanders of Her Majesty’s ships and vessels employed on
the coasts of Australia to further my views, by giving myself and my
assistant a passage to such part of the coasts as either of us might be
desirous of visiting, only stipulating that the ships under their
command should not be detained on any parts of the coasts they were not
ordered to visit. His late Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, in his
capacity of President of the Royal Society, was pleased to favour me
with a letter addressed to the authorities, civil and military, of Her
Majesty’s Colonies, recommending me to their kind offices and
protection, as he felt assured that my exertions would materially
promote the interests of Natural History. I was also under considerable
obligations to the kindness of Captain Washington, R.N., at that time
Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, who furnished me with
introductions to Captains Sir John Franklin and Sir Gordon Bremer, R.N.,
and other influential persons. Having thus acknowledged the facilities
afforded me by the home authorities, it becomes my pleasing duty to
state that their recommendations and wishes were responded to in the
warmest manner by Captain Sir John Franklin, R.N., Governor of Van
Diemen’s Land; Sir George Gipps, Governor-General of New South Wales;
Lieut.-Colonel Gawler, Governor of South Australia; John Hutt, Esq.,
Governor of Western Australia; and Captain M’Arthur, Commandant of Port
Essington; all of whom rendered me every assistance compatible with the
instructions under which they were acting. I should be wanting, however,
both in courtesy and gratitude, did I not especially acknowledge the
warm friendship, and the many acts of genuine kindness which I received
at the hands of my valued friends Sir John and Lady Franklin, who,
besides facilitating my views in every way, both publicly and privately,
with the most generous hospitality received myself and family into their
house, where Mrs. Gould and my eldest son, who had accompanied us,
remained for nearly ten months, while I pursued my researches in various
parts of Van Diemen’s Land and the continent of Australia; and it is
only by those who, like myself, have had the advantage of residing in
the bosom of this amiable family, that the kindness of their nature and
the goodness of their hearts can be duly appreciated, and which can
never be erased from my memory. I must acknowledge not less gratefully
the many acts of kindness rendered to me by Sir George and Lady Gipps
during my stay in Sydney. After exploring Van Diemen’s Land, the islands
in Bass’s Straits, South Australia, and New South Wales, into the
interior of which country I penetrated to the distance of nearly four
hundred miles from the coast-line, I despatched my able assistant, Mr.
Gilbert, to explore the western and northern portions of the country,
and returned to England in August 1840; I immediately commenced the work
_de novo_, and the result of my labours is now before the public. It
fortunately happened at the commencement and during the progress of the
work, Her Majesty’s ships the Beagle, under the command of Captains
Wickham and Stokes; the Britomart, under Captain Stanley; the Fly, under
Captain Blackwood, and the Pelorus under Captain Chambers were employed
in surveying the northern and north-western coasts of Australia; and the
Erebus and Terror under Captain Sir James C. Ross, in a voyage of
discovery towards the south pole. While engaged in the performance of
their arduous duties, the officers of those vessels succeeded in
procuring many interesting novelties, which, with the greatest
liberality, were communicated to me for the present work, whereby its
value has been much enhanced. This liberality will be found duly
acknowledged in the histories of the species, for the use of which I am
indebted to the kindness of B. Bynoe, Esq., Surgeon R.N., Lieut. Emery,
R.N., Commander J. M. R. Ince, R.N., Edward Dring, Esq., Purser R.N.,
Dr. Robertson and Robert M’Cormick, Esq., Surgeons R.N., and John
M’Gillivray, Esq.
After spending two years in Western and Northern Australia, Mr. Gilbert
returned to England in September 1841, bringing with him the result of
his labours, which proved of sufficient value and importance to induce
me to believe that much yet remained to be discovered in those
countries, and to direct him to return thither, which he accordingly did
in the ensuing spring; and after again visiting Swan River, and
sedulously exploring the interior so far as practicable, he proceeded to
Sydney, and, unfortunately for himself, allowed his love of science, in
the advancement of which no one was more ardent, to induce him to join
Dr. Leichardt in his overland journey from Moreton Bay to Port
Essington. On this expedition, he, as usual, displayed his wonted zeal
and activity until the 28th of June, when, the party being treacherously
attacked by the natives, his valuable life was sacrificed, I lost a most
able coadjutor, and science has to deplore one of her most devoted
servants; fortunately, however, in despite of the many difficulties and
dangers which beset the party during the remainder of their journey, his
journals and notes, together with the specimens he had been able to
procure, were preserved and transmitted to me by Dr. Leichardt, and
proved of valuable assistance in determining the range of many of the
species.
