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(Cambridge, and Tubingen) ; KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE CEOWN OF ITALY J OFFICER OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR J ' OFFICIER DE L'lNSTRUCTION PUBLIQUE ' DE LA FRANCE ; KNIGHT (FIRST CLASS) OF THE ORDERS OF FRANCIS JOSEPH OF AUSTRIA, FREDERICK OF WURTEMBERG, AND PHILIP THE MAGNANIMOUS OF HESSE-DARMSTADT J GALILEIAN MEDALLIST OF THE FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES, ROYAL UNIVERSITY, FLORENCE \ AND NEW-ZEALAND-EXHIBITION GOLD MEDALLIST FOR 'LITERATURE AND SCIENCE,' &C, &C, &C. VOLUME II. LONDON: PUBLISHED (FOB THE SUBSCBIBEBS) BY THE AUTHOR, 62, LONDON WALL, E.C. 1905. CO -^ftsr&F&t v. e, ~Kys> rl P PS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. VOL. II. COLOURED PLATES. Plate VI. Auckland Island Merganser (Merganser australis) and Chick. VII. Eufous-faced Owl (Bceloglaux rufifacies). VIII. Belted Kaka and Variety {Nestor esslingi). IX. Antipodes-Island Parrakeet (Cyanorhumphus unicolor). X. Island Wren (Traversia insularis), S and ? . XL North-Island Wren (Xenicus stoJcesi),, ad. and juv. XII. Chatham-Island Warbler (Pseudogerygone albofrontata) ; Chatham-Island Robin (Miro tr aver si). The admirable manner in which all these plates have been hand-coloured, after the pattern drawn by Mr. Keulemans, by the Misses Dora Louise, Daisy Madeline, and Sylvia Rosamund Bowdler- Sharp e, and Mr. Gr. Edwards, has given me great satisfaction. T E X T I L L U S T R A T 1 N S . I Page 3 Pair of Paradise Ducks. 4 The Bowen Falls, Milford Sound, 540 feet high. 8 Croup of Hybrid Ducks. • 18 Home of the Mountain Duck. 20 Head of Mountain Duck. 45 Head of Phalacrocorax melanoleucus. 48 Gannets on their Nesting- Ground. 57 Head of Quail-Hawk. 76 Keas in Camp. 91 The Home of the Kakapo- — Wet Jacket Arm. 116 Bush View in the Buller Valley. 122 The Last-known Resort of the North-Island Robin. 126 Flycatchers on their Nest. 160 Abnormal Growth of a Huia's Bill. Order ANSEKIFORMES.] [Family ANATIM3. DENDROCYGNA EYTONI. (WHISTLING DUCK.) Dendrocygna eytoni (Gould), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 268. This Duck is a very rare visitant to New Zealand, but several examples are recorded.* It is pretty well distributed throughout Australia, but sparingly in the southern portions of the continent. Mr. North writes t : " It is exclusively a fresh- water Duck, and is generally met with in the shallow water near the margins of swamps and rivers, except during the breeding season, when it resorts to well-grassed country some distance from water. . . . For an opportunity of examining and describing the eggs of Eyton's Tree Duck, I am indebted to an ardent sportsman and oologist, who found these birds breeding near that famous resort of wild fowl, the Macquarie Marshes. While shooting at Buckiinguy on the 23rd September, 1893, in the long cane grass, about one-third of a mile from a small branch of the Macquarie Eiver, he flushed one of these birds, which he quickly fired at, and it fell. As he moved forward to pick it up, he almost stepped on the nest, which was built at the side of a tussock of cane grass. It was a slight hollow in the soil, lined only with short pieces of cane grass, and contained nine fresh eggs. Evidently the Ducks had just begun to lay, for although twelve of them were obtained, only one more nest was found that day, which was similarly constructed and had two fresh eggs in it. Later on in the same locality another nest was found containing seven fresh eggs. From these nests the Ducks had made runs or tracks through the long grass to the water's edge. All of the eggs when found were immaculate, and entirely free from the usual feet marks of the female or stain of any kind. Two average eggs from the nest of nine are oval in form, tapering somewhat sharply towards the smaller end, and are comparatively small for the size of the bird. In colour they are milk-white (which readily distinguishes them from the eggs of any other member of the family inhabiting Australia) with an almost imperceptible tinge of cream ; smooth in texture, and having a slight satiny lustre. The shell is thick and exceedingly hard, and the finder of the nests compared it to flint when he was engaged in drilling the eggs. Length, (a) 1*92 by 1'36 in.; (6), 1*88 by 1*36 in. When held in the hands and the shells are rubbed together, the sound pro- duced is the same as if they were made of porcelain." Mr. W. W. Smith writes (' Trans. N.Z. Inst.,' xxix., p. 255) :— Three individuals — two males and one female — of this rare and beautiful Duck have inhabited the lakes in the Ashburton Domain for three successive winters. During the earlier part of last winter [1895], before the lakes became frozen, they fed freely with the Grey and other Ducks on oats and wheat scattered along the water's edge. We fed the whole flock regularly every morning after daybreak, all coming freely to feed, after being hailed with a whistle. Owing to the mildness of the present winter, and the greater abundance of food obtainable everywhere, these birds are not so tame as they were last year. They are powerful flyers, while the peculiar shrill whistling sound they produce, when flying, distinguishes their flight from that of all other Ducks. These birds have hitherto left the Domain in August of each year, and returned the following April. * See ' Birds of New Zealand,' vol. ii., p. 268. t 'Proc. Linn. Soc, N.S.W.,' 1897, p. 60. Vol. ii.— 1 Oedeb ANSEEIFOEMES.] [Family ANATIM1. CASAECA VAEIEGATA. (PAEADISE DUCK.) Casarca variegata (G-melin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 264. This fine Duck, formerly so plentiful in the Marlborough District, is becoming scarce, large numbers perishing every season through taking the poisoned grain laid for rabbits. Mr. McDonald, of Blenheim, informs me that years ago he was a constant attendant when the Maoris hunted the " flappers," or moulting birds, when incapable of flight, and that he has known upwards of Rye thousand to be taken in this manner during a single season. They are now counted only by tens and twenties. A tame Paradise Duck was an inhabitant of the Masterton fish-ponds for several years. I was assured by the curator at the time that this bird was as useful as any watch-dog could be, for it would set up an unceasing clamour on the appearance of a stranger. Its affection for the keeper was most remarkable, for it would follow him everywhere and nestle about his feet in the most demonstrative manner, squatting on the ground with its neck outstretched and uttering all the time a sort of purring note of satisfaction. It finally had a mate, and they bred and brought up a large brood of young ; but previously to this it every season laid a number of unfertilised eggs, and then took to hatching-out a nest of domestic Duck's eggs. A tame Duck of this species which I had at the Papaitonga Lake attached itself in the same marked way to one of the domestics, but was shy and distant with everyone else. A pinioned male bird which I afterwards placed on the lake wandered off to the sea, a distance of several miles, and did not return. The handsomely-striking plumage of this bird, coupled with its docility and readiness to breed in confinement, mark it out as being specially suitable for private ponds and ornamental waters. I have remarked (vol. ii., p. 267) on the devotion of this species to its young, and the devices to which it resorts to draw intruders away from the vicinity of its nest. I have met with the following in the columns of a newspaper, and the record is worth preserving : — " The following is a touching instance of the affection of birds for their young : Mr. Shalders informs the North Otago Times that, having been requested to obtain some young Paradise Ducks for the purpose of exchanging with the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria, he, while travelling with another man up-country, with a waggon and team, saw on a stream two parent birds and eight or nine young ones. On his essaying to capture some of these, the parent birds, like the home Lapwings, endeavoured, by feigning lameness, to decoy him from their young; but he captured three of them, and placed them in a small box on the waggon. They proceeded a dis- tance of six miles and camped for the night, and on rising early in the morning Mr. Shalders' first care was to look after the young birds. On leaving the tent, however, he saw not far from the waggon a Paradise Duck and Drake, and remarked to his mate that he believed that the birds had followed them. To ascertain if this were so, he took the little ducklings out and placed them on the ground some short distance from the waggon, and watched. They were almost immediately taken charge of by the Drake, who made off with them through the mate-kauri in the direction of the river, rising every few yards in order, apparently, to let his companion see the course he was taking. The informant says he had not the heart to endeavour to recapture his prize, and he let them go as a tribute to the faithful care of the parent birds." Professor MacGillivray said that Casarca rutila might be termed with equal propriety a Duck or a Goose, and he demonstrated this by the anatomy of the bird. I may mention another point of similarity : the male of the Paradise Duck hisses, when provoked, after the manner of the domestic Gander. A snapshot, showing a pair of these birds, in very characteristic positions, appeared in the New Zealand Graphic and, by permission, I have much pleasure in reproducing it here. PAIR OF PARADISE DUCKS. Mr. Morgan Carkeek, who sent me some fine young Paradise Ducks from the Marlborough District in January, states that, in his opinion, this species breeds twice in the year. He found it quite numerous in the mountain streams or river-beds, and met with many broods of young ones. He counted generally seven or eight, and on one occasion thirteen, in a brood. Mr. Henry, the caretaker of Eesolution Island, says of the Paradise Duck : "I take them to be very local, for I have known a pair to remain in a little bay in the Te Anau Lake for a whole year and probably two years. The ablest Drake, with his mate, takes possession of the best feeding-ground, marks out the boundary of his domain, and protects it against all comers. He keeps a sharp look-out for intruders, and if they alight on his side of the point he comes along, followed by his mate, and drives them off, or has a fight .... The Ducks only scream and scold, but the drakes collar each other and beat away with their wings until they are so exhausted that they are unable to fly for some time afterwards." A remarkable instance of the "homing" instinct, or sense of direction, on the part of this Duck is given by Mr. J. M. Eitchie, of Boloraid, Dunedin, in the following words : " This bird had become domesticated, and lived at a sheep station twenty-one miles from Timaru. It belonged to the house-keeper, who had clipped its wings, and it spent its life between the home- stead and a pond close by. In the course of time its mistress left for the neighbourhood of Christ church, and she carried the Duck with her in a basket. Her journey was by train, twenty- one miles to Timaru, then there was a change into another train and a journey of ninety-five miles ; finally came a coach drive of about ten miles. By-and-bye the Duck disappeared from its new home, and was looked upon as lost. Then its mistress returned to her previous domicile some time after, and to her intense surprise found that the Duck had revisited its old haunts, and was settled on the pond as before. It could not fly, and no one was known to have carried it, so that the only remaining hypothesis was that it had walked over 120 miles, threading its way by many cross roads, over bridges and across streams, through country which presents great variety of contour in hill, valley, and river. A Duck that could do that could do anything ! " Many years ago, when stationed (as E.M.) at Wanganui, I received, through the good offices of Hoani Meihana Te Eangiotu, the chief man of the Eangitane tribe, two living pairs of the Paradise Duck from the Upper Manawatu. They were then in the young plumage of the first year; but in due time they assumed the full livery, and for a considerable period they were inhabitants of my garden in Victoria Avenue. In 1865 Sir George Grey, the then Governor, came up to the district to lead the Colonial forces against the famous Weraroa Pa, during which operations I had the privilege of serving as a volunteer on His Excellency's staff. When Sir George Grey was leaving, seeing how much he admired the birds, I begged his acceptance of them. They were immediately sent north to the Island of Kawau, where they bred freely, becoming in the end quite an attractive feature in this subsequent home of the "Great Proconsul." In the British Museum there is a specimen of this Paradise Duck, which is said to have been obtained at Brisbane in July by Messrs. Cockrell & Thorpe. If authentic, this was no doubt a straggler from New Zealand. LyV: THE BOWEN FALLS, MILFORD SOUKD 540 FEET HIGH. The disappearance of the Paradise Duck from the Nelson district, where it was formerly so abundant, is generally attributed to the laying of poisoned wheat for wild rabbits ; but I am more inclined to ascribe it to the ravages of stoats and weasels. Of this handsome Duck, Mr. Seddon, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, sent me, in 1903, two living pairs, which I deposited for a time in the Zoological Society's Gardens at Eegent's Park, ultimately presenting a pair to my friend, Sir Eobert Herbert, to be placed on his ornamental waters at Ickleton. On the West Coast, in the early part of January, I shot a young Paradise Duck, fully fledged, but unable to fly. I observed that it swam very low, only the head and neck appearing above the surface. This was in Milford Sound, not far from the beautiful waterfall which perpetuates the name of one of our most popular Governors, and is represented in the foregoing photograph taken by my daughter. Ordee ANSEBIFOBMES.l [Family ANATIDiE. ANAS SUPERCILIOSA. (GEEY DUCK.) Anas superciliosa, Gmelin; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 251. Peobably no bird is better known and appreciated in New Zealand than the Grey Duck. Afford- ing excellent game for sportsmen and forming a valuable addition to the table, it will always claim special attention. But it is being gradually supplanted by a superior bird in every way, that is to say, a cross between this native Duck and the introduced Mallard. A few years will probably suffice to establish the cross-breed everywhere, because the conditions of life are very favourable to birds of this class. When one reflects that about thirty years ago there were no Black Swans in New Zealand, and that now thousands are to be met with in both islands, all being the progeny of two or three pairs turned loose by the late Captain W. T. Owen and myself on the Euatangata Lake, in the North Island, in 1865, and about a similar number liberated by Sir Cracroft Wilson and the Acclimatisation Society in the South Island, a year or two earlier,* it is pretty safe to hazard a conjecture that in, say, ten years' time, the cross-breeds * Being anxious to get confirmation of this fact, as against the theory of voluntary immigration from Australia, I wrote to several gentlemen in the South Island, capable of forming a sound opinion, and was favoured with the following replies : — Captain Hutton writes (6th July, 1903) : " The Black Swan is abundant on all the lakes in Canterbury and Otago. It is commonly seen hanging up in the poulterers' shops. I saw one at the Auckland Islands in 1901. I have no doubt but that these are all the produce of those turned out by yourself and the Acclimatisation Society, for the time of spreading agrees well. I saw plenty on Lake Grassmere (Marlborough) in 1872, but at that time there were none on Lake Ellesmere, which is good evidence that they came to us from the north." Mr. W. W. Smith writes (August 15th, 1903) : " The vast multitudes of these birds now inhabiting the in- land Otago lakes, Lake Ellesmere (Waihora) in Canterbury, Lake Brunner and other remote lakes, are unquestionably the descendants of the few pairs liberated by you in the north in 1865, and of other pairs liberated by several will afford good shooting all over the country. Fourteen years ago I brought from England and turned out on the Papaitonga Lake a number of Mallards, which bred freely and spread in the first season to the Horowhenua Lake and the adjacent lagoons. The various Acclimatisa- tion Societies have been doing the same ; and now the Seddon Government, much to their credit, have introduced a larger contingent, a fair share going to Papaitonga because of its close protection. An exceptionally large male specimen shot by my son Walter on Lake Papaitonga, and now in my collection, gave the following measurements : Extent of wings, 32 inches ; length, 24 inches. Feet dull gamboge-yellow. Mr. W. W. Smith has made some additions to the abnormal varieties mentioned by me. He writes (' Trans. N. Z. S.,' xxix., p. 253) :— I have now to record several more varied forms which have for several years frequented the lakes in the public domains at Ashburton [under Mr. Smith's care as custodian]. When the shooting-season opens in April, large flocks of Grey Ducks and other native species assemble on the lakes in the Domain and remain during the winter. As there is not sufficient food for them in the Domain, they repair in the evening to the river-bed and adjacent swamps, to feed during the night, and return in the early morning to spend the day un- molested under the willow-trees growing on the islands in the lakes. For several years I have observed their arrival in April, and have noticed the occurrence of any individuals exhibiting colours diverging from the normal type. In July, 1892, a fine individual inhabited the lower lake, having its head, throat, and breast pale buff. The scapulars were beautifully mottled with white feathers, which made the bird conspicuous among the large flock of Ducks resting on the lake. During the winter of 1894, a partial albino inhabited the Domain waters. The back, breast, and scapular region were of a faded white, while portions of the neck were lightly studded with white feathers. The bird remained very timid throughout the winter, and never came to the banks of the lake with the others to feed on the oats or wheat we scattered there for them every morning. In the same year we observed a bird with the whole plumage tending to melanism. When swimming leisurely about the lake, or when resting on the bank in the sunshine, the plumage appeared to be of a lustrous black. I have frequently watched the bird preening its feathers, and while thus engaged the under-parts appeared to be much paler than in normally coloured birds. Last winter a fine individual with the primary wing-feathers pure white remained on the lakes from April until the 8th June. When they became frozen over gentlemen (Sir Cracroft Wilson being one of them) in this Island in 1867. The Black Swan is prodigiously productive in the remote isolated lake-districts. Two years ago I removed three sittings of eggs — two of six and one of four — from a single pair of Black Swans, in four months. They commence to hatch their young in July and they generally rear two and three broods of from four to six in each year. Seeing that the Black Swan is so extremely and so unfailingly reproductive, there is no question in my mind that the large flocks of these birds now existing on the larger lakes in New Zealand are due to this cause and not to migration from Australia. Previous to their introduction by you and the Acclimatisation Society in 1863-65-67, Black Swans were unknown in New Zealand. Notwithstanding their power of making long-sustained flights and the strong westerly winds frequently blowing across the Tasman Sea, I do not believe that any of these birds have ever crossed the thousand or eleven hundred miles of intervening ocean. In periods of protracted drought in their native home, they would be compelled to migrate long distances in search of sustenance, which they could do in stages on the great Australian continent, but never, I feel convinced, to the extent of crossing the sea to New Zealand." Mr. A. Hamilton writes (June 29th, 1903) : "Jennings left this morning by the ' Hinemoa,' for the Southern Islands, and he has asked me to reply to you for him in the matter of the Black Swan. He is of opinion that the birds now so plentiful on all our sheets of water are descendants of the introduced birds. The number of nests that can be found around the Kaitangata lagoon at the proper season is very great, and would in a few years mean thousands of birds. He thinks 300 or 400 nests a season quite within the mark in this place alone ! I know that more than twenty years ago hundreds of Black Swans might be seen on the Napier Swamp at certain seasons, although I do not think many bred there, as I never saw many cygnets." I may mention that on my last visit to the west coast sounds, in 1895, I found the Black Swan fairly established there. I paid a visit, with Lord Kanfurly, to Lake Ada, in Milford Sound, and several times saw a flock of them on the wing. Captain Fairchild informed us that they had been there several years. many of the birds were compelled to seek food and shelter elsewhere. At the present time [1896] a remarkably-coloured form inhabits the lower lake ; the head, breast, back, and tail