subject, it seemed inadvisable to stop at the animals, and therefore, having some bowing acquaintance with the floras of Britain, North America and Australia, in addition to that of New Zealand, in due course I added the introduced plants to my previous lists. The two groups can hardly be separated in this connection, and on account of their inter-relations it is best to study them together. This work does not purport to be merely a list of naturalised animals and plants. I have recorded the introduction of a great number of species which have not succeeded in establishing themselves, though in some cases repeated attempts were made to naturalise them. The reasons for these failures are often so obscure that no plausible explanation has yet been given. For example the greenfinch and the chaffinch have thriven remarkably, the allied linnet has quite failed. Among fishes, the Pacific-coast Salmon (Onchorhynchus Quinnat) has become strongly established on the east coast of the South Island; while all attempts to naturalise the Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), though carried on unceasingly for half a century and in half a hundred different streams, have absolutely failed. The different attempts made are recorded under the various species, and such reasons as can be suggested for failure are also recorded. It seems to me that the failure of a species to become established in a new country into which it has been introduced, under what appear to be most favourable conditions, is as important a biological problem as the success of another species, and that the causes of the failure are worthy of examination. In order that the various species referred to in this work might be recognised with a minimum possibility of mistake, I found it necessary to adopt some authoritative and readily-accessible scheme of classification and nomenclature. It was impossible to go into all the niceties (or obscurities) of zoological and botanical nomenclature; all that appeared to be essential was that the species referred to should be readily recognisable. Accordingly for the introduced animals I adopted, as far as possible, the schemes used by the various authors of the Cambridge Natural History (Macmillan & Co., London, 18951909); and for the plants the Manual of the New Zealand Flora by Mr T. F. Cheeseman (Wellington, 1906). A considerable, indeed the major portion of this work is necessarily a compilation, but the information has been secured only by a laborious examination of all the available literature on the subject, and by very extensive correspondence. There is no doubt a great deal of information buried in the columns of the daily press of old days, which I have not been able to consult except in isolated instances. An immense amount of sifting of the wheat from the chaff has also been necessary, for a vast deal of the information communicated to me in all good faith was manifestly unreliable and had to be received with caution. I have endeavoured to secure scientific accuracy, so that the record may be of use to succeeding naturalists; at the same time I trust it may not be of the dry-as-dust type. The work has been a labour of love, and will, I hope, be found of use and interest to many who do not profess to be naturalists, but who are interested in natural phenomena. An important aspect of the question is the legal one. A study of all the legislation which has been passed, first by the various provincial legislatures, and later by the Government and Parliament of New Zealand is extremely interesting from many points of view, and I have added this at the end of this work. Chapter II HISTORICAL RECORD THE history of the naturalisation of animals and plants in large island areas has never, to my knowledge, been fully studied anywhere. Isolated introductions have frequently been dealt with, especially in recent cases, but apparently no one has sought to work out the history of the whole of the introduced fauna and flora of any country. The reason almost certainly is that, with one notable exception, the beginnings of the introductions could never be ascertained. The one exception is New Zealand. Here we have an area of land of very considerable extent lying far away from any other large areas, in which the first introduction of a majority of the species which now occur and are not indigenous to the country, can be traced. We can tell when and how many of the species which are now so abundantly represented first came into the country. We can learn of numerous attempts to introduce species which have, however, failed to establish themselves. On the other hand we find that a vast number of species, both of animals and plants, have found their way into the country, as it were, by chance. We do not always know with certainty where they came from, though we have a knowledge of their geographical distribution which enables us to form a fairly correct impression. We often cannot tell the time of their introduction, nor the means by which this was accomplished. The most we can do and even this is not always possible is to record the first notice of their appearance in the country and their subsequent history. The first date which we can fix upon as that at which definite introduction of new species commenced is that of the arrival of Captain Cook in New Zealand on his second voyage, in 1773, when he landed at Dusky Sound, and later at Queen Charlotte Sound. On these occasions besides leaving various animals, he sowed several kinds of European seeds, mostly garden vegetables. Some of these are known to have survived. Previous