My own researches commenced immediately after passing the Equator, from
whence, throughout the entire route to Australia, I omitted no
opportunity of studying the habits, and collecting the different species
of the oceanic birds that came under my notice: these observations were
again resumed on my return to England; and as the outward passage was by
the Cape of Good Hope, and the homeward one by Cape Horn, they extended
round the globe, and, as will be seen in the course of the work, have
led to some important results. And here I must acknowledge my
obligations to the various captains with whom I sailed, namely Captain
M^cKellar of the “Parsee,” which vessel conveyed me to Van Diemen’s
Land; Captain Harding of the “Black Joke,” in which I proceeded from
Launceston to Adelaide; Captain Fell of the “Catherine Stewart Forbes,”
in which I returned from Adelaide to Hobart Town; Captain Gilchrist of
the “Potentate,” in which I sailed from Hobart Town to Sydney; and
Lieutenant Mallard, R.N., of the “Kinnear,” which brought me to England;
all of whom rendered me every assistance in their power, and the use of
a boat and crew whenever the weather would admit of one being lowered,
by which means I was enabled to obtain nearly forty species of Petrel,
being the finest collection of the _Procellaridæ_ ever brought together.
At the commencement of the work it was not expected that it would prove
so extensive as it has become, since not more than about 300 species
were then known, which number has now been increased, by the united
efforts of myself and those who have so kindly aided my views, to
upwards of 600 species, among which are comprised many forms remarkable
for their novelty, the anomalous character of their structure, and the
singularity of their habits, such as the Bower Birds (_Ptilonorhynchi_
and _Chlamyderæ_) and the Mound-raising Birds (_Talegalla_, _Leipoa_ and
_Megapodius_). The singular runs or bowers of the _Chlamyderæ_ were
considered by some explorers to be the cradles of the infants of the
aborigines, and the mounds of the _Megapodius_ to be tumuli, errors
which have been rectified in the present work.
It is not to be supposed that an undertaking of such magnitude as the
present could have been brought to a successful termination by the
unaided efforts of a single individual, and I have, therefore, very
great pleasure in stating that my views were most ably seconded by every
one with whom the nature of my investigations brought me in contact; but
by none more than by the Rev. Thomas James Ewing, who, besides
manifesting the warmest friendship, has ever taken especial interest in
promoting the success of the present work; nor must I omit to mention R.
C. Gunn, Esq., Lieut. Breton, R.N., the Hon. Henry Elliot, Aide-de-camp
to the Governor, Lieut. Friend, R.N., and Captain Booth, all of Van
Diemen’s Land. In New South Wales my best thanks are due to George
Bennett, Esq., who, like Mr. Ewing, favoured me with his warmest
friendship, and evinced an equal anxiety for the success of my
undertaking; the Messrs. James and William M’Arthur, of Camden; the
Messrs. Stephen and Charles Coxen, of Yarrundi; Charles Throsby, Esq.,
of Bong-bong; Alexander and William S. MacLeay, Esqs.; Captain P. P.
King, and many others. Much valuable information has been communicated
to me by George Grey, Esq. (now Governor of New Zealand), whose
exertions during his expedition along the north-western coasts of
Australia were characterized by a degree of energy of character and
perseverance but rarely equalled; whose ornithological collection made
during this arduous enterprise, although small, was by no means
destitute of interest; and who, upon succeeding Colonel Gawler in the
Governorship of South Australia, found time amidst his multifarious
occupations to devote considerable attention to Natural History, and to
send me some interesting drawings and other details respecting the
mounds raised by the _Leipoa_, &c. In South Australia I received many
acts of kind attention and assistance from my friend Captain Sturt, whom
I accompanied on one of his expeditions into the interior; and I have
much pleasure in acknowledging my obligations to Mr. Eyre, now
Lieut.-Governor of New Zealand, and the late J. B. Harvey, Esq.
Nor must I conclude my acknowledgements of the kindness of those who
have rendered me their aid, without especially recording the liberality
of the Right Hon. The Earl of Derby, who has at all times most readily
submitted to my inspection every collection of which he has become the
possessor, and allowed me the free use of any objects desirable for the
enhancement of the “Birds of Australia;” neither is the kindness of His
Highness the Prince of Canino, Sir Wm. Jardine, Bart., Robert Brown,
Professor Owen, H. E. Strickland, W. Yarrell, T. C. Eyton, J. J.