pale white, other parts normally coloured. The bird is extremely timid and watchful, and readily takes wing at the slightest disturbance. It is well known to ornithologists that albinoes and white varieties, and other conspicuously- aberrant forms, are more wary than typically-coloured birds. They appear instinctively to know that their peculiar and striking colours render them more conspicuous to their enemies. Albinism unquestionably causes greater timidity and watchfulness in many species of birds so affected. . . . We have three dozen Grey Ducks pinioned that were reared in the Domain during the last three seasons, which are perfectly tame. They follow visitors along the walks for food, and while being fed, several will lie on the walks and permit themselves to be stroked with the hand on the back. Like the Paradise Duck, they are undoubtedly easily tameable. ... In July the wild flock becomes more restless and spends more time on the water. The males chase each other and fight and dive vigorously. By the middle of August they have generally all paired and disappeared to the swamps and river-banks of the plains, to nest for the season. In the nesting season of 1894-95 the pinioned Grey Ducks in the Domain reared fourteen broods, averaging six in a brood. The young are timid and wary for some time, but soon become quiet, and come skipping rapidly over the water when called to be fed. Mr. William Marriner informs me that on the Wairoa River, at the commencement of the shooting season, the Grey Duck is very fat and of excellent flavour, from feeding on the spawn of eels — tiny little crawling things that infest the mud-banks of the river in countless millions. On opening the birds at this season he has found their crops distended with this food alone, and there is every evidence that it is very nutritious. The Grey Duck commences breeding on the Papaitonga Lake about the end of September,, and the breeding season lasts till after Christmas. My son believes that this species brings out two broods in the season : he counted one brood of eleven young ones. I have already recorded some remarkable eccentricities in the breeding of this species ; and I find the following in one of my note-books : At one end of the little island of Motutaiko,. in Taupo Lake, on a pohutukawa tree overhanging the water, and at an elevation of twelve feet from the surface, a pair of these Ducks have for several successive seasons re-formed their rude nest and brought forth their young. Captain Mair writes to me, that in September, 1895, he visited Cook's Eock (Te Pataopare- tawhinu) in Mercury Bay. He found it difficult to land owing to the tremendous surge that was dashing against it at every point. At length, making a spring from the bow of the whale-boat, he landed on his hands and knees on the sharp, jagged rocks, and climbed up the rock which stands up some thirty-six to forty feet out of the sea, with a few stunted pohutukawa trees growing here and there. It has diminished considerably in size since Cook's time, and this remnant cannot long resist the erosion of wave and weather. He continues : " Near the top of the rock, on the seaward side, is a sort of hollow, evidently artificial. Judge of my surprise at finding a common Grey Duck nesting there, with seventeen eggs. I almost put my hand on her before she took wing, making for a small lagoon near Mahunganui Point on the mainland, about a quarter of a mile off, on the north-west side of Mercury Bay harbour. Barring Hawks and predatory sea-birds, the wily Duck must have felt as safe there as did the astute warrior of old who defied Cook from the top of his secure retreat." Mr. Taylor White, of Wimbledon, Hawke's Bay, who has taken much active interest in the subject and conducted experiments for twenty years, writes me that he has a number of " fertile hybrid Ducks," the result of crossing Anas superciliosa with the common Anas boscas of Europe. His remarks upon them are interesting : " They follow two shades of colour, a dark and a lighter shade, each of which has its own peculiar markings. I have not succeeded in establishing the shining-green wing-bar of Anas superciliosa, but in the struggle between the blue and green, these colours have become grey or have almost disappeared, leaving the upper coverts 8 white : possibly a white bar might ultimately result. The light-coloured Drakes have a green head and neck and small white ring ; chestnut breast, with this colour extended slightly over the back and wings, and underneath the latter; the back minutely marked with slate-coloured speckles; rump and tail-coverts velvet black; beak green; legs orange. The dark-coloured Drakes have a green head and neck, but no white ring ; breast and back speckled with slate-colour on a white ground; under tail-coverts and vent whitish. The Ducks, and especially those of the light shade, are beautifully spotted and marked when observed closely." Mr. W. W. Smith, of Ashburton, who has likewise devoted himself to experiments of a similar kind, has sent me the following interesting notes : — The progeny of hybrid Eouen and Grey Duck are quite fertile, and rear two and three broods a year. The Drakes are of two forms— the richly crested and plain-headed— while they differ also very much in the typical or general coloration of the plumage. The crested forms invariably have the pectus of various rich shades of cinnamon, red, and deep brown. Some of the plain-headed forms likewise have the pectus of these colours, while others are of a uniform pale blue with delicately mottled markings of a bluish-black shade ; the latter forms are invariably without the narrow white neck-ring which is present in the crested forms. The parents of these birds were hybrids as stated, but they exhibited no sign of a crest or of the remarkable range of variability shown by their progeny. You are aware that hybrids of the first cross differ much between the Eouen and native Grey Duck. This is due chiefly to the class of Eouen Drake, which, under domestication, is extremely variable, unless bred under careful artificial selection. The chief object in view when undertaking these experiments was to test the fertility of hydrids in New Zealand. December 19th, 1903. — Since writing the foregoing notes I have secured thirty-one young birds from birds of the second generation of hybrids, that is to say, from the progeny of the first cross between the Eouen and the native Grey Duck. The three Ducks rearing these broods have bred with the Drake having the same lineage as themselves, for six years, and up to this season have produced birds as described in my former notes. In one of these broods, however, four of them are white, and in another brood there is one white one. They are the same neat little birds as are the grey forms of the broods. All these birds have bred on a small pond, enclosed with wire netting, and no other Drakes were near. I think it is of great interest to record these white birds occurring in the broods. With their neat little forms they bid fair to make an interesting addition to our ornamental water-fowl. The birds shown in the accompanying photograph exhibit three forms of hybrid Ducks. The larger pair on the left are Muscovy-Eouen, and are of a fine rich cinnamon-brown colour, with richly iridescent plumage. These birds are very beautiful and conspicuous on ornamental waters, while they are valuable table birds, weighing from 7 lbs. to 8 J lbs., and are very hardy and easily reared. Our Muscovy- Aylesbury hybrids are blue-black and white, and are also magnificent birds for the purposes already noted. GROUP OF HYBRID DUCKS. 9 The plain-headed pair on the right at the back of the picture are birds of the first cross between the Kouen and native wild Grey Duck. An unmistakable feature of these interesting birds is the dark greenish bill inherited from their wild parents. Both as an ornamental and table bird this hybrid is invaluable. The crested pair in the front of the group are the progeny of the last-mentioned hybrids, and represent the third and subsequent generations. Of fourteen second-generation broods we have reared during the last six years, no sign of a crest appeared in either sex. In the third generation, according to our experience, the crest first appears. Apart from the interesting fact that birds of the first generation of these hybrids are fertile, the crest is remarkable in illustrating a form of ancient ' head gear ' or ornamentation inherited from some remote ancestor. Anyone who knows anything of the hybridisation of these birds also knows that they are degenerate forms in which certain phases of ornamentation first appear. The ducks are small neat forms, with finely mottled heads and necks. In some specimens the speculum of the wing is much degenerated, being almost obsolete. ... I should state that Mr. Taylor White, of Wimbledon, Hawke's Bay, has been experimenting on similar lines as I am doing, and with similar results. On the Maori mode of trapping this Duck, Mr. Elsdon Best has published the following : — Ducks were snared in the following manner : — A cord was stretched across a river, stream, or lake arm, so as to be a little above the surface of the water, and to this cord were attached a great number of snares, the loops of which hung just above the water, so that the Ducks when swimming under the line (kaha) might thrust their heads through the loops and thus be caught. During the moulting season, ducks were unable to fly and were hunted with dogs, and even caught by hand. In 1892, Mr. E. J. Kingsley, of Nelson, sent me for examination what was to all appearance a hybrid, either between the Grey Duck {Anas superciliosa) and the Mountain Duck (Hymenolas- mus malacorhynchus) or between our domestic Duck and the former. I made the following notes : — The head is that of the Grey Duck, although the markings are somewhat indeterminate. The general plumage of the body is a pale slaty-grey, the feathers of the upper parts, however, having pale brown margins. The wing-feathers and scapulars are of lighter colour, being of a uniform French-grey with dark shaft-lines, but without the dark margins. The median wing-coverts are dull velvety-black, changing to grey and broadly tipped with white. There is a narrow speculum down the centre, one of the coverts having an exterior border of metallic-green. The smaller wing-coverts display a conspicuous band of white, forming an upper alar bar. The upper tail-coverts are margined with dusky-brown, and the tail-feathers— but very narrowly — with a clearer brown. The whole of the lower fore-neck and the crop have a chestnut-brown line, each feather, however, being narrowly edged with light-grey, which character is more pronounced on the sides of the body and flanks, where the feathers have their webs freckled and vermiculated with grey. The under tail-coverts are darker, , and have dull chestnut-brown margins. The bill is blackish-browm, the upper mandible with a black nail, and the lower largely marked on its central portion with yellow. The slaty ground-colour and the reddish tinge on the breast and under tail-coverts naturally suggest a partial Mountain-Duck parentage ; but the large size of the bird and the character of the bill and legs go to support the other supposition, which is probably the correct one. I am more inclined to this view after reading the description of hybrids furnished by Mr. Taylor White and Mr. W. W. Smith. Colonel Cradock (in his book cited on page 65) says : No one, I think, can truthfully state that in any country in the world has he met with wild Ducks that did not fear man, or, at all events, did not absolutely dread him after a few of their comrades had been under fire ; and New Zealand, though peculiar in the extraordinary fearlessness of most of its indigenous birds, is no exception when wild Ducks are brought on to the tapis. . . . The commonest Duck in the Colony is the Grey Duck, ordinarily abbreviated into the one word ' Greys.' The Grey Duck answers to the Mallard of Europe, and is the wild duck of New Zealand, and there are certainly 80 per cent, of ' Greys ' amongst the whole of the Duck tribe. He is like a small light-coloured Kouen Duck, and scales under 2 lbs. They are very strong on the wing, and as you shoot them mostly in the cold weather, their plumage is carried more Vol. ii.— 2 10 closely on those days than on warm ones, and they require a heavy charge— big shot and straight powder— to account for them, especially for the second barrel, as Ducks coming up wind to decoys recover themselves and ' go about ' very quickly One method of Duck-shooting is not described, although it is very much in vogue in parts of the North Island. This is, being silently paddled up a river by a Maori in his canoe, and shooting the Ducks as they rise out of the rushes on either bank. It reminds one very much of the shooting in the Norfolk Broads, and no puntsman, however efficient, could possibly punt more silently than the Maori paddles. I have heard of using a steam launch in place of a canoe, but that, of course, can only be carried out on the larger rivers, and at best is only a very poor substitute for the Maori and his canoe, and it rather savours of a pleasure party down the Thames than a sporting expedition. Order ANSERIFOKMES.] [Family ANATIDiE. NETTIUM CASTANEUM. (AUSTRALIAN TEAL.) Mareca castanea, Eyton, Mon. Anat., p. 119, pi. 22 j, (1838). Before leaving the Colony I received from Mr. Dall, of Collingwood, descriptive notes of a pair of Ducks that had been shot on the Aorere river in June, 1897. The birds having been mounted and set up in a case, he failed in his efforts to have them sent over to Wellington for my inspec- tion. From the imperfect account furnished, the only species to which I can refer them is the Australian Teal, a bird which (according to Mr. Gould) is universally dispersed over the southern portion of Australia, and is equally numerous in some parts of Tasmania. Although Mr. Gould states that this Duck is not migratory in its habits, he describes it as "a bird of powerful flight"; so there would be nothing extraordinary in a pair of stragglers, under certain conditions, finding their way to New Zealand. It is already recorded from New Zealand, in the ' British Museum Catalogue of Birds ' (vol. xxvii., p. 254), on the authority of a specimen from Otago (an adult female) in the Hume collection. NETTIUM GIBBERIFRONS. (WOOD-TEAL.) Anas gibberifrons, Miiller; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii„ p. 261. My discovery ol ! this bird in New Zealand, in 1866, will ever be associated in my mind with the completion by Dr. Featherton and myself of the historic purchase for the Crown of the Upper Eangrtxkd-Manawatu Block. We were camped near the mouth of the Oroua Eiver, an 11 affluent of the Manawatu, preparatory to a meeting of the native tribes concerned in the sale, when I observed a pair of these birds near the bank of the stream, and was fortunate enough to secure both of them at one shot. It was years before I obtained any further specimens, for this Duck has always been a rare one in New Zealand. It was new to me, and being unable at the time to identify it with one of the known species, I described and characterised it under the name of Anas gracilis* which appeared to me to happily express its distinguishing character. There is a specimen in the Otago Museum in which the white alar bar expands, so that the white entirely covers the bastard quills. Count Salvadori, ' Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus., vol. xxvii, p. 256,' says : " We must wait for additional information in order to settle the question of the specific difference between Nettion castaneus and N. gibberifronsT Mr. North writes : " This species, both sexes of which so closely resemble the female of Anas castanea, appears to be distributed all over Australia, except perhaps the north-west portion. . . I know of no marks by which the immature birds of these species may be distinguished from one another ; the spots on the under surface vary, even in the adult females of both." Order ANSERIFOEMES.l [Family ANATID^. ELASMONETTA CHLOROUS. (BROWN DUCK.) Anas chlorotis, Gray; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 257. This Duck is still very plentiful on the west coast of "Wellington. I have seen a flock of two hundred or more in the Papaitonga Lake ; but they have of late become very shy, and it is almost impossible to get near enough for a shot. During the day they generally remain con- cealed in the dense beds of raupo along the shores of the lake, coming out to feed in the evening. In the cool hours of the day, however, they may often be seen consorting in a large flock on the surface of the water. A specimen which has come into my possession has nearly the entire head pure-white, while the rest of the plumage is normal. It is probably to a similar form that the following letter from Captain Mair (June 30th) relates : " For a whole week before the shooting season commenced we saw a pair of beautiful Ducks or Teal with white heads. I went out several times after them, but could not get nearer than sixty or seventy yards. The head and neck was white, like the female Paradise Duck, only it was a purer white, and the birds were small — hardly bigger than the Black Wigeon. They were very conspicuous, and could be noticed a quarter of a mile off. We saw them nearly every day for a fortnight. But unfortunately two men came to my place [on the Manawatu Eiver] on Grood Friday and shot all over it during my absence, and I fear they must have killed or wounded these birds, for we have seen nothing of - Ibis, 1869, p. 41. 12 them since. When observed these birds were always in company with about a dozen Spoonbill Ducks." I am indebted to Captain Mair for another partial albino of this species, which was shot by him on a lagoon near the Manawatu Eiver. It has the forehead, sides of the head, nape, and hind-neck white: shoulders and mantle having white feathers intermixed with the brown, the former preponderating ; rest of the plumage normal. A specimen which passed through my hands some time ago (now in the Eothschild Museum) has the sides of the head, crown, nape, and upper part of neck pure white, varied only by irregular patches of brown extending from the base of the upper mandible to the eyes, and thence across the vertex. Most of the small wing-coverts, also one secondary and one primary in each wing, are pure white ; there are also touches of white near the tips of the other quills. The rest of the plumage is normal, except that the margins of the dorsal feathers are somewhat lighter than in ordinary birds. Hearing from Mr. Brough, of Nelson, of the capture of a " Crested Teal," I was naturally anxious to see it, and, through his kind assistance, the specimen was sent over for my inspection. It turned out to be Elasmonetta chlorotis in a condition of partial albinism, the head being largely marked with white. But the curious thing is that, by a freak of nature, there is a well- developed " top-knot " of feathers on the hind part of the head standing fully half an inch above the surrounding plumage. This top-knot, which extends forward into a line with the eyes, is white, with some irregular splashes of brownish-black, and the vertex and cheeks are also more or less variegated with white. The rest of the plumage is normal, the rounded spots on the breast and under-parts being particularly prominent, and the white edging on the speculum very conspicuous ; and there is a creamy-white ring encircling the neck. I published a drawing of it in the ' Transactions N.Z. Institute,' vol. xxix., plate xi. On the occasion of a visit to the Manawatu Gorge, I saw, in broad sunshine, a pair of these Ducks disporting themselves in a dark pool overhung with tree-ferns and other vegetation. But, as a rule, they remain in retirement during the day and come out at dusk. A Eangitikei corre- spondent informs me that this Teal has almost disappeared from that district. He adds : " As soon as they come out from their haunts, under the raupo in the swamps, they get shot. They are too simple for the changed times, and are fast succumbing to the inevitable. At the end of October I saw a brood of them, nearly full-grown." The last pair I obtained were shot by one of my sons at Ohau. These were forwarded, in spirit, to Professor Newton, and enabled him to make an interesting discovery as to the affinities of this form with Nesonetta auchlandica. Nestling. — A specimen in the Wanganui Museum has the head, neck and general upper surface blackish-brown with lighter shaft-tips ; line round the eyes, throat, abdomen and vent, yellowish-brown. Bill dark brown, with pale brown spot at tip of upper mandible. There is an indistinct line of pale brown on the outer edge of each wing, and an obscure spot of the same on each side of the rump, with a still more obscure one behind the insertion of each wing. Feet dark brown. Progress towards maturity .—Another specimen in the same collection, half-grown but still unfledged, has the spots on the upper surface larger and more pronounced; plumage of the upper parts darker, and that of the under parts generally lighter than in the nestling described above ; tail one inch long, upcurved and fluffy ; a distinct streak of brown through each eye. Obs.