Vertebrate fauna of Wallacea and surrounds
18 The plains of New South Wales
“A large kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) is seen in the distance; and passing through the air, a flying opossum (Petaurus sciureus), a beautiful modification of a marsupial, so as to resemble in form and habits the flying squirrels of the northern hemisphere.”
“The most conspicuous figure is the wonderful lyre-bird (Menura superba), the elegant plumage of whose tail is altogether unique in the whole class of birds. The unadorned bird is the female. In the centre is the emu (Dromœus novœ-hollandiœ), the representative in Australia, of the ostrich in Africa and America, but belonging to a different family, the Casurariidæ. To the right are a pair of crested pigeons (Ocyphaps lophotes), one of the many singular forms of the pigeon family to which the Australian region gives birth…. The large bird on the tree is one of the Australian frog-mouthed goat-suckers (Podargus strigoides), which are called in the colony “More-pork,” from their peculiar cry.”
Exercise
Can you recognise the animals in the image above?
Do you agree with Wallace’s description of each of them?
Media Attributions
- Plate XII The Plains of New South Wales © A.R. Wallace is licensed under a Public Domain license