Bennett, D. W. Mitchell, and E. Blyth, Esqs., forgotten by one whom they
have ever been sedulous to oblige. My thanks are also due to the
Trustees, to J. E. Gray, and G. R. Gray, Esqs., of the British Museum;
and to the authorities of the Linnean and Zoological Societies of
London, the Royal Museums of Berlin, Leyden and Paris, and the Museum at
Sydney. I am also considerably indebted to my friend W. C. L. Martin,
Esq., author of many valuable works and papers on natural history, for
the readiness with which his varied literary attainments and critical
acumen have at all times been rendered, whenever solicited, to enhance
the accuracy of my labours.
At the conclusion of my “Birds of Europe,” I had the pleasing duty of
stating that nearly the whole of the Plates had been lithographed by my
amiable wife. Would that I had the happiness of recording a similar
statement with regard to the present work; but such, alas! is not the
case, it having pleased the All-wise Disposer of Events to remove her
from this sublunary world within one short year after our return from
Australia, during her sojourn in which country an immense mass of
drawings, both ornithological and botanical, were made by her inimitable
hand and pencil, and which has enabled Mr. H. C. Richter, to whom, after
her lamented death, the execution of the Plates was entrusted, to
perform his task in a manner highly satisfactory to myself, and I trust
equally so to the Subscribers. The colouring, as in the case of the
“Birds of Europe,” and my other works, has been entirely executed by Mr.
Bayfield, to whose unwearied exertions and punctuality I must not fail
to bear testimony, as well as to the minute accuracy with which his
labours have been performed. The printing of the Plates, by Messrs.
Hullmandel and Walton, and the letter-press, by Messrs. R. and J. E.
Taylor, has also been equally satisfactory.
And I cannot refrain from speaking in the highest terms of my assistant,
Mr. Edwin C. Prince, who has been with me from the commencement of my
various works. I left him in charge of the whole of my affairs during my
absence from England, with a perfect conviction that he would zealously
exert himself for my interest, and the confidence I reposed in him has
been fully realized, not only during my absence, but during the long
period of eighteen years.
It was my most anxious wish that the unique and perfect collection of
Australian Birds, forming the originals of the present work, should have
found a resting-place in the National Museum of this country, inasmuch
as it comprised examples of both sexes of nearly every known species in
various stages of plumage, each carefully labelled with its correct
scientific appellation, the date when and the place where killed, the
sex ascertained by dissection, and the colouring of the soft parts;
besides which, it comprised the finest specimens I had been able to
procure during the long period of ten years, collected together at an
expense of more than £2000, and at the cost of three valuable lives,
namely, that of Mr. Gilbert above referred to; that of Mr. Johnson
Drummond, who was killed by a native while seeking for specimens in
Western Australia; and that of a fine young man, one of the attendants
assigned to me by Sir John Franklin, who was accidentally killed by the
explosion of a gun he was removing from a boat when landing on one of
the islands in Bass’s Straits. Regretting that I could not afford to
make a donation of it, I addressed a letter to J. E. Gray, Esq., the
chief Zoological officer of the British Museum, in which, after stating
that the entire collection amounted to nearly 600 species, and upwards
of 1800 specimens, with the full complements of eggs of more than 300
species, I made the following offer,—“I believe that in some instances
the Government has lent its aid and support to works of such magnitude
as the ‘Birds of Australia’ by taking a certain number of copies; were
this done in my own case, and not less than twenty-five copies were
taken, I should be most happy to present to the Museum both the
Collections above-mentioned, but should such an arrangement be declined
then I beg to offer them to the Trustees for the sum of £1000.” To my
own, as well as to the regret of nearly every scientific man in Europe,
my offer was declined by the Trustees. Upon this circumstance becoming
known to Edward Wilson, Esq., of Lydstip House, near Tenby in
Pembrokeshire, that gentleman immediately purchased the entire
collection for his brother, Dr. T. B. Wilson, of Philadelphia in North
America, whither it will be shortly removed, and where it will be at all
times available for the purposes of science, and form a portion of
perhaps the most extensive ornithological collection in the world.
In conclusion I would beg to say, that having brought the “Birds of
Australia” to a close, after devoting nearly ten years to its
production, I trust it will be admitted that it has been terminated in
the same spirit with which it was commenced, and that any errors which
may be found will be viewed with leniency, when the extent of the work,
and the difficulty of procuring and arranging so large a mass of
materials, is taken into consideration; should my labours, such as they
are, merit the approbation of those who have so liberally supported it,
my own efforts will be amply repaid. Although the work comprises every
species known to inhabit Australia up to the present time, it is not to
be supposed that it contains the whole of the birds of that vast
country, of which so large a portion is yet a _terra incognita_. Every
new district towards the north-west that may be explored will doubtless
afford additional species, and which may hereafter form the materials
for a supplement.