to that date the native inhabitants had brought with them from Polynesia, and perhaps from Melanesia, certain species of plants which they cultivated, and apparently also they had carried with them a species or rather a variety of dog. Unintentionally also they probably introduced the Polynesian rat (Mus exulans), as well as at least one species of flea-probably Pulex irritans (some think two species). Mr Best considers the Europeans are responsible for the introduction of the fleas. According to Maori tradition two species of louse (Pediculus) were also introduced by Polynesian immigrants. Mr Cheeseman has pointed out that the Polynesians were great cultivators, and carried their cultivated plants from one part of the Pacific Ocean to another. He considers that they knew of the existence of New Zealand, of the occurrence of greenstone and of the moa, and that their migrations were not accidental, but were conducted on definite principles. While it is not possible to fix even approximately the date of introduction of any of the species of animals and plants which occurred wild in New Zealand in 1773, and which were common to this country, and any other land areas, it is advisable to take a brief survey of these common species and see from what region the most recent introductions before that date appear to have come. To begin with, it must be borne in mind that the introduction of living organisms has been going on continuously throughout all the ages during which New Zealand has existed as a distinct landarea, and that the process still continues naturally. It is impossible to arrive at any accurate testimony of the results of this process, but certain considerations point to its existence. Of the two bats which occur in New Zealand the Long-tailed Bat (Chalinolobus morio) is also found in South-eastern Australia; the other belongs to an endemic genus, Mystacops. The bird-fauna contains a number of endemic genera and species, the affinities of many being obscure. Of those which belong to readily recognised types of land birds, the majority have affinities with the Australian avifauna, but as Hutton has pointed out, only with that section of it which is allied to that of Malaysia. The lizards do not help us here, for, excluding the Tuatara, which is a survival from archaic times, they belong to genera of very wide distribution, and are probably of very considerable antiquity. As regards the relationships of the land and fresh-water mollusca, Hutton, as far back as 1883, stated that "our closest connection appears to be with North Australia, but there is a considerable generic affinity with the faunas of New Caledonia, Polynesia and South America." Taking Suter's Manual as our guide, we find that there are 34 genera of land and fresh-water mollusca in New Zealand. Of these 13 are confined to these islands; three range into Tasmania and Australia, but no further; 13 are found in Australasia, but are more or less widely distributed outside the region; while five range into the Pacific, but are not Australian. Closer analysis bears out the general accuracy of Hutton's generalisation. These 34 genera are represented by 236 species, all but one of them being endemic, viz., Ophicardelus australis, which is also found in Tasmania, Australia and New Caledonia. Planorbis corinna which is world-wide in its distribution is precinctive to New Zealand, but the genus Planorbis has a universal distribution. Mr Suter informs me that "the genera of land mollusca which we have in common with Tasmania and Australia are far better represented in the former country, but disappear gradually as the north-east is reached. The affinities of our land and fresh-water molluscs are strongly marked on the line extending over Lord Howe Island to New Caledonia." The relationship of New Zealand insects to those of other regions is dealt with in a number of papers scattered through many publications, but the knowledge of the subject is still very fragmentary. Meyrick, in his papers on Lepidoptera, favours the theory of introduction of several groups (e.g. Caradrinina) from South America via Antarctica. But leaving the general question and confining myself to species derived from the nearest present land surface, the following summary of the distribution of the Lepidoptera, for which I am indebted to Mr A. Philpott, is of interest: Total number of species hitherto recorded in New Zealand ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Introduced from Australia to N.Z., by shipping (say) ... ... ... ... 24 24 6 3 63 33 1040 Leaving for the question of origin, only 30 species, or say, 3 per cent. common to both countries. These figures are not very conclusive one way or another. The nearest land-surface of any extent is the continent of Australia and, as might be expected, immigrants from thence are by no means uncommon. Within the last score or so of years a great many species of Australian birds have been recorded as occasional visitants to New Zealand. The same remark applies to some of the stronger flying insects. This shows that though the fauna recognised as indigenous has originally been introduced from several directions in former ages, there has been and still is a constant stream of immigrants from Eastern Australia into these islands. The remarkable thing then is that there should be so comparatively little direct connection between the two countries so far as the fauna is concerned. The fact is that it is very difficult for a species of animal to establish itself in a new country, even assuming that many individuals arrive at |