ous. Almost all the other orders furnish us
with large or extraordinary forms. The curious horned flies have already
been mentioned; and among the Orthoptera the great shielded grasshoppers
are the most remarkable. The species here figured (Megalodon ensifer)
has the thorax covered by a large triangular horny shield, two and a
half inches long, with serrated edges, a somewhat wavy, hollow surface,
and a faun median line, so as very closely to resemble a leaf. The
glossy wing-coverts (when fully expanded, more than nine inches across)
are of a fine green colour and so beautifully veined as to imitate
closely some of the large shining tropical leaves. The body is short,
and terminated in the female by a long curved sword-like ovipositor (not
seen in the cut), and the legs are all long and strongly-spined. These
insects are sluggish in their motions, depending for safety on their
resemblance to foliage, their horny shield and wing-coverts, and their
spiny legs.

The large islands to the east of New Guinea are very little known, but
the occurrence of crimson lories, which are quite absent from Australia,
and of cockatoos allied to those of New Guinea and the Moluccas, shows
that they belong to the Papuan group; and we are thus able to define the
Malay Archipelago as extending eastward to the Solomon's Islands. New
Caledonia and the New Hebrides, on the other hand, seem more nearly
allied to Australia; and the rest of the islands of the Pacific, though
very poor in all forms of life, possess a few peculiarities which
compel us to class them as a separate group. Although as a matter
of convenience I have always separated the Moluccas as a distinct
zoological group from New Guinea, I have at the same time pointed out
that its fauna was chiefly derived from that island, just as that
of Timor was chiefly derived from Australia. If we were dividing the
Australian region for zoological purposes alone, we should form three
great groups: one comprising Australia, Timor, and Tasmania; another
New Guinea, with the islands from Bouru to the Solomon's group; and the
third comprising the greater part of the Pacific Islands.

The relation of the New Guinea fauna to that of Australia is very close.
It is best marked in the Mammalia by the abundance of marsupials, and
the almost complete absence of all other terrestrial forms. In birds
it is less striking, although still very clear, for all the remarkable
old-world forms which are absent f