I originally intended to include the Birds of New Zealand in the present
work, but upon further investigation of the subject I found that they
belong to a distinct Fauna, which fact, coupled with the vast accession
of new species from the continent of Australia, induced me to omit all
but those that had been published in the first instance, and one or two
others remarkable for their great interest.
Enjoying, by the blessing of Providence, constant good health, and
energies as yet unimpaired, I propose still to devote my humble efforts
to the advancement of Ornithology, that science which treats of one of
the most pleasing portions of the Almighty’s many wonderful works; and
with ample materials at my command for illustrating the Birds of another
magnificent portion of the domains of the British Crown—India—my next
work will probably be on “the Birds of Asia,” which will, irrespective
of all other considerations, be of no little interest as forming the
connecting link between the Birds of Europe and the Birds of Australia.
JOHN GOULD.
June 12, 1848.
INTRODUCTION.
Geological researches into the structure of the globe show that a
succession of physical changes have modified its surface from the
earliest period up to the present time, and that these changes have been
accompanied with variations not only in the phases of animal and
vegetable life, but often in the development also of organization; and
as these changes cannot be supposed to have been operating uniformly
over the entire surface of the globe in the same periods of time, we
should naturally be prepared for finding the now existing fauna of some
regions exhibiting a higher state of development than that of others;
accordingly, if we contrast the fauna of the old continents of
geographers with the zoology of Australia and New Zealand, we find a
wide difference in the degree of organization which creation has reached
in these respective regions. In New Zealand, with the exception of a
_Vespertilio_ and a _Mus_, which latter is said to exist there, but
which has not yet been sent to this country, the most highly organized
animal hitherto discovered, either fossil or recent, is a bird; in
Australia, if compared with New Zealand, creation appears to have
considerably advanced, but even here the order _Rodentia_ is the highest
in the scale of its indigenous animal productions; the great majority of
its quadrupeds being the MARSUPIATA (Kangaroos, &c.) and the MONOTREMATA
(_Echidna_ and _Ornithorhynchus_), which are the very lowest of the
Mammalia; and its ornithology being characterized by the presence of
certain peculiar genera, _Talegalla_, _Leipoa_ and _Megapodius_; birds
which do not incubate their own eggs, and which are perhaps the lowest
representatives of their class, while the low organization of its botany
is indicated by the remarkable absence of fruit-bearing trees, the
_Cerealia_, &c.
My investigation of the natural productions of Australia induces me to
believe, that at some remote period that country was divided into at
least two portions, since, with a few exceptions, I find the species
inhabiting the same latitudes of its eastern and western divisions
differing from, but representing each other. Some writers, Captain Sturt
and Mr. Jukes, _e.g._ are of opinion that its subdivision was even
greater, and that the sandy deserts now met with in the interior were
formerly the beds of the seas that flowed between the archipelago of
islands of which they suppose it to have been composed. In a valuable
paper by Mr. Jukes, entitled ‘Notes on the Geology of the Coasts of
Australia,’ read at the meeting of the Geological Society on the 17th of
November 1847, that gentleman stated, that “The eastern coast is
occupied by a great range of high land, appearing like a continuous
chain of mountains when seen from the sea, and rising in several places
to 5000 feet or more above the sea-level. This chain has an axis of
granite, with occasional large masses of greenstone, basalt and other
igneous rocks. It is flanked on both sides by thick beds of palæozoic
formations, chiefly sandstone, but also containing limestone and coal.
In the northern portion of the chain Dr. Leichardt found similar
formations—and especially trap and granite near the Burdekin river. In
the Port Phillip district there are similar igneous rocks, and on the
coast tertiary formations resting on the edges of upturned palæozoic
beds. In West Australia, the Darling range consists of granite below,
covered by metamorphic rocks; and between it and the sea is a plain
composed of tertiary beds. In the colony of North Australia there is a
great sandstone plateau, rising about 1800 feet above the sea, and
probably of palæozoic age; whilst on the immediate shore and round the
Gulf of Carpentaria are beds supposed to belong to the tertiary period.
Similar formations constitute the substratum of the central desert; in
which Captain Sturt was compelled to turn back, when half-way to the
Gulf of Carpentaria, from the southern coast. Hence these tertiary rocks
are probably continuous through the whole centre of the island, and
during the tertiary period all this portion of the country was
submerged, whilst the high lands on the coast rose like four groups of
islands from the shallow sea.”—_Athenæum_, _Nov. 24, 1847_.
Whichever of these opinions be the correct one, we certainly find the
natural productions of all these portions of the country composed of
precisely the same types, the generality of which differ entirely from
those of the islands of the Indian Archipelago on the one hand, and of
New Zealand and Polynesia on the other.