— The young male has generally lighter plumage than the adult bird, and entirely lacks the rich vermiculation on the sides of the body and flanks. The head and neck, while darker than the rest of the plumage, have none of the metallic lustre characteristic of the adult male. The eyes have a narrow circlet of white as in the adult female. The breast exhibits the brown spots of the adult, but the ground colour is several shades lighter, and lacks the bright chestnut 13 hue. Lastly, the neck circlet of white and the white spot on each side of the vent are absent in the young male. As far back as 1885 I made the following entry in my note-book : " It seems pretty clear that the little Brown Teal is a species quite distinct from Anas chlorotis, and that it has hitherto been confounded with that bird, because both sexes, which are alike in plumage, resemble very much the female of Anas chlorotis. This conclusion was origi- nally forced upon me when I examined the collection of birds formed by Dr. (now Sir James) Hector, on the west coast of Otago, and exhibited by the Provincial Government at the New Zealand Exhibition of 1865. But doubts were afterwards thrown upon the subject, and I did not venture to characterise the species as new. My attention was called to the matter again years afterwards by Mr. Beischek, who had brought a pair with him from Dusky Bay, and assured me that he had carefully determined their sex, by dissection, as male and female. Yesterday (April 23rd) I purchased a pair exposed for sale in a poulterer's shop in Wellington. On dissection they proved to be male and female. The male measured : length, 19'5 ; extent of wings, 27*5. The female measured : length, 17*75 ; extent of wings, 25'75. There is just the doubt whether the sexes may not be exactly the same in the young of Anas chlorotis ; but, as against the supposi- tion of these being immature birds, is the fact that I found the skin so tough and so firmly attached to the body that I had some difficulty in getting it off." Later on, I find an entry of another specimen which came into my hands as a skin, and yielded the following measurements : length, 18*25 inches ; wing from flexure, 7*5 ; tail, 3'5 ; bill, along the ridge, 1'5, along the edge of lower mandible, 1*75 ; tarsus, 1*5 ; middle toe and claw, 2. In the ' Birds of New Zealand' all I ventured to do was to mention this Duck as " an appa- rently smaller form " of Elasmonetta chlorotis (vol. ii., p. 258, note). Although it is pretty clear that the birds are distinct, I am still unwilling to set up a new species till I have obtained absolute proof. Years ago there were hundreds of acres of ' kahikatea swamp ' in the Manawatu district, the ground covered with creeping clumps of kiekie {Freycinetia banksii) — with pools of stagnant water between — a favourite resort of this Duck, whose only enemy in these dark labyrinths was the Maori snarer, who, from long experience, knew exactly where to lay his flax springes. In con- nection with this an amusing episode occurs to my recollection. In 1871-2, with the progress of settlement, railways were being constructed all through the country, and a new line, extending from Foxton to Palmerston North, passed right across one of these 'kahikatea' swamps. The Maoris, who had enjoyed a monopoly of the Duck snares there for years, made a grievance of this, alleging that their vocation was practically gone. The Native Besident Magistrate, in his anxiety to meet the prejudices of all concerned and to avoid friction, advised the Government to appoint a Boyal Commission to enquire into the merits of the claim and to make an award ; and a highly respectable local resident — a well-known philo-Maori — was selected to act as Boyal Commissioner. Being in practice as a Barrister at the time, I happened to be retained to conduct the case for the native owners of the land, who had claimed a large sum for what was technically termed * damages by severance ' ; and, as the Commissioner spoke Maori fluently and all those interested in the claim were Maoris, I was allowed to conduct my case in their language. I well remember how amused the Maori audience was as I pictured the alarm among the unso- phisticated Tetewhero (Brown Duck) at the invasion of their kiekie-domain by the ' iron horse ' — how their haunts, no longer secluded and tenable, were by degrees abandoned, to the sore detriment of the Maori fowler — how, in short, the march of civilisation was ruining everything ! Nor shall I ever forget their delight when the Boyal Commissioner, whose Maori sympathies were touched by this Maori appeal — to the horror of the Native Besident Magistrate, who was sitting beside him — awarded to the aggrieved claimants the whole amount asked for, with costs in addition ! Order ANSERIFORMES.] [Family ANATID.E. NESONETTA AUCKLAND ICA. (AUCKLAND-ISLAND DUCK.) Nesonetta aucklandica, Gray; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 263. I have had an opportunity of examining a large series of skins of the small flightless Duck, collected by Mr. H. H. Travers at the Auckland Islands, the group to which this species is strictly confined. The sexes in the adult state do not differ much from each other, both exhibiting the delicate reflections on the plumage of the upper surface ; but the male may be distinguished by its darker head and neck, by the black under tail-coverts, and by a greater abundance of vermicu- lated markings on the sides of the body. The young male, as I discovered, has exactly similar plumage to the adult female, the head being of the same brown colour as the body, with a paler throat. There is likewise an absence of black on the under tail-coverts. The adult plumage is probably assumed in the second year. As with the insects of Madeira, mentioned by me in the Introduction, so with this Duck : long disuse has rendered the wings useless for purposes of flight ; but, as if to compensate for this, the species possesses the unusual faculty of being able to climb — an accomplishment which no doubt would be of far more advantage to the bird in its rocky habitat, surrounded by the ocean, than the power of flight. I made the discovery by the purest accident. The late Captain Fairchild, on the return of the ' Hinemoa ' from one of her visits to the Auckland Islands, presented me with a living pair, which I immediately placed on the Papaitonga Lake, in the hope that they might breed there. I afterwards purchased a pair from one of the crew, and, being desirous of sending these to Europe, I placed them in a wire enclosure, over three feet high, in a secluded part of my garden. I noticed that they at once commenced to scale the perfectly upright netting, falling back into the yard as they neared the top of the fence. Never supposing that they would get over the fence, I left them in the enclosure. In the morning the male bird, being the more robust of the two, had made its escape, and I had little hope of ever seeing it again, there being much close covert in the garden. A few evenings afterwards I found both birds again in the yard, the fugitive having evidently climbed back into the enclosure for the purpose of sharing his mate's food. In the morning he had disappeared again. This continued for about ten days, the bird (which is semi-nocturnal in its habits) skulking and hiding during the day, and coming back in the evening to share the food. When I was ready to ship the Ducks I had simply to visit the enclosure after dusk, and then, catching them without difficulty, they were cooped and despatched to London by the B.M.S. ' Tainui.' My captive birds never made any attempt to use their wings, although they had every opportunity. Those who have seen the bird in its native home state, however, that it does perform a fluttering flight for a few yards along the surface of the water.* * Dr. Hans Gadow writes (< Nov. Zool." ix., p. 170) : « I have come to the conclusion that Nesonetta is in the act of diminishing its wing-area by reduction of the number and size of its primaries, from the examination of three spirit specimens and six skins. None of the specimens are in moult. ... The right and left wing are not always symmetrical, there being specimens with ten good functional primaries on one side and with only nine on the other wing, or with nine and eight functional quills, or with nine, or lastly with only eight functional quills on either wing. . . . Perhaps not every individual does undergo this process of reduction which attacks successively the eleventh quill, which is now almost universally obsolete in birds, then the tenth, and now in Nesonetta, even the ninth quill. In this respect Nesonetta, now unfortunately on the verge of extermination, exhibits a most interesting parallel with its equally unlucky contemporary the Flightless Cormorant \Phalacrocorax harrisi of the Galapagos Islands] ." MM* 15 I have been fortunate enough to procure a nestling. The body is covered with thick down r with long central filaments, especially on the upper parts. The general colour is dark olivaceous- brown, fading to pale fulvous-brown on the throat and fore-neck, and to dull fawn-colour on the breast and abdomen. There is a purer shade of dark-brown passing through the eyes and melting away behind. The rudimentary wings have an outer fringe of yellowish-brown ; the produced filaments on the shoulders and mantle are of the same pale colour. The bill is dark-brown, with the terminal shield and the whole of the under mandible yellowish-brown. Legs and feet olivaceous-brown, the webs being darker ; claws, yellowish-brown. Order AN'SEEIFORMBS.] [Family ANATIMEL SPATULA VAEIEGATA. (NEW-ZEALAND SHOVELLER.) Rhynchaspis Yariegata (Grould), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 269. One of the partial albinos in my collection is almost exactly like Spatula clypeata of Europe, in the extent and distribution of the white plumage. For three seasons in succession a pair of these beautiful Ducks nested among the sedges, almost alongside of my boat-house at Papaitonga, and brought up their young in safety, the brood coming out in the last week of November. Two partial albinoes of this species received from Lake Ellesmere are very remarkable and beautiful objects. No. 1 differs from the ordinary bird by the absence of the white cheek- mark, the head and neck being entirely black, with green metallic reflections. The whole of the breast — front, sides, and a narrow collar at the back — white, with scattered horseshoe markings of dull chestnut-brown, the white being boldly defined against the black of the fore-neck, but on the lower margin melting insensibly into the chestnut-brown of the sides and abdomen; large upper wing-coverts white, with broad crescentic bands of blackish-brown; the scapulars with a very broad stripe of white down the centre. No. 2 has a dark head and neck, with green metallic reflections, but differs from the other in having the whole of the shoulders and scapulars pure white, there being only a dividing- stripe of the normal colour down the spine ; the long scapulary plumes are pale-blue on their outer and white on their inner vanes. The blue on the small wing-coverts presents a broad surface, and the angular patch of white between that and the speculum is very conspicuous. The dark colour of the head and neck is sharply defined against the white plumage below it. There is a large patch of pure white on each side of the rump, which has dark-green reflections ; and the tail-feathers are greyish-white on their outer webs. In the ' Eecords of the Australian Museum ' (1892-3, p. 37) we read: The Australian Museum received from Dr. L. Holden, of Circular Head, the skin of a male New Zealand Shoveller, Spatula variegata, Gould, that was obtained amongst others of the same species by Mr. Thomas 1 -' 16 Carr, on the 20th of June, 1892, at One Tree Point, on the river Tamar, near Larmceston; numerous individuals of which were seen in the neighbourhood during the past winter. This species may be dis- tinguished from the Spatula rhynchotis of Australia and Tasmania, to which it is closely allied, by being less robust and slightly smaller in its admeasurements ; the feathers of the lower portion of the neck and mantle are white instead of fulvous-brown; the short scapulars also have a large amount of white on them, and the elongated scapulars are plume-like and more conspicuously marked with a broader lanceolate satiny-white stripe. The single male bird received from Mr. Walter Mantell in 1856, upon which Gould founded the species, is evidently an exceptional one, if his figure of it in the ' Supplement to the Birds of Australia,' plate lxxx., be correct ; it shows a far larger amount of white upon the lower portion of the neck, mantle, scapulars, and breast, than specimens since obtained in New Zealand or the one at present "under consideration ; the latter being similar in size and slightly brighter in colour to a mounted specimen in the Museum obtained from the North Island of New Zealand, and approaching nearer to the figure given by Sir Walter Lawry Buller in his ' Birds of New Zealand,' 2nd Edition, vol. ii., plate xliii., page 269, which he stated had been taken from a ' fine male in the best condition of plumage.' Order ANSERIFOBMES.] [Family ANATID^E. AYTHYA AUSTRALIA. (WHITE-EYED DUCK.) Nyroca australis, Gould ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol ii., p. 275. A specimen lately forwarded to me was obtained in the Wairarapa Lake, and I had previously received one from Otago. There are several examples in the Canterbury Museum, all from Lake Ellesmere. There can be little doubt that this Duck is a wanderer from Australia. Writing of the species in that country, Mr. Gould states that it loves quiet reaches where the water runs slowly, bays and inlets of the sea ; and that it is an expert diver, collecting much of its food from beneath the surface of the water, and readily descending to the bottom in search of small mollusca, crustaceans, insects, and aquatic plants, on which it chiefly subsists. The species occurs also in Tasmania, New Caledonia and the Papuan Islands, extending northward as far as Waigiou. Mr. A. J. Campbell, in his ' Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds,' writes (p. 1051) : " The White-eyed Duck is an exceedingly swift flyer. The lightning-like rapidity with which a flock sometimes flies down stream, especially with a good breeze behind, often baffles the best sportsman for a successful shot." The following description of the egg is given by Mr. Eamsay on the authority of Mr. Whittell, who was well acquainted with this bird, and had no doubt as to the authenticity of the egg in question: "The eggs are large for the size of the bird, have a glossy look and feel greasy to the touch ; they are of a light-cream colour, rather oval, swollen, both ends nearly alike ; in length la) 2'52 by 1-88 in. ; (b) 2'5 by 1'8 in." ■kkhBdhi Oeder ANSEEIFOEMES] . [Family ANATID^. FULIGULA NOVJE-ZEALANDI^E. (NEW ZEALAND SCAUP.) Fuligula novae-zealandiae (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, yoI. ii., p. 273. On the Papaitonga Lake — where, owing to the rigid protection,* this Duck is very numerous — a Scaup (" Wigeon " of the Colonists) brought out a brood of five young ones about the middle of December. The old bird was to be seen daily swimming about near the boatshed followed by her little family, huddled together in a clump as it were, and at the slightest appear- ance of danger the ducklings would instantly dive and reappear on the surface further out on the lake. Early one morning, on going down for a plunge in the water, I had an illus- tration of the force of maternal instinct in this bird. On opening the door of the boathouse leading to the springboard I surprised the duck and her brood disporting themselves in the water only ten or twelve yards out. On my appearance the young birds instantly dived, whilst the old bird, evidently to divert attention from its brood, came swimming up to within a few feet of me with its mouth open and uttering a low cry. In the meantime the young had got to a safe distance under water, and then came to the surface again, when the parent, seeing that the apprehended danger was past, quietly joined them. On mentioning this circumstance to my son, he told me that he had witnessed a somewhat similar device on the part of the same bird only a short time before. On this occasion two sporting dogs took to the water and swam out in the direction of the young brood. The old duck at once rose in the air, new up to the dogs, and kept circling round them, so as to distract their attention, till the young birds were well out on the lake. HYMENO LIMITS M ALACGKH YNCHUS. (MOUNTAIN DUCK.) Hymenolaemus malacorhynchus (G-melin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 276. This is one of those recluse species that must ere long disappear entirely. Mountain- and bush- streams, like that shown in the subjoined photograph, form the natural haunt of this singular Duck. From localities mentioned in my first edition as its favourite resorts — such as the Mana- watu Gorge — it has long since disappeared ; and as settlement extends inland, it must of necessity retire still further back till, in the end, it will vanish altogether. In the summer of 1863, in company with the late Dr. Featherston, I made a trip through the Manawatu Gorge in a canoe, paddled by Maoris, and propelled by poles in the more rapid parts. Here I made my first acquaintance with this Duck and obtained a beautiful series of specimens, now in my type-collection in the Colonial Museum. At that date the walls of the gorge, some six or eight miles long, were covered with lovely vegetation, untouched by the hand of man, to ■* A recent New Zealand newspaper has the following paragraph : " It is said that Lake Alexandrina, in the Mackenzie country, which is reserved as a sanctuary for native game, is teeming with wild fowl, the birds seemiDg to know that they are out of harm's way when on the waters of this lake. At Milford lagoon, near Temuka, the same thing is seen. When the shooting season opened the lagoon presented a sight worth witnessing, being literally black with ducks." Yol. ii.— 3 18 the very water's edge. Years later, a broad road was cut through, on the south bank, for Cobb's coaches, and now on the north bank the Manawatu Eailway — high above the level of the river- takes its sinuous course, and the Mountain Duck knows a home there no longer ! A specimen of this Duck from Dusky Sound which passed through my hands differed from ordinary examples in having the whole of the plumage of a silky texture, and the entire breast in front and on the sides thickly studded with dark chestnut-brown spots, becoming almost confluent in places. Mr. W. W. Smith's experience is similar to my own, for he writes of this Duck : " When wounded they are expert divers, diving in the rapid waters and re-appearing long distances down stream." HOME OF THE MOUNTAIN DUCK. I have elsewhere, in writing of the Penguins, stated that I consider the King Penguin (Ajptenodijtes patagonica) the most gentle of the group. Among the Ducks, this distinction un- doubtedly belongs to the Mountain Duck. The following incident is sufficient evidence of the fact. On the 13th October I was shown by the men at the survey camp a nest of this species in a hollow log lying about twenty yards from the stream, at Eikiorangi, some seven or eight miles up '^WJM Sooi^HiBB 19 the Waikanae Eiver. The Duck was on the nest, which was composed of soft down, torn from her own body, and there were four eggs, one having been previously broken by the finder. On being captured, the Duck, although apparently much frightened, uttered no sound, and made no attempt to escape. We brought her to Wellington shut up in a canvas bag, and, on being taken therefrom some hours later, she sipped water from a drinking-cup in the most unconcerned way. On being placed in a cage with her nest and eggs, she immediately claimed possession, and con- tinued to sit, with few interruptions, for several days. But the eggs, which had been long incubated when taken, must have got chilled in transmission, for the duck, having apparently discovered that they were lifeless, first turned one out, and then abandoned the nest. I do not know of any species of wild Duck that, under similar circumstances, would have resumed, even for a time, the labour of incubation. Had the bird been left undisturbed she would have hatched out her young in about a week or ten days. Some clutches, however, are earlier, for in the stream near which this nest was discovered, a pair of Mountain Duck had been disporting with five young ones for more than a week before our arrival. Young. — A young bird in my collection, which still has the first down adhering to the vertex throat, and sides of the head, has the colours much duller than in the adult ; the spotted rufous markings on the breast are less diffuse and are continued obscurely down the abdomen to the under tail-coverts, which are entirely dull rufous. The shoulders are speckled with dusky black, and there is a slight metallic gloss on the upper surface, the bird being probably a male. Fledgling. — The colours are those of the adult, but paler. The long, soft, white down is still present on the throat and lower side of the cheeks, whilst broken or irregular lines of the same proceed from the frontal base and from the sides of the upper mandible, and become scattered beyond the eyes. The dull olive-green down, with long disunited filaments, still adheres to the crown and other portions of the upper surface, being most pronounced immediately above the tail. The bill is slaty-brown (in the dried specimen), the terminal points of both mandibles and the ser- rated edges being dull yellow. Speaking generally, the young of the first year has much less chestnut on the breast than the adult