WCP820

[1]

[later annotation] 98 36

Parkstone, Dorset.

Jany 29th. 1900

Dear Mr. Hartert¹

Many thanks for your interesting letter with the approximate number of Papuan birds. I quite agree with your limitation of the restricted Papuan-region — with one exception — that of the Ké Islands. These I think decidedly belong to the Timor Laut & the Tenimber group ^{or to the Molucas,} & they are quite cut off from Papua by deep water. The map in my Malay Archipelago² shows that the 100 fathom line includes Aru, Mysol, Waigiou, Jolie & Sook, but leaves Ké quite outside it. I see by the later map in [2] Stanford’s Australasia vol. II that Mysol & Sook are just outside the 100 fathom line, but are all included in the 200 fathom line which quite excludes the Ké islands, & also, as you decide, New Britain &c.

And as even a Bird of Paradise does not bring Batchian into the Papuan Area so there can be nothing in the fauna of Ké to bring them in. It is a pity too, to spoil the neatness of the definition of the New Guinea fauna proper, as including "all the islands within the 200 fathom [3] line of New Guinea."

Will you be so good as to give me one more figure — the number of ^{species of} Birds of Paradise omitting the Bower Birds, — but including of course the Epimachidae. No minute accuracy required but merely the number of species you recognise.

Also if you can tell me, approximately, the number of species of Ké Islands birds you have added to the Papuan fauna in the list you sent me which I should like to exclude.

[4] I myself think it almost certain that when the great central mass of N. Guinea is explored with its grand range of mountains, so many new birds will be found that the whole number — even of true land birds — will reach 1000 or perhaps more.

yours very truly | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

Ernst Hartert Esq.

I omit aquatic & wading birds, simply because they are so little collected compared with land-birds in such countries as New Guinea, & because they range so widely — Also because in ^northern continental areas they form so much larger a proportion of all birds.

A.R.W.