bird, all the true pectoral and surrounding feathers having only a minute spot of rufous with a point of black beyond, giving a speckled appearance to that part of the body ; the head is washed with brown, and so is the mantle ; the irides are dark-brown instead of being golden- yellow ; and the bill is bluish-grey instead of white. In the adult state the male bird has a fine metallic-green gloss on the head, neck, and upper surface generally, being brightest on the crown and on the mantle. The female has less gloss, having a wash of bronzy-brown on these parts, this colour being most pronounced on the crown of the head and mantle. A young male (of the first year) has the same brown tinge on the upper surface, but less than in the adult female. In the mature bird the bill, with the exception of the dark terminal membrane, is in life of a beautiful pinky- white colour ; in the young bird it is of a bluish-white, with a narrow streak of brown down the centre. Both sexes have the soft feathers which compose the inner lining of the wings more or less tipped with rufous ; the male has the under tail-coverts broadly tipped with rusty-red, whilst in the female bird these markings are absent ; in the young of both sexes the under tail-coverts are entirely of that colour. The male has the chestnut-red pectoral markings more distinct than in the female. In the young bird they are considerably diminished, each feather having only a minute touch of rufous, with a spot of black beyond, imparting to the breast a speckled effect. The irides of the young bird, which are originally dark, change rapidly to a dull olivaceous-yellow, which becomes golden at maturity. The old birds on being caught utter a peculiar rasping cry ; the young has a similar note, but weaker, and when alarmed emits a distinct squeal. The ordinary note of the species is a sibilant whistle, whence it derives its native name, " Whio." 20 An old bushman expressed to me his conviction that the Mountain Duck repairs year after year to the same nest, placing new layers of flags and weeds upon it. On pulling a nest of considerable size to pieces, he found fragments of egg-shell at lower levels, as if indicating former occupations. The eggs vary slightly in size, but 2'3 in. in length, by 1'5 in. in breadth may be taken as a fair measurement. They are of a beautiful ovoido-elliptical shape ; and, on being washed, the surface presents a delicate pale cream-colour, the green tinge referred to in the 'Birds of New Zealand' (vol. ii., p. 278) being apparently due to soiling by contact with the bird's feet. One of these specimens also exhibited a decidedly green tinge before being washed. Mr. Ernest DeLautour, in an interesting letter on Trout-fishing, which he recently communicated to the Press, mentions this Duck. Writing from a ' toetoe ' hut, on the banks of the Tongariro Eiver, he says that for two months eight Mountain Ducks remained constantly at his very door. So far from being indifferent divers, as was supposed, he states that they used to spend the whole of every morning in diving after food, at which they were even more expert than the Shag. He adds : " Bitterns are very numerous, and once one walked into my ' whare,' and on my catching him, with a bag, vomited up nine small carp, with two of which I killed a brace of trout." Mr. Guthrie- Smith, who is evidently a lover of birds, says in his published account of ' Bird- life on a Bun ' : — Although the Whio, or Whistler, as the natives call it, is fairly plentiful, I have only known one occasion — after a violent southerly gale, when a brace of them appeared on the lake — of its being seen away from the haunts peculiarly its own, the rushing, shadowed creeks half-blind with fern and koromiko. I have given orders that this delightful bird shall be in no way molested, for there are few sounds more characteristic of wild New Zealand than the startled half -indignant whistle of the Mountain-duck. Dipping from the summer's sultry heat into some deep fern-feathered gorge, I have often paused to watch him. The little waterfalls dash into diamonds on his slate-blue plumes. He is thoroughly at home in the bubbling champagne pools. Where the swift stream shows every polished pebble clear he can paddle and steer with ease. I received from Waikanae on Saturday, the 12th December, an adult pair of the Mountain- duck, with a bird of the first year, and a fledgling from another brood. The last-mentioned accidentally hung itself in the wire-netting of its enclosure. The others were very shy at first, but soon adapted themselves to their new life, and took readily to their diet of cooked potato and rice. When alarmed they uttered a loud whistling cry — especially the young bird ; at other times their note was a low rasping one, like the sound produced by drawing an object quickly against the teeth of a large comb. There is a nestling of this species in the Auckland Museum. Entire upper-surface olivaceous brown, the down-filaments being long and coarse ; under-parts yellowish-white, tinged with brown on the breast ; sides of the face yellowish- white, with a conspicuous blackish-brown streak through the eyes ; there is an obscure crescent-shaped mark of white behind each wing, and another of a more rounded form on each side of the rump. The tail consists of small feathers with downy filaments. Bill, brown ; under-mandible, pale-yellow ; legs, yellowish. HEAD OF MOUNTAIN DUCK. wwSr ^■■i ri g trj C/3 is ^d < iUMAIHh SOSBm^mSSBm HWMHIK Order ANSERIFORMES.] [Family ANATIDiE. MERCxANSEE AUSTKALIS. (AUCKLAND-ISLAND MERGANSER.) Mergus australis, Hombr. and Jacq. ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 279. The Auckland Islands, comprising altogether about 400 square miles, lie just 200 miles south of Stewart Island. They no doubt represent one of the outlying remnants of an ancient and now submerged continent, so that geologically they are as old as New Zealand. They are fully exposed to the thundering surges of the South Pacific Ocean all the year round and, although natural erosion is of course taking place, they have so. far resisted the ravages of time and tide, and bid fair to last as long as New Zealand. According to Sir James Hector, Auckland Island is the remnant of a great volcanic cone that was 12,000 feet in height and fifty miles in diameter in early Tertiary times, the chief centre having been about eight miles west of Disappointment Island. He calculates that four-fifths of the original mass has been removed by the denuding force of the westerly waves. These islands are very interesting to the naturalist, for — apart from their being the resort at certain seasons of the year of countless seals and sea-birds — they have produced several peculiar endemic species, such as the Flightless Duck (Nesonetta < aucldandica) , the Fulvous Bail (H. muelleri) and a sedentary species of Snipe (Gallinago aucMandica), whilst in the still waters formed by the narrow inlets along the coast a species of Merganser {M. australis), not known in any other part of the world, is still occasionally to be met with. This bird has always been rare in collections; but of late several beautiful specimens have been forwarded to the British Museum by His Excellency the Earl of Eanfurly. I have in my collection an adult male, an adult female, and a nestling. There is a good specimen in the Colonial Museum, and a pair in the Otago Museum. The British Museum collection contains now a series of four. There are three specimens in the Tring Museum, a pair in the Imperial Museum at Vienna, and a single specimen in the University Museum at Cambridge. Besides those in my own collection this completes, as far as I am aware, the known record of this endemic species. The specimen in the Otago Museum has darker plumage than either of my specimens. It may probably be a younger bird, for there is scarcely any appearance of a crest. It has a narrow white speculum. There is no sex given, but I take it to be a male. The feet have been painted dull red by the taxidermist, who is a very careful observer ; the base of the lower mandible paler red, the rest blackish-brown. It is very desirable that specimens of this interesting form should be obtained for our museums before it is too late. Although the Government steamboat makes periodical visits to the Auckland Islands, its only known habitat, and eager search is made, the bird is scarcely ever seen ; but in the absence of the natural enemies, which abound elsewhere, there is no reason why the species should become extinct. Nestling. — I have in my collection a nestling apparently about a week or ten days old. It is covered with thick, long, and somewhat glossy down. The upper part and sides of the head, the hind-neck, and the entire upper surface and sides of the body, dark olive-brown ; throat and fore-neck and spot under each eye, bright rufous, fading away towards the breast ; under- 22 surface yellowish-white ; wings dark olive-brown, marked along the outer edge and longitudinally on the under-surface with yellowish-white. Bill very dark olive, shaded with brown on the ridge, the terminal shield on both mandibles reddish-brown, with a polished surface ; legs and feet dull olive-brown, paler on the toes, the interdigital webs darker, and the claws yellowish- brown. It must be noticed that the toothed character of the mandibles is well developed even in the nestling. At a meeting of the Zoological Society, in January, 1881, Baron A. von Hugel's specimen from the Auckland Islands (now in the Zoological Museum at the University of Cambridge) was exhibited. Dr. Sclater remarked that the colouring of the plate in the ' Yoyage au Pole Sud' seemed rather too bright. He further observed ('Proc. Z. S.,' 1881, p. 1): " Mergus australis appeared to come nearest to Mergus brasiliensis, as already indicated by Hombron and Pucheran, but differed in its brown head, the longitudinal (not transverse) markings below, and longer bill. As regards the form of the tail, commented on by Hombron and Pucheran, there seemed to be little difference between the two species." Order PELECANIFORMES.] [Family PHALACROCORACIDiB. PHALACROCORAX N V JEK OL L A N D IJE . (SEA SHAG.) Phalacrocorax novae- hollandiaB (Steph.), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 145. This Shag, which is so abundant further North, is extremely scarce in Foveaux Strait and in Stewart Island. My collector sent me a specimen, as a great rarity, among a lot of Phalacrocorax huttoni and P. chalconotus. This was marked " female," and it had a mdre pronounced nuchal crest (or " mane," as the collector termed it) than I had ever before noticed. It had the naked face, or lores, of a uniform dull yellow ; the irides pale green ; membrane behind the eye and covering the base of the lower mandible, bright yellow ; culmen black ; sides of upper and the whole of lower mandible, very pale grey ; legs and feet black. The tawny throat indicated the sex. In the Canterbury Museum is preserved a sea-trout (Salmo fario) taken from the gullet of one of these Shags when shot on the coast. The fish measured 14*5 inches in length, with a girth of 7*75 in., and the weight was 1\ lb.* * In October, 1893, the following paragraph appeared in ' The Globe ' newspaper, relating to the closely related P. carlo, of Europe, or, as some ornithologists hold, the same species as ours : " The Cormorant who took up his abode on the weather-cock of Newark Church, at the beginning of the month, is, says a correspondent, still there. By day he remains motionless, like Patience on a monument, or St. Simeon Stylites ; by night, it is conjectured, he flaps his way to the neighbouring Trent for food. It is satisfactory to know that the men of Newark have kept their fingers from pulling the trigger. Let them continue to do so, lest the doom of the Ancient Mariner be upon them." 23 Till recent years there was a great breeding place of this species in a clump of rimn trees on the north shore of the Papaitonga Lake. I observed that, soon after sunset, the Shags came in, singly or in parties, from the sea to roost for the night on the naked branches of these trees. When they arrived there was always much contention and confabulation for places. On the wing, when a pair are in company, the appreciably larger size of the male is manifest at a glance. I had on one occasion an instance of the marvellous vitality of this bird. I was standing, gun in hand, on the western point of the island in Papaitonga Lake, when I observed one of these Shags at a high elevation coming in from the sea. Taking a very long shot, I gave him the choke-barrel, and saw at once that my bird was hard hit, for he immediately doubled back and made for the sea. After a flight of nearly half a mile, at full speed, he came down into the lake with a splash, and on being picked up shortly afterwards was found to be shot in the head. As already stated, I have received a female of this species in full plumage with a well- defined nuchal crest, from which it is clear that both sexes possess this adornment at the breeding season. When I was at Papaitonga at Christmas, 1897, the mill-hands were felling some lofty rimu-trees on the northern side of the lake— 15 or 20 chains from the water— on which the Sea-shags, for many years past, had fixed their " rookery." I regretted very much to see these trees come down, but they were beyond my boundary, and I could not interfere. The young birds had not yet quitted their nests, although they were well advanced— covered with thick black down, and with quills and tail-feathers several inches long. The female has the throat buffy white; the neck, grey and brown intermixed; the breast and upper part of abdomen, creamy white ; and the abdomen, grey and black intermixed. Young of the first year. — Bare skin on the face and at the angles of the mouth, as also that covering the gular sac, vivid orange yellow, darker round the eyes and on the lores, the latter sparsely covered with minute feathers, and divided lengthwise by a streak of brown, extending from the eyes to the base of the upper mandible ; irides brownish grey ; tongue and inside of mouth dull yellow ; legs black. This is, I think, the only native bird to which protection ought not to be extended. The same experience has doomed the bird on this side of the world, as witness the following paragraph in an English paper : — The Isle of Wight County Council has decided to apply to the Secretary of State for an order with- drawing the statutory protection to the Cormorant, owing to its destructiveness to fish. Admiral Sir A.'de Horsey, however, pointed out that the Cormorants were very useful in warning mariners in case of fog that they were nearing land. Of the genus Phalacrocorax Captain Hutton writes* : — " New Zealand waters contain more different kinds of Cormorants, commonly called Shags, than the waters of any other part of the world. While we have fifteen species, there are only twelve in North and South America, seven in Asia, six in Africa, iiye in Australia, and three in Europe. The large number of species in New Zealand is attributed to two causes. Eirst, this country was the meeting- place of two migratory streams, one from the Malay Archipelago and New Caledonia, the other from Patagonia. Secondly, New Zealand has been broken into a number of islands, lying at considerable distances apart, and these have been isolated for a very long time." * 'Animals of New Zealand,' p. 286. Oeder PELECANIEOBMES.l [Family PHALACKOCOKACIDiE. PHALACROCOEAX VARIUS. (PIED SHAG.) Phalacrocorax varius (Gmelin), Bulier, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 149. It is a very curious fact in local distribution that this species of Shag is commonly found only at the far north and in the far south. On a visit to Stewart Island in February, 1897, I met with several rookeries of this species in Paterson's Inlet. The birds were rather shy, but I was able to get some by rowing in a boat straight up to the overhanging trees, and, having brought the birds out of the rookery, shooting them as they circled overhead. I obtained two pairs, and as they were in good plumage I converted them all into specimens. In both sexes the high colouring on the soft parts of the face is very conspicuous. In front of the eyes there is a broad, pear-shaped, bare patch of vivid orange, and the rest of the naked membrane enclosing and surrounding the eye is of a bright mazarine-blue, changing to turquoise-green on the eyelids. The irides are clear sea-green. I measured the larger male, with the following result : Extreme length, 33 in. ; extent of wings, 51 in. ; wing from flexure, 12*5 in. ; tail, 6*75 in. ; bill, along the ridge, 3 in. ; along the edge of lower mandible, 4 in. ; tarsus, 2"25 in. ; longest toe and claw, 4 in. The female is similar to the male, but somewhat smaller in all its proportions. In one of the rookeries we visited, a beautiful White Heron had taken up its position among the Shags, but it was very shy and took wing long before the other birds had quitted their nests. The nest of this Shag is comparatively small for the size of the bird, and is composed of dry twigs laced together, becoming so compact under the pressure of the sitting bird that it is a difficult thing to dislodge it from the tree. The cavity is rather deep, and carefully rounded off on the inside. I could only examine one of them, which the boy, who had partially climbed the tree, succeeded in dislodging with the boat-oar. I obtained only two eggs, and these were too much incubated to be blown. They are ovoido- elliptical in shape, but with a distinctly smaller end, measuring 2'37 in. by T37 in. The shell is of a pale-green colour, but this is much obscured by a rough, chalky matter which is pretty evenly distributed over the entire surface. Both of the eggs were much soiled through contact with the birds' feet, and they contained embryos apparently just ready for extrusion. This was at the end of February. On my last visit to the Bay of Islands— in September— I was struck with the scantiness of bird-life. Here and there a solitary Sea-gull was to be seen floating on the surface of the water, and as we steamed up to Eussell in the tender we saw a few Pied Shags : that was all. Of the latter there was a young one near the landing-wharf which continued to fish within a few yards of the boat during the whole of our visit, lasting a couple of hours. Timing it with a stop-watch, I found that each dive occupied, as a rule, thirty seconds. On glancing over my diary for 1894 I find that I made similar observations on a Shag in another part of the world : — "17th February.— Capetown, The bay was alive with the common Sea-gull and a species of Shag (Phalacrocorax capensis). I was interested in watching the fishing operations of the latter. When it dives it springs bodily out of the water and goes down head foremost. I timed the dive With my watch. It generally lasted from a minute to a minute and a half, but in one instance HHlHH 25 the bird remained under water a second beyond two minutes ! During the forenoon one of these Shags settled in a boat hanging in our davits, and suffered one of the sailors to capture it without offering any resistance. I handled it afterwards and found it quite docile, but it was in very poor condition, and probably out of health." In the Wanganui Museum there is a specimen of this Shag obtained by the late Mr. Drew on the Waitara Eiver. It is a young bird, but Mr. Drew informed me that he saw on the same occasion several adults there. Mr. Cheeseman, the Curator of the Auckland Museum, who kindly sent me a couple of good specimens of P. varius for a special purpose, wrote : — " With the specimens I am sending you a rough, coloured sketch showing the colouration of the fleshy parts of the head, as seen in the most brightly coloured specimen we got. I find that the yellow is pretty constant, but as for the blue, no two specimens appear to have the same hue ; it varies from dark azure to the slightest possible trace of this colour; and the differences do not seem to be due to either immaturity or sex." Further on (at page 31) I have dealt with Mr. Ogilvie Grant's suggestion that my Phalacrocorax huttoni is the young of P. varius (' Cat. B. Brit. Mus.,' vol. xxvi., p. 331). Captain Hutton is equally wrong in treating it (' Animals of New Zealand,' p. 303) as the young of P. carunculatus, for that species is very local, and has never been found south of Queen Charlotte Sound. My type (now in the Otago Museum) was undoubtedly an immature bird, but it was not the young of either of these species. I am quite satisfied, in my own mind, that it is the same as that since described by Mr. Ogilvie Grant (Z. c, p. 331) under the name of P. stewarti, the beautiful Crested Shag inhabiting Stewart Island, and occasionally met with on the opposite coast. (See infra, pp. 30-32). Order PELECANIFOEMES.] [Family PHALACROCOEACID^]. PHALACEOCORAX C A ETJ N C U L AT U S . (EOUGH-FACED SHAG. Phalacrocorax carunculatus (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 155. The late Captain Fairchild brought me a fine specimen of this Shag from Queen Charlotte Sound ; and, as this is the first adult bird of that species I have had an opportunity of examining in the flesh, I give the actual measurements : Extreme length, 32 in. ; extent of wings, 49 in. ; wing from flexure, 1275 in.; tail, 6 in.; bill, along the ridge, 2'9 in., along the edge of lower mandible, 3*75 in. ; tarsus, 2*5 in. ; longest toe and claw, 5 in. Irides clear hazel-grey ; orbits of the eyes naked, slightly raised, and of a beautiful blue colour. The bare space surrounding the orbits and filling the lores has a roughened surface as if covered with minute papilla, and is of a greyish-brown colour ; on each side of the forehead these papillae develop into small caruncles of a bright orange-yellow colour. Bill whitish horn-colour, changing to dull-brown on the rido-e Yol. ii.— 4 26 and towards the angles of the mouth, and shading into bluish-grey towards the base of the lower mandible. The naked gular sac or pouch, divided by a feathered stripe running to a point near the junction of the rami, has a streaky appearance, being of a dark greyish-green colour. The legs are fleshy-white, the hind part of the tarsi and the under-surface of the toes being dull blackish-brown ; claws dark-grey. This bird proved on dissection to be a male; and, although killed in the height of the breeding-season, it exhibited nothing in the form of a crest, not even a lengthening of the coronal and occipital feathers. This confirms, I submit, the view put forward by me in the ' Birds of New Zealand ' (vol. ii., pp. 153-160), in opposition to Dr. Sclater and other leading authorities, that this species is the true P. carunculatus of Latham, and must not be confounded either with the crested Chatham Island form, or with P. cirrhatus, Gmelin, from Magellan Straits.* I received at the same time two immature birds — in the first year's plumage, which is very different from that of the adult. The alar bar of white is absent, and there are no dorsal spots. The blue orbits are wanting, and there is no appearance of caruncles on the side of the forehead ; added to which, the loral space, which is bare in the adult, has its surface covered with extremely minute feathers. The hides are dull greenish-grey ; the sides of the lower mandible and the naked gular pouch, as well as the legs, are fleshy- white. The breeding season of this species appears to extend over several months. In July, 1892, Captain Fairchild visited the White Bocks, and found both eggs and young in the nests. Of the latter he brought over about half a dozen, which were forwarded by His Excellency the Governor to the Zoological Society of London. On a more recent visit (some three months later) he again found both eggs and young. Of the former he has given me specimens. They are of a delicate pale-blue colour, and a perfect ellipsis in shape, measuring 2*5 in. in length by 1'5 in. in breadth. At a later date, in 1894, he brought me four young birds of different sizes, clothed in thick down. I sent them up to the Papaitonga Lake, hoping that they would thrive there and ultimately breed, but they did not long survive their change of home, being probably too young for the experiment. Two old birds, both females, had been shot by the crew of the ' Hinemoa ' and the skins preserved. I had an opportunity of examining one of these. The pad of orange caruncles on the brow, on each side of the head, is very prominent, and as it is entirely absent in some examples, I take it to be a feature peculiar to the breeding season. There is no appearance whatever of a crest, or even an elongation of the coronal feathers. The white alar bar is very conspicuous ; so is the dorsal double patch of white. The naked space around and in front of the eyes is entirely dark-blue ; and the feet are flesh-coloured. Nestling. — Covered with sooty down. Fore part of head, face, and throat, perfectly bare ; the skin, which is jet-black, presenting a granulated surface, and having the appearance of kid- leather. Upper mandible brownish-black ; the under mandible, except at the tip, as well as the skin at its base, in a straight line from the angle of the mouth, bluish-white, the black colouring of the skin beyond, however, being continued, in a tapering streak, to a point within the rami. Under each eye there is a minute round spot of white. Legs and feet dark-grey, the webs lighter. In my specimens of the female the caruncles are very minute and inconspicuous. I have not yet ascertained whether this is a sexual or only a seasonal character. The only colony of these Shags of which we have any positive knowledge is that inhabiting * Dr. Kidder refers a Shag he brought from Kerguelen Island to P. carunculatus, Gmelin, of which he makes P. cirrhatus, Gmelin, a synonym. But he states that - during the breeding-season the bird carries an erectile crest of about a dozen small plumes upon the top of the head ; tarsus and foot yellow." Is not Kidder's bird the true P. cirrhatus or " Tufted Shag " of Gmelin? vv^^ix^:^^566a©aa&66< 27 the White Eocks in Queen Charlotte Sound, and numbering, according to Captain Fairchild's estimate, about fifty birds. All the specimens collected by Mr, Henry Travers, notices of which have from time to time been communicated to the Society, came from this locality. And it is worth remembering that Latham, who originally described the species, states that it inhabits New Zealand as well as South America, being " found in Queen Charlotte Sound, but not in plenty."* Unless the Government extends its protection to this species of Shag on its last known refuge — the White Eocks near the mouth of Queen Charlotte Sound — it is very certain that it will ere long be completely " wiped out." The colony has already been nearly extirpated by one of the local collectors. A few breeding pairs remain ; and, if these are rigidly pro- tected, this species will soon re-establish itself on the White Eocks, which it has inhabited ever since Cook's time, and doubtless long before ! A special interest always attaches to a species inhabiting a single spot on the globe's surface ; and this is one of them. Apart from the sentiment of the thing, it is one of the finest known Shags, and very distinct in character from all other members of the group. In 1892, as already mentioned, the Earl of Onslow, the then Governor of New Zealand, sent some nestlings to the Zoological Society. At Christmas, 1893, I saw the survivor of them in one of the artificial ponds at the Gardens, and made the following notes : " It is apparently a female, the colours being very dull. It has a distinct prominence in front of each eye ; the bare skin on the face (at this season) is very dull red, and there is a blue patch under and surrounding the eyes ; feet dull yellow or fleshy-white ; alar bar narrow and indistinct, only the extremity of the coverts being white. The bird is very tame, follows its keeper when called, with a low croaking note, and diverts the public by its remarkable activity under water during feeding time, as seen through the plate-glass front of the tank when the feeding takes place." The " White Eocks" — Long Island and Motuara — on which the only colony of these birds we know of is established, are situated in the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound. They consist of a ridge of peaked rocks about a quarter of a mile in extent, standing high out of the water and bearing W.N.W. one mile from Cape Koamoro, with a passage between and on either side of them. The two islands lie three miles within the line of the two Capes forming the entrance, Long Island on the eastern and Motuara on the western side. On August 1st I saw on board the ' Hinemoa ' four young birds of this species brought by Captain Fairchild from the White Eocks, where he had found them breeding about a fortnight before. There were young birds almost ready to fly in some of the nests and freshly laid eggs in others, with shaglets in almost every intermediate stage of existence. He brought me three eggs. The young birds are covered with dusky-black down, thick and short ; bill brownish-black, with conspicuously white lower mandibles, and the white crosses the gular sac in a sharply defined line. They make a peculiar " cawing " sound. Captain Fairchild stated that the old birds, at other times so shy and unapproachable, wax very bold when their young are being taken from the nests, and can easily be knocked over on the wing with a three-foot stick. P. carunculatus is the only species of Shag inhabiting this locality. In writing of this species, Dr. Forbes says : — One of the specimens collected during the Antarctic expeditions, and presented to the British Museum by the Admiralty, bearing the name 'P. carunculatus, New Zealand,' is undoubtedly P. verrucosus. I * In my account of Phalacrocorax carunculatus ('Birds of N.Z.,' vol. ii., pp. 160, 161), I have quoted Mr. Percy Seymour's remarks respecting a colony of Shags, breeding at the foot of a small cliff on Otago Peninsula, as referring to this species. But this can hardly be the case, because he states that "their feet appeared from a distance of a few yards to be reddish or brownish," whereas P. carunculatus has fleshy-white feet at all ages. 28 suspect that there is some error as to the locality, and that not improbably it has become dissociated from the other specimens collected at Kerguelen during that voyage and presented to the Museum by the Admiralty at the same time. The specimen was probably, therefore, from Kerguelen Land, and not from New Zealand. Order PELECANIFORMES.] [Family PHALACROCORACnm PHALACROCOEAX COL ENS 01 (AUCKLAND-ISLAND SHAG.) Phalacrocorax colensoi, Buller, Birds of New Zealand, yoI ii., p. 161. Phalacrocorax rothschildi, Forbes, Ibis, vol. ¥., p. 537 (1893). Dk. H. 0. Forbes, in his paper 'On the Birds inhabiting the Chatham Islands,' which appeared in the Ibis for October, 1893, describes, under the name of Phalacrocorax rothschildi, a Shag found at the Chatham Islands and in the south of New Zealand, separating it from Phalacrocorax colensoi, and saying : " This species is distinguished at once by the approximation of the dark plumage of the head beneath the throat, leaving a comparatively narrow white stripe between them." He also makes the possession of both the white alar bar and the white dorsal spot characteristic of his new species. In my opinion, we have a good deal more to learn about the Shags inhabiting New Zealand and the adjacent islands ; and I think perhaps Dr. Forbes was somewhat rash in characterising this as a new species without further investigation. The type of my Phalacrocorax colensoi* was from the Auckland Islands, but (like all the other specimens collected there by Mr. Burton at a wrong season of the year) it was in old and faded plumage, with dingy colours. Long afterwards, however, I have had an opportunity of examining a large number of skins in good plumage, collected by Mr. Henry Travers at the Auckland Islands and on Campbell Island during a cruise of the Government gunboat ' Hinemoa.' The examination of this collection satisfied me that Mr. Forbes's " characters" are of very little value. The form and width of the white stripe down the foreneck, the presence or absence of the alar bar, and the dorsal patch of white, are incon- stant features, due apparently to age or season. It will probably be found, when we become * This species was named in honour of the late Kev. W. Colenso F.E.S. Sir Joseph Hooker, in a letter to the Author, dated June 23rd, 1895, referring to this veteran, said: « I am always glad to see Colenso's name brought forward. I wish he could have been persuaded to treat of plants as you have of animals, but such is not his genius. Considering what his early training and duties were. I must always regard his labours, m their way, transcendental ! Had he received an education that trained his mind fco check the eye he would have done wonders as a botanist ; as it is, I can only marvel at the results of his eye-work as a collector and his indefatigable industry, zeal, and self-denial, and I look back on my weeks of personal intercourse, and years of active correspondence with him, as a long episode of New Zealand in my life." 29 better acquainted with the species, that the bird is carunculated at one season of the year and not at another, for all the specimens brought by Mr. Travers (killed in May) are without caruncles on the face. They include adult birds of both sexes, but presenting very different phases of plumage. In three of them there is a slight coronal crest, the feathers being acuminate, and produced beyond the ordinary plumage of the head. In some the alar bar is very conspicuous, occupying the whole of the median wing-coverts, in others it is broken and irregular ; in one of the birds it is wholly absent, whilst in another the only indications of it are a few scattered white feathers among the dark wing-coverts. Of the whole series only one presents the white dorsal spot. The white throat-stripe is very uncertain in character : in some of the specimens it widens gradually from the chin to the breast, whilst in one of them it is narrow and of even width in its whole extent ; in some it is con- stricted in the middle ; and in one of them the dark plumage of the sides of the neck almost meets above the breast, the white stripe being interrupted and broken. Out of the whole lot only one gives the wing-measurement of my type — namely, 10'5 inches. In all the others the wing, from the flexure, measures 11 inches. It will be seen, therefore, that, even in this respect, the species is variable. The fact is that this Shag, like many others, varies with age and season, and the only thing to be done, so far as I can see, is to make the characters of Phalacrocorax colensoi somewhat wider. In a specimen which I have since had an opportunity of examining, the dark plumage actually meets about the fore-neck, there being only a few minute white feathers along the line of junction. There is a single lengthened coronal feather, evidently the vestige of a crest that had recently been shed. There is a broad alar bar of white, but no dorsal spot. This bird, which represents old and faded, or out-of-season, plumage, was obtained by Mr. Henry Travers on a former visit to the Auckland Islands, about the year 1890. A year later I had an opportunity of examining two more specimens (male and female). The male bird of these is without a crest, but has a broad irregular white dorsal patch, and the white alar bar long, narrow, and distinct. The female is also crestless, and exhibits only an indication of a dorsal spot in a few white feathers. The alar bar is very irregular, being represented in the left wing by only a few scattered white feathers. In both birds the white streak on the fore-neck commences within the angle formed by the crura of the lower mandible, and increases rapidly in width downwards towards the breast. These specimens, therefore, go to confirm the conclusions to which I had arrived from an exami- nation of the collection made by Mr. Henry Travers. With regard, however, to another species of Shag, Mr. Forbes has, I think, been more fortunate. He is probably right in considering Phalacrocorax imperialis, with which I had united the Chatham Island Shag, as being confined to the Straits of Magellan, from whence the type came. I am perfectly sure that the Chatham Island bird is distinct from Phala- crocorax cariincidatus of New Zealand, and if it cannot properly be united with P. imperialis it requires a distinctive name; and in providing this Mr. Forbes could not, in my opinion, have made a better selection than he did in dedicating this handsome species to our former Governor. Lord Onslow not only took an active interest in our native birds and their preservation, but he was the first to send to Europe living specimens of Phalacrocorax carunculatus, one of which survived for many years in the Zoological Society's Gardens at Eegent's Park. Mr. Henry Travers, who collected, at several times, a large series of skins of this species, assures me that he never found a crested example. This may have been due to the particular season in which he visited the Auckland Islands. Mr. Youil states that he took careful note of the soft parts. Irides bright red; naked 30 surface of the face dull red ; edges of the upper mandible towards the angle of the mouth and the base of the lower mandible orange-yellow. An undoubted example of P. colensoi purchased from Mr. Youil measured: wing, 11*5 inches; tail, 5*75 inches. Later on, I examined two fine specimens in the Colonial Museum. One of these is un-crested, a female bird, shot by Youil with five or six others (all un-crested) at the Auckland Islands in February. The other (like my two specimens) has an ample crest. It was brought (with mine) in spirits from the Auckland Islands, but when shot I could not determine. It would seem from this that the species is crested at one season and not at another. But these two specimens differ from all of mine in this respect, that the black meets round the neck for the space of an inch or more, leaving a narrow white throat - streak above it. Captain Hutton writes to me of this species: "Found on Stewart Island, as well as on Auckland Islands." He must accordingly have received a specimen from the former locality. I procured a large collection of Shags through Mr. Markland, from Stewart Island, but no example of P. colensoi. Captain Hutton further writes to me : " There are no Shags at the Snares, nor at Antipodes Island." This is a very curious fact, and difficult to account for. Commenting on the origin of the variations (' Animals of New Zealand,' p. 291), the same writer asks : " How did they arrive ? Phalacrocorax carunculatus has lost its crest, P. chal- conotus and P. traversi have lost the white dorsal bar, and P. ranfurlyi has lost caruncles, crest and dorsal bar. The white alar bar was a new character acquired by P. colensoi, and the white dorsal bar another new character, first acquired by P. stewarti. It is impossible to suppose that they were caused by amphimixis, as the blending of the sperm and the ovum could not have produced characters that never existed in any of the ancestors of either parent. Nor can the white bars be attributed to the action of the environment, for it is impossible to connect the origin of white feathers on the wings and back with the weather, or with any of the surrounding objects, especially as in P. chalconotus the changes have been in an opposite direction ; and not only have the white alar bar and dorsal bars been lost, but the whole of the under surface has also turned black." Order PELECANIFORMES.] [Family PHALACROCORACIDJE. PHALACROCORAX HUTTONI. (STEWART-ISLAND SHAG.) Phalacrocorax huttoni, Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 174. Phalacrocorax stewarti, Grant, Cat. Birds, Brit. Mus., vol. xxvi., p. 331. The bird described by me under the above name was evidently an immature example, although, when obtained, it was in moult and changing its plumage, thus leading me to the conclusion that msmmum^BBBm i 31 it was adult. But Mr. Ogilvie Grant's suggestion (' Cat. Birds, B.M.', vol. xxvi., p. 331) that it is the young of P. varius is singularly unfortunate ! * If the compiler of the volume had taken the trouble to refer to my description of the nestling of P. varius (vol. ii., p. 149), he would have seen that, from the earliest condition, the legs and feet of that species (which I have taken from the nest) are black ; and this would have saved him from making so feeble a suggestion. That view, therefore, may be at once dismissed. But of what species is it the young ? In the light of subsequent information, I have no doubt that it is the beautiful crested Shag, described by Mr. Ogilvie Grant, t under the name of P. stewarti from specimens brought home by Baron A. von Hiigel. I need hardly say how pleased I am to find that I have connected Professor Hutton's name with one of the finest members of this interesting group, because the one originally characterised (young and uncrested) was a somewhat dingy looking bird. Through the kindness of Mr. Marklund, I have obtained a fine series of specimens (now in my collection) from Stewart Island, the true home of this species ; and a still larger series which I purchased for the Tring Museum. Mr. Youil was the first, in 1896, to draw my attention to this bird. He had seen a party of six or seven perched together on the trees over-hanging the sea at Stewart Island, and was struck by their amazing shyness. They took alarm and craned their long necks at the slightest noise and commenced flight at twice the distance of shooting range. Soon after this, I saw a party of five on a bare rock in Paterson's Inlet, their white alar bars being very conspicuous. These evinced the same shyness, taking wing long before our boat came within range. I gave them a charge of heavy shot as they passed us, but it had no visible effect . My first specimens of this Shag were received from Marklund in midwinter in 1896 ; one marked "male," the other u sex unknowm." I take them both to be males. The one determined measures as follows: Length, 29 inches; wing, 2 inches; tail, 6 inches; bill, along the ridge, 2'5 ; along edge of lower mandible, 3 ; tarsus, 2'75 ; longest toe and claw, 4'5. The white alar bars are regular in shape and decidedly conspicuous. The dorsal patch of white is very pronounced, measuring 3 inches by 2 inches. The whole of the plumuge is soft and glossy, and both birds have splendid coronal crests ; there are also about half-a-dozen beautiful white filaments — from half-inch to an inch in length — above and behind each eye. Bill blackish brown, changing to dark horn-colour at the tip of both mandibles. Legs fleshy- white, shaded with brown along the outer edge of the foot, also towards the claws and along * Mr. Ogilvie Grant in the ' Catalogue ' (vol. xxvi., p. 331) classes P. Imttoni among the doubtful species ; and he adds : " The type, which was obtained near Dunedin, in January, 1876, and is preserved in the Otago Museum, appears from the description to be an immature specimen of P. varius. " Perhaps Mr. Ogilvie Grant will indicate some other species of Shag in which the feet change from " orange-yellow " in the young to black in the adult ! t The species is thus distinguished in the 'Catalogue' of the British Museum : "Adult in breeding plumage. Much like P. onslowi in plumage, but the neck is somewhat greener ; a well-developed crest, white alar bar, and dorsal patch are present, but there is no trace of nasal ivattles, the lores being thinly feathered ; behind and above the eye a thin patch of white hair-like feathers. Tail composed of twelve feathers. Eyelid light blue ; naked skin on lores and sides of face very dark blue; a row of small red warts between the culmen and the eye; naked skin at base of lower mandible and gular pouch arterial red. Total length about 29 inches ; culmen from feathers on forehead to tip 2-4 ; depth of cutting edge, 0-35 ; wing, 11-6-11-7 ; tail, 5-1-5-3 ; tarsus, 2-8 ; innermost toe and claw, 4*3. Although the bill is nearly as long as that of P. carunculatus, it is not nearly so stout. " Adult in non-breeding plumage. — Similar to the above, but without a crest. " Immature. — Very similar to the immature of P. onslowi. In a bird apparently changing to the adult plumage the white alar bar is strongly developed. Hab. — " Stewart Island and South Island of New Zealand." 32 the outer edge of the mterdigital web. The undetermined bird has the right foot shot-torn — the result of an old wound. This beautiful Shag inhabits the Southern portion of New Zealand. A few specimens have been obtained on the sea-shore near Port Chalmers, and some of these are in the Otago Museum.* But the collector must not expect to meet with the species till he reaches Foveaux Strait ; and even there it is very scarce. Its true home seems to be the estuaries and inlets of the sea that diversify the coast of Stewart Island. It was there I first met with it, and from that locality I afterwards obtained through Mr. Marklund some twenty fine specimens in various phases of plumage. It associates closely with Plalacrocorax chalconotus, occupies the same breeding colonies, and I suspect, often crosses with that species, for nry collection contains several specimens in what looks like an intermediate plumage ; so much so that for a time I had a strong suspicion that these birds would prove to belong to one and the same species. I am not absolutely clear about it yet, although my collector is very certain that they are distinct. The specimens of this species in my collection, and of P. chalconotus, as well as the birds in what appears to be transitional plumage, are all beautifully crested. Both male and female are crested in this adult state. The un-crested birds are, I assume, birds of the second year. An example of P. chalconotus which I sent to Canon Tristram had a very imperfect crest. I took the following notes from a comparatively fresh specimen : Along the forehead, from the base of the upper mandible, a row of minute arterial red papillae ; hides, light brown ; bare orbits, bright cobalt ; bare membrane on face dark blue, mixed with red towards the rami of the lower jaw ; gular sac arterial red ; bill greyish slate colour. I received from Stewart Island in the depth of winter Shags with ample crests, from which I inferred that they were crested all the year round; but, writing to me on September 9th, Marklund says: "I notice the Shags are losing their crests; but I have not been able to get out to their 'rookery' yet, on account of the heavy sea which has been running for the last fourteen days." On January 13th he writes : "The Shags have not yet regained their crests." I have before me, as I write, eight specimens (all from Stewart Island) from which I take the following notes : — ■ (1) Adult (male ?). Has a plentiful crest and a large and conspicuous alar bar of white ; no dorsal spot. (2) Adult male. Has a magnificent crest and an abnormal spread of white on the wings, with white overlapping feathers from the upper breast at the humeral flexure ; very large dorsal patch of white, being three inches across and one inch and a-half deep. (3) Adult female. Has a splendid crest and great spread of white on the wings ; broad patch of white on the back. (4) Adult ( ? ?). Handsomely crested; large alar bar; extensive dorsal patch, almost covering middle of the back. (5) Adult ( $ ). Fairly well crested; above and beyond each eye some fine white filaments, about half an inch in length ; conspicuous alar bar ; extensive dorsal patch. (6) Adult ( $ ?). Fairly well crested ; distinct alar bar, but no dorsal patch. (7) Adult (' the toes. GANNETS ON THEIR NESTING-GROUND. Captain Waller, of the ' Anglian,' tells me that in muggy weather he always finds the Gannet on the wing an infallible sign that he is nearing the Three Kings. On one occa- sion, however, he saw three of them when upwards of two hundred miles from land, and the occurrence was so unusual that he made an entry of it in his log. Eespecting a closely allied species (Sula capensis), I find the following entry in my diary for 1894 :— 49 February 16th. — As we approach the Cape bird-life is in evidence again. Shags and Petrels and Boobies are plentiful, and an astonishing number of Gannets. Of the latter I counted one hundred in less than twenty minutes, all proceeding northward, going with the wind and flying high. I observed about half- a-dozen going in an opposite direction and against the wind, and these kept very near to the surface, where, owing to the waves, the resistance would be less felt. As we reached Table Bay, about 9 p.m., a perfect storm came over the mountain, and we had to cast anchor in the offing and wait for it to abate. Was it the instinctive knowledge of the approaching gale that made all the Gannets hurry northward for shelter in the afternoon ? On Wednesday night the whole sea was aflame with phosphoric light ; last night and to-night it was black as ink. This may be due to sudden changes of temperature in the water. For the foregoing photograph of Gannets nesting on the slope of a cliff at Cape Kidnappers I am indebted to Messrs. A. E. W. Lascelles and D. Hamilton. Order PELECANIFORMES.l [Family SULID^. SULA CYANOPS. Dysporus cyanops (Sundevall), Cheeseman, Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxiii., p. 293. Through the kind services of Mr. Cheeseman I have received some fine specimens (of both sexes) from the Kermadec Islands. Mr. J. C. McLean writes ('Ibis,' 1892, vol. iv., 6th ser., p. 254):— In the last volume of the 'Transactions of the New Zealand Institute' (vol. xxiii., p. 223), Mr. Cheeseman states that in Norfolk Island Sula cyanops lays two eggs in the nest, while in the Kermadec Islands it lays only one. Again, Mr. North says ('Desc. Cat.,' p. 363) that 'in Australia the nest of Dysporus serrator usually contains two eggs. Now, in New Zealand, one egg is the usual number laid, and in a breeding-station that I have visited in four different years I have never seen more than one egg in each nest.' [That also is my experience.] Mr. North, in his interesting account of the birds inhabiting Lord Howe Island, writes : — The Masked Gannet was found breeding from September to December ; little or no attempt is made at forming a nest, the eggs, two in number, usually being deposited on the bare ground ; when newly laid, they are of a pale greenish- white colour, which in most instances is covered with a thick coating of lime ; after being sat upon for a few days, the eggs become soiled and assume a dirty-brown hue. In form they vary from short to long ovals. S. cyanops is very stupid, sluggish, and easily captured, for, when climbing the steep sides of the islet, they may be literally walked over before any attempt is made on their part to waddle off. The egg, of which we obtained a few, is white, notwithstanding Gould's statement to the contrary, that it is stained red. (Described by Eamsay, loc. cit., p. 679.) The eggs are simply laid between tussocks of grass. In Gould's figure the legs and feet are represented as of a peculiar green, and the iris of the eye yellow. Every example collected by us, on the other hand, had these portions of the body black. Gould's representation is far from a good one. Vol. ii. — 7 Order PELECANIFORMES.] [Family SULUXE. SULA SULA. (BEOWN GANNET.) Sula fusca (Vieillot), Hamilton, Trans. N. Z. Inst., yoL xxi., p. 128 (1888). A New Zealand killed specimen of this well-known species was recorded by Mr. A. Hamilton in July, 1888. It was snot in the Harbour of Napier, and is still preserved in a local collection there. As Mr. Hamilton remarked in his article, the notable part of this matter was not the stranger's visit, but that the species had not been recorded before in New Zealand, seeing that it has been met with in nearly all the temperate regions of the globe. Mr. M. J. Nicoll, in writing of this bird on St. Paul's Rocks, just under the Equator, says ('Ibis,' 1904, p. 37):— " This Booby was certainly the most abundant bird on the islands. Its two eggs were laid on the bare rock, and were in every case surrounded by dead and decomposing Flying- fish. On Booby Hill it was impossible to walk without touching the birds. The half- grown young were far more spiteful than the adults, and several of them chased us down the hill, biting at our legs." Order PELECANIFORMES.] [Family FREGATID^. FEEGATA AQUILA. (GREAT FRIGATE-BIRD.) Tachypetes aquila (Linn.), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 182. The fine male bird already mentioned by me as having been obtained at Castle Point in February, 1863 (vol. ii., p. 185), is with my original collection in the Colonial Museum at Wellington ; and in the same gallery there is a locally-mounted specimen of the female, the history of which I have been unable to ascertain. In May, 1901, I received from the late Captain Fairchild a male, in beautiful plumage, that had struck itself against the lantern at the Cape Farewell Lighthouse on the night of the 15th April, and been picked up in an uninjured state. It was kept alive by the lighthouse- keeper for a few days, but could not be induced to eat anything. It was then killed and converted into a very presentable specimen. This " vulture of the sea " has a tropical range, and is comparatively abundant in the Fiji Islands. Whilst staying with my friend, Captain Langdale, at Wakaya, I had frequent opportunities of observing it soaring overhead, singly or in pairs, its beautiful white throat gleaming in the sunlight, and its long forked tail being alternately opened and closed like a pair of shears. It has marvellous powers of flight, and when soaring there is scarcely any 51 visible movement of the wings, but there is a rapid movement of the head, first to one side, then to the other. When in pursuit of its victims, to compel them to disgorge, the whole character of the bird is changed ; but I had no opportunity of witnessing this, the sea being too calm for fishing. Captain Langdale informed me that a few days before my visit he shot one with his rifle at a considerable altitude, and it came down with a crash on the roof of his house. The last instance of its occurrence in New Zealand is recorded in a letter to myself, from Mr. William Townson, of Westport, dated 5th May, 1903, in which he says: "A male Tachypetes aquila was procured on the sea-beach some time back, and came into my possession shortly after it had been killed; it was in fine order, and makes a valuable addition to my collection." The Kev. S. J. Whitmee states that on the Ellice Islands this bird is domesticated by the natives. When he was in those islands in 1870 he saw scores of them about the villages sitting on long perches erected for them near the beach. The natives procure the young birds, and tie them by the leg and feed them till they are tame. Afterwards they let them loose, and they go out to sea to get their food, and return to their perches in the villages at intervals. Mr. Hedley did not see any tame Frigate Birds at Funafuti, but on Nukulailai, on August 2nd, 1896, he saw one, unattached, on a tall perch in front of the teacher's house. The utilisation of this bird as a message carrier between the scattered atolls of the Ellice Group is thus described by the Eev. George Turner* : — When I visited the group in 1876, I found that the Samoan native pastors on four of the islands were in the habit of corresponding by means of carrier Frigate Birds. While I was in the pastor's house on Funafuti on a Sunday afternoon, a bird arrived with a note from another pastor on Nukufetau, sixty miles distant. It was a foolscap 8vo leaf, dated on the Friday, done up inside a light piece of reed, plugged with a bit of cloth, and attached to the wing of the bird. In former times the natives sent pearl-shell fish-hooks by Frigate Birds from island to island. I observed they had them as pets on perches at a number of islands in this ' Ellice Group,' fed them on fish, and when there was a favourable wind, the creatures had an instinctive curiosity to go and visit another island, where on looking down they saw a perch, and hence our Samoan pastors, when they were located there, found an ocean postal service all ready to their hand ! This statement is confirmed by Mr. C. M. Woodford, who visited the Gilbert Group in 1884, but the Hon. C. B. Swayne, late H.B.M.'s Besident at the Gilbert and Ellice Groups, writes: ' I could never find that the Frigate Bird was used to carry messages between different islands. The old men always laughed at the idea.' Mr. Moseley found the Frigate Bird nesting on guano-covered plateaus on Ascension Island, depositing their eggs in the natural hollows. These and the other birds there allowed themselves, on a first visit, to be knocked over with sticks on their nests, but they soon gained experience, and took to flight on being alarmed or molested. The Frigate Birds were on the look-out whenever the Gannets were interfered with, and snatched the small fish which they disgorged on these occasions. Mr. Moseley remarks that it was striking to find breeding there, in the middle of the Atlantic on the top of a steep volcanic rock, the same assemblage of birds — the Wide- awake Tern, the Frigate Bird, the White Noddy, the Tropic Bird, and Sulci cyanops — as had been met with breeding together on a coral island at sea-level off the north-west coast of Australia, Baine Island. * ' Samoa a Hundred Years ago and Long before.' — Turner, 1884, p. 282. 52 I find the following entry in my diary for 1893 :- 26th March.— We found ourselves early this morning in the spacious and picturesque harbour of Rio. A string of Black Shags passed us as we were approaching our anchorage, and one or two laro- e Gulls were hovering in the harbour, whilst high overhead birds called l Kites ' by the residents, but in reality the great Frigate Bird {Tachypetes aquila), were soaring about. On landing, I was astonished to see seven or eight of these ' vultures of the sea ' disporting themselves in the air inside the quay, and within easy stone's-throw of the people who were crowding the thoroughfare. They were apparently intent on floating garbage, and it was most interesting to watch their rapid evolutions on strong pinions, sometimes hovering with slow flappings of the wings, the head being turned first to one side* then to the other, often wheeling suddenly down, with their forked tails quickly opened, to within a few yards of the bystanders, their crimson and yellow pouches being plainly visible as they came near to us. Oeder PELECANIFOBMES.] [Family FBEGATIDJE. FREGATA ARIEL. (SMALL FEIGATE-BIED.) Tachypetes minor (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 185. The example taken on the Wakapuaka Coast in 1861, and still preserved in the Nelson Museum, is, so far as I know, the only instance of the occurrence of this species in New Zealand. This bird is placed with Fr eg ata aquila in the 'Catalogue of Birds,' but my identification of the species was confirmed by Dr. Finsch ('J. f. 0.,' 1874, pp. 174-216). Since that date, however, Dr. Finsch has come to the conclusion that this species cannot be separated from F. aquila* This smaller form of Frigate-bird is rather plentiful in Torres Straits. Fregata ariel is generally confined to the eastern seas, from Madagascar to the Moluccas, and southward to Australia, whilst the larger species (F. aquila) has a range all round the world within the tropics, and, as we have seen, occasionally passes those limits. * Messrs. Eothschild and Hartert, in their valuable notes on the fauna of the Galapagos Islands (< Nov. Zool.,' vol. xi., pp. 373-418), write :-" Dr. Finsch, in a very interesting popular article in the Ornithologische Monatsschrift, 1900, p. 452, declares that his studies have convinced him that there is only one species of Fregata; but he is entirely mistaken. Either he did not see the difference, or the museum in which he made his studies had no specimens of the small form." Order PELECANIFORMES.l [Family PHAETHONIDiE. PHAETHON RTTBRICAUDA. (RED-TAILED TROPIC BIRD.) Phaethon rubricauda, Bodd. ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 186. Since the publication of my work numerous specimens have been brought from the Kermadec Islands, which have been politically and geographically added to New Zealand during the last decade. One of the specimens in my collection (an adult male apparently) is remarkable on account of the lovely salmon tint which pervades the plumage. I have mentioned (2nd edition, vol. ii., p. 187) the value placed on the red tail-feathers by the Maoris. On my first visit to Tawhiao, the " Maori King," I took with me twenty of these Amokura feathers. They were accepted as a truly royal gift ! Mr. Cheeseman records, on the authority of Mr. Bell, that this species breeds regularly on Sunday Island, one of the Kermadec group, arriving in October and remaining until the close of summer. Mr. Cheeseman received from his informant skins and eggs of this bird, proving that his identification of the species was correct. Mr. Etheridge, writing of the birds of Lord Howe Island, says : ' We observed the Bed- tailed Tropic Bird on the west side of Mount Ladybird, and on the seaward precipitous face of the North Bidge. It is a remarkably shy and difficult bird to obtain." I saw a fine series of specimens in the Honolulu Museum. The curator assured me that the young birds are very vicious, whereas the adult ones are so gentle that you may pull out their long tail-feathers, whilst they are sitting on the nest, and they merely utter a "squak" by way of protest. I remember the Earl of Pembroke, in his South-Sea narrative, telling the same story. Colonel Floyd, who visited the Island of Mauritius in 1842, has described, from his own observations, the manner in which the Tropic Bird uses the two long, slender tail- feathers as a rudder by which to steer in a storm. (' Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc.,' Mauritius, 1842-45.) Order PELECANIFORMES.] [Family PELECANID.2E. PELECANU8 CONSPI CILL ATTJS. Pelecanus conspicillatus, Temm ; Buller, Trans. N. Z. Inst., vol. xxv., p. 61. I have in my possession the head and neck of an Australian Pelican which was shot by the Maoris, on the Wanganui Eiver bank, about a mile above Hiruharama. This was in 1890. The bird was first observed in the early morning, and, being entirely strange to 54 ) them, the Maoris brought the head and neck to Wanganui (in the flesh) for identification, but unfortunately left the body, which was soon devoured by the pigs. The head and neck, carefully skinned by Mr. Drew, the curator of the Museum, came into my possession some years later; and this specimen (although fragmentary) is interesting as demonstrating the actual occurrence of this noble species in New Zealand, and entitling it to a place in our list. The whole of the plumage on the preserved parts is creamy white, most of the feathers having paler tips. The bill measures : from base of forehead to end of hook, 17'5 in. ; along the edge of lower mandible, 18*25 in. ; greatest width (at base) 2' 75 in. ; width of middle portion, 1*5 in. Its present colour (dried) is yellowish-horn, shaded with dusky brown towards the tip of upper, and in the outer half of, lower mandible (probably blue in life) ; hook, at the extremity, lemon yellow. A bare space, half an inch wide, in front of and below the eyes. The pouch is, unfortunately, absent. Of this fine species Mr. Gould writes : "It is abundant in all the rivers and inlets of the sea, both in Tasmania and on the Continent of Australia. I shot specimens on Green Island, in D'Entrecasteaux Channel, and I also met with it in abundance in South Port River. Owing to the advance of colonisation it had become scarce in the Derwent and Tamar when I visited Tasmania, but it may still breed on the small group called Stanners Bay Islands, lying off the south-western land of Flinders Island, in Bass's Strait." Order ACCIPITEIFOEMES.l [Family FALCONDm CIRCUS GOULDI (GOULD'S HAEEIEE.) Circus gouldi, Bonap. ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 206. Although the Bush Hawk has almost entirely disappeared from all the settled districts, the Harrier maintains its ground, and is extremely abundant on some of the sheep- runs. Indeed, this species appears to be steadily increasing, notwithstanding the numbers that are annually and, as I think, very unwisely, destroyed by sheep-farmers. One reason for this, no doubt, is that they are not preyed upon by the introduced pests. On the contrary, they do not hesitate to attack stoats and ferrets when they have the chance. Judge Grill told me of a combat which he witnessed between a Harrier and a stoat, in which the latter was eventually killed, although the Hawk found it too heavy to carry away with him. In his ' History of Mankind ' Batzel tells us that, with the Kaffirs, " he who kills a Hawk must be put to death." This would no doubt be too drastic a punishment ; but our sapient legislators would do well to protect this useful bird by enacting a penalty of some sort for its wilful destruction, as indeed one of the acclimatisation societies in the South Island has already had the prescience to do. I am of opinion that the Harrier has done more towards suppressing the rabbit nuisance in New Zealand than all the bloodthirsty carnivora, such as weasels, stoats and ferrets, introduced by the Government, put together. Such birds should be protected in every way and not be poisoned or shot, as is done in many parts of the country, from a mistaken notion that they are the enemies of the sheep, That the Harrier does occasionally, under press of hunger, kill and devour a newly-born or --: :;:;/>—-_//- v__ 55 sickly lamb cannot be denied, but in these matters it is well to strike a balance and to ascertain whether the services of this raptor to the farming interest in other directions are not cheaply purchased at such a little sacrifice as the occasional loss of a weakly lamb. Those who rashly interfere with the balance of Nature — and the killing off of Hawks is such an interference — are bound to have cause to regret it in the long run. It is just as unreasonable as a general crusade against that useful bird, the Morepork, because it has been convicted occasionally of killing a pet canary in its cage. In its progress towards maturity the Harrier passes through several phases of plumage and is sometimes very beautifully marked. At Papaitonga I shot an adult male which was molesting my Teneriffe Quail. It was in excellent plumage, with a very distinct white frill on the lower part of the throat, and having the under-parts of the body tawny-white, stained with fulvous, and marked with broad longitudinal streaks of dark-brown, resembling somewhat a Buzzard on the under-surface ; lining of the wings white, with narrow longitudinal streaks of brown; the axillary plumes pure white, with broad transverse bars of rich umber- brown ; and the superior under wing-coverts crossed by numerous arrow-head patches of the same ; the inner webs of the quills pale cream-colour ; and the upper wing-coverts marked with a spot of rufous, more or less distinct, near the tip. Irides pale-yellow, and of sparkling brilliancy ; legs rich lemon-yellow, brightest on the toes ; claws black. These Hawks are in the habit of hunting along the shores of the lake, and are a perpetual terror to the young ducks. They are destructive also to the eggs of birds nesting in the sedge, on one occasion no less than fifteen eggs being taken from a Goose's nest. They are bold enough, too, in their manner of attack. One day I saw three or four large Sea-shags (PJialacrocorax novce-hollandice) perched on the naked branches of a lofty matai near the edge of the lake, looking very fine as they balanced their bodies against the blue sky beyond. Presently a Harrier appeared in sight, and, without a moment's hesitation, swooped down on the group of Shags, and they, much to my surprise, instead of showing fight, made precipitately for the water. On another occasion one of these Hawks made a determined attack on a flock of Black Wigeon (Fuligula novce-zealanclice) well out on the lake. The ducks splashed and dived, and evinced every sign of terror, and the assailant kept up the pursuit for fully half an hour, but without effect. It is well known that the Harrier preys on eels, and surprise is sometimes expressed at this; but those who know anything of the habits of the eel are aware that they constantly come out of the rivers and ponds, generally at night, when they pass from one feeding ground to another, but often likewise in the early morning when there has been a heavy dew, and the ground and herbage are damp. It is on these occasions that the ever-vigilant Harrier adds this dainty to his ordinary bill of fare. I was informed by the late Mr. Eobson that, when staying at a run-holder's house in the Hawke's Bay district, he frequently saw a cat belonging to the household bringing in large eels; and, his curiosity being aroused, he, on several occasions, followed the cat and found it watching for its prey beside a deep pond which was known to be full of eels. The cat had discovered the roving propensities of these animals and, for want of more exciting occupation, had developed the character of an eel- catcher. A beautiful specimen of the extremely aged, white-plum aged Hawk (not an albino) from Papaitonga is now in my collection. My son sent me the following interesting account of the manner in which the bird was secured: — November 7th, 1895.— A sheep was killed yesterday, and deposited near the entrance to ' Te- kaari-a-Maui.' A little after daybreak this morning a native, who was out on the lake ' eeling,' saw I ■ 56 the bird descend upon the bait, but he took himself off again before I was informed. About noon there was a cry of 'The "White Hawk,' and, sure enough, there he was sailing over the lake towards his dejeuner. But, at this moment, another Hawk, evidently on the same errand, arrived and, seeing each other, they veered away in another direction, apparently with the object of giving each other the slip. A few minutes later they both returned, only to come face to face, when there was a 'regular set-to' in mid-air, right across the lake, the "White Hawk completely routing his younger rival. Presently the former swooped down where we knew the bait to be. I rushed up to the house for my gun, and when I came out I found a party of ten or twelve Maoris squatted on the slope intently watching, and of course backing the wily Hawk. When within forty yards he heard me and was up like lightning; but he was too late, and a minute afterwards the handsome bird was in my hands. Having been killed with quail-shot the specimen was quite uninjured. From my son's account of the encounter in the air he witnessed above the placid waters of Papaitonga, I concluded that his "White Hawk" was a male, and so it proved on dissection, the testes being very conspicuous. The bird in this hoary condition of plumage is distinguished by these Maoris as " Kahu korako." But the White Hawk of Maori traditions, called " Matakirea," was apparently an albino. Such an example came into my hands shortly before I left the Colony. It had been caught, uninjured, in a rat-trap in the Christchurch district, and I purchased it alive through the kind offices of Professor Hutton, to whom it had been offered for sale to the Museum, but at too high a price. In this bird the entire plumage is snow-white, except that on the upper surface there are a few scattered brown feathers on the shoulders, two among the small coverts of the right wing, and one or two partially brown feathers among the scapulars ; also, on the under-surface, one of the axillary plumes, one of the under- coverts of the left wing, and a single feather on the left thigh are brown, and there is a wash of fulvous on the abdomen. The tail, however, is of the normal colour, but one of the feathers is white on its inner vane. With these trifling exceptions, the entire plumage is snow-white, presenting a very striking appearance. On dissection it proved to be a female, and its golden irides showed that it w r as an adult bird. It must have been such a bird as this which the old tohunga had in his mind when he narrated to Sir George G-rey, "on the rocky edge of a hot spring shaded by pohutukawa- trees," on the Island of Mokoia, the story of Hinemoa, the maiden of Eotorua : — She rose up in the water As beautiful as the wild White Hawk, And stepped on the edge of the bath As graceful as the shy White Crane. At Papaitonga, also, my son saw one with a perfectly white head, but it was very shy, and he was unable to shoot it. I have noticed that this species hovers and hunts in the rain, without any inconvenience, occasionally shaking its wet plumage. The old birds are very wary. On one occasion at Papaitonga, finding that these Hawks were molesting my Sea-gulls, I shot a cat and set it as a bait. The old Hawk then in the vicinity soon espied it, but he was very shy, and evidently suspected treachery. When satisfied as to its nature by making a wide circuit overhead, he betook himself to the top of a tree-fern hard by, and remained there fully half-an-hour keeping a strict look-out. Then he swooped down upon the carrion, but on finding himself stalked he took himself off and did not return till the following morning, when I shot him and obtained a fine male specimen in full plumage. My son called my attention to a singular fact at Papaitonga. He had observed that EEiBShoBBmhb 57 t» after sundown all the Hawks that fly over the lake go westward. He says that this habit is invariable. Why is this ? Is it that the birds prefer to roost under the high grass tussocks on the sand-hills ? At Dunedin I obtained a very beautiful adult female of this species in which the neck all round was striated with rufous, each feather being edged with that colour on both sides, whilst patches of rich rufous appeared on the bend of each wing and on the upper coverts. Opposed as I am on principle to the killing of Hawks, because, as I have explained, of its tendency to disturb the balance of nature, I confess I was compelled to wage war against the Harriers at Papaitonga in order to put a stop to the perpetual molestation of my introduced birds, which, from their inexperience, were completely at the mercy of these marauders. By setting a bait — a dead lamb or some other similar object — I decoyed the Hawks into a little hollow near the lake and shot them as they rose, thus securing a fine series, of all ages, for my collection. Mr. Eobert Wilson writes to me from Bull's that, at the beginning of September, he met with young Harriers in a cliff near the river. Nestling.— Covered with thick cottony down of a dark cream-colour; the quills and tail feathers are the first to sprout, and then the plumage begins to appear on the back. Mr. Jennings showed me two downy nestlings which he took from the nest at the Three Kings Islands. One of these had bright yellow irides, whilst in the other they were, as usual, black. Professor Newton writes to me (October 31st, 1900) that in a collection of fifty birds made by the late Mr. Wiglesworth in the Fiji Islands, and presented by his representatives to the Cambridge Museum, there is " only one of a species not before known from the islands— that is Circus wolfi, which might well be expected to occur there." * This, therefore, is the Fijian form and not G. gouldi, as we have hitherto supposed. On the wing, or on a distant view, the two species are not distinguishable. HEAD OP QUAIL-HAWK. (See next page.) * Writing on the birds found on Lord Howe Island, Mr. Etheridge says: "The existence of a Hawk, Circus wolfi, was determined. It frequents the North Eidge, usually in the vicinity of Mount Eliza, soaring high, and carefully keeping out of reach. The bird, however, has at times, after the manner of its kind, been known to visit the poultry-yards, and it is said to play great havoc with the wild birds." Vol. ii. — 8 Order ACCIPITRIFOBMES.l [Family FALCONIDiE. NESIERAX NOTJ-ZEALANDIiE. (QUAIL-HAWK.) Harpa* Novse-zealandiae (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 213. This is becoming one of our rarest species, which is difficult to account for, seeing that the zeal of our acclimatisation societies has added so much to its bill of fare by the introduction of Sparrows and numerous other small birds. As an illustration of this, I may mention that on one occasion I was riding with a Maori youth from Ohau to Manakau when a Quail- Hawk new across the road. My companion asked what it was, never having seen one before, although he had lived in the district all his life. The last comparative examination I made, with thirty specimens before me, confirmed me in my previous view that the Quail-Hawk and Bush-Hawk although closely resembling each other, ought to be kept distinct. Mr. Jennings is disinclined to recognise two species, on the ground that all the small birds he has dissected were males ; but he exhibits in his collection (as a $ by dissection) a bird quite as large as ordinary examples of the Quail-Hawk, f One of his female specimens of Nesierax australis (in transitional plumage) is beautifully marked with rounded spots on the breast. During a trip from the Bealey to the Canterbury plains, in 1899, the only bird I saw from the box of the coach was a male Quail-Hawk at Castle Hill. Curiously enough, this was the spot from which the finest female Quail-Hawk in my collection was obtained some thirty years before. The species, however, is now becoming very rare, and will soon disappear altogether. I possess a fine specimen brought by the carpenter of the ' Hinemoa ' from the Auckland Islands, having been shot by himself ; and Captain Hutton writes to me : "I have just got a specimen of Harpa novce-zealandice from the Auckland Islands, also a Parrakeet {Novce-zealandicB group) and a Lark from the Antipodes." The egg of this species is a very pretty object. I have now four specimens before me. They are of uniform size, and broadly ovoido-conical, measuring 2 in. by 1'4 in.; pale-brown, richly splashed and spotted over the entire surface with reddish-brown, especially at the larger end, where there is a mixture of blackish-brown with the brighter colour. * Our New Zealand Falcons have been generally placed by authors (as by Dr. Sharpe, in his ' Handlist of Birds') in the genus Harpa, but, as Captain Hutton has pointed out, that name is preoccupied by Lacepede for a well-known genus of shells, and I have accordingly been asked to invent a new generic name for the New Zealand birds, or else to fall back upon Hypotriorchis , Boie, or Hieracidea, Gould. As our New Zealand Hawks cannot be said to belong to either of these genera, I am glad to adopt the name of Nesierax (Oberh., ' Proc. Philad. Acad.,' 1899, p. 203), as suggested to me by Dr. Sharpe himself. t A pair of birds carefully sexed by Mr. Jennings gave the following comparative measurements : — Extreme length Wing from flexure ... Tail Tarsus (which is far more robust in the $ than in the $ ) Middle toe and claw Hind toe and claw _ I _:. ._ Jl** - 115 sign of animation was the solitary Tomtit flitting from one side of the road to the other, ever and anon perching on the upright boles of the trees, exhibiting its finely contrasted colours, and uttering at intervals its melodious note, from which it takes its native name of Ngiru-ngiru. In this " sylvan paradise," on which the eye of the traveller never ceases to feast, the tree-ferns are a perfect study. The commonest species here is Dicksonia squarrosa. There are, without exaggeration, millions of them skirting the road over which the daily coach passes. At one of the roadside diggings I saw one growing out of an abandoned shaft, its crown just fitting the treacherous opening. Cyathea smithii, a species very sporadic in its distribution, is also very abundant here. At Woodstock, at the entrance to the valley, a settler had fenced in his quarter-acre holding with the trunks of Cyathea antarctica, placed close together, and these had sent up shapely crowns, forming a picturesque and really beautiful fringe to his little domain. Lower down the valley I noticed, at one place, that a number of Cyathea smithii had been cut down and their trunks utilised as a boundary fence by being stuck in the ground in a close line. They also had sent up new fronds forming a live fence of unusual beauty. At intervals I saw many of these tree-ferns intermixed with Cyathea antarctica, their crowns, both as to shape and droop, being very similar in the younger state, except that the fronds of the former were more arched and feathery. On close inspection, however, they are very easily distinguished by their central stems, those of C. antarctica being of uniform thickness — straight and narrow and built up, as it were, of basal stalks of growths that had been shed — those of C. smithii massive, often pyramidal or swelling towards the base, and composed of woody fibres closely matted together. It will be observed that the fronds of this species get narrower with age, the mature tree forming a very graceful object. Even in the young state, however, the spreading fronds, as seen just overtopping the roadside vegetation, are particularly regular and symmetrical. In one locality I saw a splendid display of Cyathea smithii — probably a hundred or more scattered about in an old clearing — fine, stately trees with perfect crowns, their stems densely clothed with withered fronds, hanging round them like the folds of a skirt, and presenting a very distinctive appearance. At the time of my visit the whole bush was ablaze with the scarlet flowers of the climbing tawhihi, or Metrosideros, large bunches of which clung to the boles of the trees and sometimes enveloped them from top to bottom. To illustrate the beauty of this characteristic vegetation, I introduce a photograph taken at random on this road. (See p. 116.) The young bird, like the adult, has a pronounced yellow tinge on the breast. The young has the same piping note as the adult, but much weaker. At Stewart Island I saw an albino, but failed to get it, although I made every effort. Mr. W. W. Smith writes ('Ibis,' 1893, p. 510): "In the month of January, when the family cares are over for the season, many adults and young leave their island bush haunts, and disperse over the plains, visiting the gardens and the plantations of the settlers. They remain about farmhouses and are common in the vicinity of towns till the month of August, when they again return to the bush to pair and breed. The migratory habit is due to the presence of more food in the settled districts than in the vicinity of the bush." In the 'Journal of Science ' for January, 1883, Mr. W. E. Barker, of Waikonini, Eangitata, records the occurrence of two nests of this little bird in a remarkable locality. They were placed in the holes of a black-pine post which had formerly been used as a slip- panel. The upper one was either deserted or not quite finished; that in the lower hole had two young ones in it. Both nests were neatly made just to fit close to the sides of the slot-holes in the post, and well back. Outwardly they were made of small chips of wood, short grass, roots and moss, while the inside was lined with moss and a mass of feathers of the DOC ■ ,'C?> 1 H ■ — :>-. C^"<* ^H J^&O ^H Ly^CJ^J" Ifffll^ ► ■ ■ H *j^f -^-^^' 116 common fowl, together with a few Parrakeet feathers. The young birds had not got their eyes open, and the mother fed them fearlessly, even in the presence of persons standing a few yards off. There is a somewhat remarkable nest of this species, from Freshwater Basin, Milford Sound, in the Colonial Museum. It is a very massive structure, and of the shape of a horse's hoof, but very much longer, measuring about 8 in. in depth, and tapering to the apex, which m ■ ■ H BUSH VIEW IN THE BULLEK VALLEY. is about 4J in. across, with a deep circular cup. The nest is composed of dry mosses, rootlets, and minute vegetable twigs, all compactly welded together and exhibiting a marvellous amount of industry in so tiny a builder. The rim of the cup is lined with a few grass bents, and the interior is formed of soft vegetable materials, apparently gathered from the ground, such as the seed-pods of mosses, &c. A nest from the Chatham Islands, ascribed to this species, is of the same type as that described above, but appreciably smaller, composed of dry mosses, leaves, small twigs, and vegetable fibres, all felted well together. It has a neat round cup, about T5 in. deep, carefully lined with fern, hair and dry moss. ■ jh • sW v-'^^VSAIW »| Order PASSERIFORMES.l [Family MUSCICAPIDiE. PETE, (EC A V ITT AT A. (DUSKY ROBIN.) Muscicapa vittata, Quoy et G-aim.; Yoy. de l'Astrolabe, pi. 3, fig. 2. The ' Transactions ' of the N.Z. Institute contain a record (vol. xxiv., p. 710) that at a meeting of the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, held on October 1st, 1891, Professor Hutton exhibited the skin of a Flycatcher which had been sent to him by Mr. Joshua Eutland, of Pelorus Valley, with the statement that it had been shot on a fruit tree at Kenepuru, near the foot of Mount Stolus, by Mr. J. McMahon. At the request of Mr. Eutland the skin had been given to the Canterbury Museum, where it is still preserved. Professor Hutton expressed his belief that the bird was identical with the English Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa grisold) ; adding that he was not aware that any of these birds had been turned out in New Zealand, and that it was not a specimen likely to be introduced. Of course, the evidence would have been more complete if the bird had been delivered to the Museum in a fresh condition, for we all know how liable mistakes are apt to occur with dried skins, so much depending on individual memory. I think it is extremely unlikely that this English species would ever occur wild in New Zealand, for the natural habitat of this bird is Europe in summer, extending in winter to Southern Africa and North-western India. Assuming that this example was obtained at Kenepuru, as alleged, I think it far more likely to be a straggler of the well-known Australian species (P. vittata), which bears a general resemblance to the English bird. I have accordingly placed it, provisionally, under that head. This species is abundantly distributed all over Tasmania, and has likewise been recorded from Victoria and South Australia. PSEU DOCxEHYOxONE F L A V I VENT EI S . (GREY WARBLER.) Gerygone flaviventris, Gray ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i. p. 44. I always associate this little bird in my mind with the finding of a dead one, more than forty years ago, at the foot of an aged kauri tree — one that had probably seen eight hundred years or more — and a tiny creature, indeed, it seemed beside the monarch of the forest. The circumstance is impressed upon my recollection because it is so unusual to find the bodies of birds that have died from natural causes. This is an observation that has been made by naturalists all over the world, as to mammals as well as birds. It is due, 118 no doubt, to a natural inclination to hide themselves away when the mortal agony comes on. As Professor Macgillivray has remarked, even the poor wounded Seagull seeks some quiet retreat where it may pass the time of its anguish in peace and forgetfulness of the outer world. In the Colonial Museum there is a nest of the Grey Warbler, with a large round opening high up on the side, and exhibiting an overhanging porch-like roof. I have noticed that this bird even in winter — indeed, all the year round — consorts habitually in pairs. Mr. Ogilvie Grant, who recognises Pseudogerygone igata as a good species, and denies specific rank to Pseudogerygone sylvestris (Potts), writes: " Dr. Sharpe [' Zool. of the Ereb. and Terr.,' App., p. 25 (1875)] states that, in company with Dr. Oustalet, he had examined the type of Gerygone igata, which still existed in the Jardin des Plantes, and had come to the conclusion that it was distinct from G. flaviventris. Subsequently, however, when writing the ' Catalogue of Birds,' he appears to have changed his mind, and come to the conclusion that the names were synonymous." Dr. Sharpe, still later, retained Gerygone igata as a New Zealand bird in his ' Handlist of Birds ' (vol. hi., p. 227) ; but I have never been able to identify the species, and still regard it as Gerygone flaviventris, with perhaps some individual peculiarities.* Mr. Ogilvie Grant's great point seems to be this, that whereas Pseudogerygone flaviventris has a red iris, P. igata is said to have a black one. The colour of the iris, which may be due to accident, is a very uncertain character; and I use the word "said" advisedly, because the colour of the iris in two of Lord Eanfurly's specimens rests on the authority of Mr. B. Henry (which I consider insufficient), whilst in a third specimen, in the Tring Museum, the label says, " Dunedin : iris dark." To my mind, the evidence is too slight at present, and the point is too doubtful, to justify our adding P. igata to our list as a separate species, to say nothing of adopting so barbarous a name. - * Dr. Eamsay says (' Proc. Z.S., N.S.W.' iii., p. 117): " Gebygone igata, Gaim. 'Voy. Astrolabe,' xi., fig. 2. This species is very like G. insularis, from Lord Howe Island, but may at once be distinguished from it in having a clear, well-defined white line in front of the eye from its upper margin to the forehead. For description see ' Erebus and Terror,' Birds of New Zealand, p. 5. Hab., Tasman's Bay, Cook's Straits. Native name, ' Igata.' " In the Australian Museum we have a bird from New Zealand which agrees with the figures in the ' Voyage of the Astrolabe ' of G. igata, but has the lores blackish slate-colour, and no white ring round the eye ; there is a tinge of olive in the sides from the chest downwards, and under tail-coverts white ; the three outer tail-feathers are crossed with white on the under side, but the outer two only on the upper ; the black band on the tail is much wider, extending over about half of the feathers." WlffCTtfW B BTOjfljHHHHHdE^^^HHfi I ■?'?., SUPPL. B.T1Z.PL.XIL ^p^ffC^UM^ CHATHAM-ISLAND WARBLER.' pseueogerygoee aeboeroeiata ,'■■■ CHATHAM-ISLAHD ROBIN^miro traverst —— i Ordek PASSERIFORMES.l [Family MUSCICAPIDJE. TIHIPIDURA FLABELLIFEKA. (PIED FANTAIL.) Rhipidura flabellifera (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, yoI. i., p. 69. In October, 1880, during a storm-bound visit to Motutaiko, in the Taupo Lake, I found the nest of this species, with four eggs in it, secured very neatly to a twig of kawakawa (Piper excelsum), a tree to which, as I have observed, the Fantail is very partial for nesting purposes. We had made our camp-fire immediately under the nest before discovering it, and, although we remained there several hours, the birds did not appear to be in any way inconvenienced by the volume of smoke that came from the drift-wood fire, and enveloped them completely from time to time. Both sexes incubate in turn. There could be no mistake in this observation, because one of the birds had lost its tail, and could be readily distinguished from the other. One has to speak of so many of our species as decreasing, or as having reached the border land of extinction, that it is quite refreshing to be able to record that the Fantailed Flycatcher — that pretty little denizen of our woods — is perhaps more plentiful than ever; at any rate it shows no sign of diminution. Mr. Kobert Mair, writing to me from Whangarei on September 11th, says : " I saw a pleasing sight a few weeks since. There are generally five or six Fantails flitting about our shrubbery in the evening, catching gnats in the air and diverting one by their fantastic aerial evolutions. But on this particular evening I counted no less than twenty-five of them at one time." I never see this little bird, or hear its "laugh," with- out being reminded of the romantic Maori myth of Maui's disaster, which brought death into the world, when Hinenuitepo, awakened by the merriment of the Tiwaiwaka, closed her mouth and put an end to Maui's ambitious dream of conquering man's last enemy. The story has been well told by Sir George Grey in his " Polynesian Mythology." A writer in the Field newspaper, of August 20th, 1881 (p. 279), under the head of 'New Zealand Ornithology,' says : " There is an Owl called Morepork, so named after its cry; and I must not forget the Pi-wakawaka, a little pied-brown bird, belonging to the Fantail Flycatchers, a pair of which generally attach themselves to the way- farer in the bush, fluttering close to him the whole day. Colonists come to love him, and the Maoris have many quaint superstitions about him. An old Maori once said to me : ' Ah ! they are little spirits that come to see what man is doing by day and go back to tell God at night. To-morrow they will say : " We saw the pakeha and the Maori together in the bush; they ate of the same and drank of the same, and they slept together in one blanket like brothers"; and God will say it is good.'" I have already recorded pretty fully the nesting habits of this fairy Flycatcher (vol. i., pp. 70-71). During the pairing season the birds have a habit of often sitting together on the M 127 nest, one covering the other, as if to make the most of each other's society. When alarmed, the male bird will invariably assume this position, as if to shield his mate from danger. This domestic incident is well shown in the accompanying illustration, for which I am indebted to the proprietors of the New Zealand Graphic, where it first appeared. In this instance the presence of the photographer, with his camera, was the cause of the alarm. Order PASSERIFOKMES.] [Family MIJSCICAPIDJE. RHIPIDTIRA FULICxINOSA. (BLACK FANTAIL.) Rhipidura fuliginosa (Sparrm.), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 72. It is interesting to note that this Southern species is by degrees becoming an inhabitant of the North Island. I have previously recorded the known instances of its occurrence in the Wellington district. Of late years one has almost constantly frequented my garden on the Terrace at Wellington. At Papaitonga I was much pleased to see one of these birds, in fine condition, in a clump of native bush near the homestead. It was associating with the Pied Fantail, which is particularly numerous in that locality. It was appreciably larger in size, and was in beautiful plumage, the white ear-spots being very conspicuous. Mr. J. C. McLean, of Gisborne, in the ' Ibis ' for January, 1894, gives an interesting account of the interbreeding in that district of a female bird of this species with a male of Rhipidura flabellifera. There were two eggs in the nest taken, and Mr. McLean thinks they are richer in colour than the ordinary egg of the Pied Fantail, "the spots being of a purplish tint, while in the eggs of the pied bird they are brownish." At Half-moon Bay (Stewart Island) I saw a Black Fantail paired with a Pied Fantail the former looking, as it moved about among the twigs on the roadside, half as large again as its mate. Rhipidura flabellifera is the common species on the island, there being only stray individuals of the black form. I received an example (in spirits) from the Snares. In a large collection of birds from the Chatham Islands received in England there were many specimens of R. flabellifera, but none of this species. Mr. A. Hamilton obtained a specimen in the Pohue Bush, about twenty miles north of Napier; and at a later date two or three in the Horokiwi District, near Wellington. i On two occasions, on my last visit to the Buller Valley, I saw a Black Fantail paired with the other species. Mr. Potts has recorded several instances of this kind (see vol. i., p. 73). But, as Captain Hutton has reminded me, there is no record yet of the bird in hybrid plumage. Mr. Potts records, in the ' Zoologist,' that during many weeks of autumn one of these birds entered the rooms freely, and often alighted on persons, or on a newspaper whilst I— — P— WW— 128 being read, sometimes perching on a low fender in front of the fire. Apart from this intimacy of conduct within the house, it would also perch on persons out of doors in a most confident manner. A " union nest " of the two species of Fantail preserved in the Canterbury Museum has a peculiar appearance, being fixed horizontally in a forked branch, instead of having its pointed end downwards. It is very beautifully finished, the whole of the exterior being bound with fine cobwebs. The cup is deep and perfectly round, closely lined with extremely narrow grass stems, disposed in a circular fashion, and the edges are skilfully finished off. I have recorded several instances of the occurrence of this South Island species in various parts of the North Island, the city of Auckland being the furthest limit. But in a letter received from Major Mair, writing from Eawene, Hokianga, and dated as lately as June 6th, 1905, he says : " Strolling through a kahikatea bush here the other day I saw a very fine specimen of the Black Fantail— only the third example I have seen in the North Island. I remarked, as I have before, on the amplitude of tail exhibited by this species as compared with the common bird." Okder PASSEEIFORMES.] [Family CAMPOPHAGID^. G 11 A ' U C A L U S MEL A N OPS. (AUSTRALIAN SHRIKE.) Graucalus melanops (Latham), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 66. To the already recorded instances of the occurrence of this Australian species in New Zealand I have since added another on the authority of Mr. William Townson, who writes to me that one of these birds was shot near Bradshaw's Creek, at Westport, some years previously, and came into Dr. Gaze's possession. Unfortunately, the skin was ultimately destroyed by moths. Order PASSEEIFORMES.] [Family TIMELIIDiE. CL1TONYX A L B I C A P I L L A . (WHITE-HEAD.) Clitonyx albicapilla (Lesson), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 53. The very name of this bird irresistibly carries my mind back fifty years and more to the happy days of youth on the banks of the Northern Wairoa. At the present time that river presents the unique feature of a deep fringe of Weeping Willows, on both banks, 129 during the whole of its tortuous course, these willows being the descendants of trees planted at the Mission Station, far up the river, by the writer's father, before the year 1840. The banks of the river are muddy at low water, and the twigs and branches broken off by the rushing stream, borne up or down by the successive daily tides, are deposited somewhere, and forthwith take root, and finally grow into trees. This process has been going on all these years, and the effect of these self-planted fringes is highly picturesque. At the time I speak of, however, the banks were clothed, almost to the water's edge, with native vegetation, and in all the ancient Maori clearings there was, not far from the river, a belt of tupakihi, makomako, and other native shrubs, which swarmed with small birds of all kinds, chiefly Parrakeets, Korimakos, and White-heads. The last-named was certainly at that time the commonest bird of the country, its cheerful, chirping note being heard on every hand, whilst its nest might be confidently looked for in every suitable clump of undergrowth. Now the banks are silent, and the White-head has gone! You may wander for miles through the forest and never hear its once familiar note. It is impossible to assign any sufficient reason for the disappearance of a bird whose food consisted of insect life, which still abounds in the woods ; for, although the White-head was sometimes taken on the tuke snare, attracted by the tawhiwhi flowers, it was probably the minute insects frequenting the flowers rather than the honey that it was in quest of. A few years ago, accompanied by my son, Percy, I made an expedition into the wooded ranges at the back of Waikanae in quest of Huias. We were disappointed in the object of our search, but after tramping on foot over some ten miles of bush-paths we were rewarded by finding a pair of Popokatea, or White-heads, positively the only ones I had even heard of on the mainland for a period of ten years or more. I brought down both with a small charge of dust-shot, and they made good specimens. Later on I met with the species again in the same locality, and obtained several specimens ; but here the bird had changed its habits, and was frequenting the lofty tree-tops instead of the low undergrowth. I can remember when this bird was absolutely the commonest and most numerous species in the North Island. It is now one of the rarest, being met with only on the Little Barrier Island, in the north, and on Kapiti, in Cook Strait. Another bird equally common was the W^ood Robin (Miro australis), and this has disappeared just as completely, my last specimen having been shot at Kaitoke in the spring of 1880. I was glad, still later on, to announce, at a meeting of the Wellington Philosophical Society, the appearance of a pair of this now rare species in the bush on the northern shore of the Papaitonga Lake.* It is satisfactory to find that other observers have met with it also further north. Mr. J. C. McLean reports ('Ibis,' 1892, p. 251) that on September 3rd, 1889, he came upon a flock of eight or ten White-heads in the thick manuka scrub at the Lagoon, on the East Coast ; and that, while having his lunch under some large kowhai trees, he observed a single White-head hunting in the tree-tops, now and then stopping to sing a pleasant little song of half-a-dozen quickly repeated notes. He adds : " On July 29th, 1890, while shooting in the same district, I saw a flock of White-heads on a manuka flat, and shot male and female. They were feeding in the trees among the creepers, mingled with a flock of Blight- :;: Professor Newton accepts my suggestion that the disappearance of the White-head and some other New Zealand Passeres is, in a large measure, a displacement due to the introduction of exotic birds, which, being morphologically higher and constitutionally stronger, speedily establish themselves at the expense of the lower, weaker, and earlier forms ('Dictionary of Birds,' p. 1037). Vol. ii— 17 130 birds (Zosterops ccerulescens), continuously on the move, flying from tree to tree, and feeding m all possible positions ; they chattered and called to each other, while occasionally one came to look at us in an inquisitive manner. Half a mile further on I shot a male White-head from a flock of about twelve individuals in the edge of the bush; they were moving forward in search of food in the tops of the smaller trees." Judge Mair, writing to me from Taumarunui on November 30th, 1903, says : " A few days ago I ascended the totara and matai-covered range on the north side of the valley to get a peep at Tongariro and Euapehu, and there I saw a Popokatea — the first for perhaps thirty-five years." The common native names are Popokatea and Upokotea. But on the East Coast it is called Tataeko and Tataeto— " he ta tataeto "—a flock of White-heads. Order PASSEBIEOBMES.] TFamily TIMELIID^E. CLITONYX OCHROCEPHALA (YELLOW-HEAD.) Clitonyx ochrocephala (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 56. This bird has a most musical whistle, several times repeated. I shot several of them at Preservation Inlet in January, and, on dissecting a male, found the testes enormously- developed. I have never heard of the occurrence of this species in the North Island; but it is possible that the following passage in a letter received from Major Mair, in 1902 refers to it: "Going up the Whanganui River in March last, I saw what to me was a new bird. Just above Manganuiateao, on a twig across the mouth of a cleft in the rocks, there sat a bright yellow little bird which, to the best of my recollection, was about the size of a Hen Sparrow." A nest obtained at Okarita is very similar in form and construction to that of Clitonyx albicapilla, but is somewhat coarser. It is composed almost entirely of dry mosses, and is neatly lined with grass bents. Order PASSEEIFOKMES.] [Family TIMELIID^. BOWDLERI A PUNCTATA (FEEN-BIRD.) Sphenoeacus punctatus (Quoy & Gaim,)., Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 59. Me. Boberts, of the Government Survey Staff, met with this species in considerable numbers on Open Beach Island, five miles from the mainland, inhabiting the low scrub. The female is somewhat smaller than the male ; in other respects the sexes are precisely alike. Irides brown ; bill dark slate colour ; legs and feet light slate colour. I have lately noticed, at Papaitonga, that this species has a habit of hopping over the ground to feed under the thick marsh vegetation. This may probably account for the usually abraded condition of the tail-feathers at the close of the season. I have received a pair of Fern-birds from Stewart Island, which seem to represent a larger race than the one inhabiting the North and South Islands. In plumage it is precisely similar, except that the black spots on the breast appear to be more pronounced. These black markings become more conspicuous on the breast and sides, occupying the whole centre of the feather. The male gives the following measurements : Total length, 7*5 in. ; wing from flexure, 275 in. ; tail, 3'75 in. ; bill, along the ridge, 0'5 in. ; along the edge of lower mandible, 0'7m. ; tarsus, 0'9in. ; middle-toe and claw, 0'85in. Professor Hutton sends me the following note: "Last year I sent a specimen of Sphenoeacus punctatus to Mr. F. E. Beddard for dissection. He now writes to me : 'I find that it is quite a typical Acromyodian Passerine bird, and that the position assigned to it in Sharpe's ' Cat. of Birds ' in the British Museum is quite in accordance with its anato- mical structure.'" EOWDLEEIA FULYA. (FULVOUS FEEN-BIED.) Sphenoeacus fulvus, Gray ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 61. Having examined further specimens of this species, I think that it ought be kept distinct, on the grounds indicated by Mr. Gr. B. Gray, but it is no doubt very closely related to Sphenoeacus punctatus. ■''• The generic name of Bowdleria was instituted by Mr. Walter Eothschild, after considering the affinities of the African species of Sphenoeacus, and comparing with the New Zealand birds. He writes : " While investigating these questions I found that only the New Zealand species of Sphenoeacus have ten tail-feathers, the African ones not. The African species, besides having twelve tail-feathers, have the operculum over the nostrils bare of feathers, while it is feathered in the New Zealand ones; the outer webs of the tail-feathers are fuller and more connected, while they are very lax and separate in the species from New Zealand, and have a longer and stronger wing. There is, therefore, no doubt that Sphenoeacus is not only placed wrong in the key given by Sharpe (Cat. B. Brit. Mus., vii., p. 93), but that it is more reasonably divided into two genera, as Sharpe would have done if he had counted the tail-feathers of the African Sphenoeacus, and noticed the other differences. The generic name being founded on the African species, it become^ necessary to create a new name for the New Zealand group, which I propose to call Boivdleria, gen. nov., in remembrance of Dr. Bowdler Sharpe's invaluable Catalogue of the Timeliidce" (Novit. ZooL, hi., p. 539, 1896). Order PASSERIFORMES.] [Family TIMELIIDJE. BOWDLERIA CAUDA T A. (SNARES FERN-BIRD.) Sphenceacus caudatus, Buller, Trans. New Zealand Institute, vol. xxvii., p. 128. (1895.) In a collection of birds made for me by Mr. H. H. Travers, on a visit of the Government steamboat 'Hinemoa' to the various groups of islands adjacent to New Zealand, there were a good many specimens of a Fern-bird or "Utick," obtained by him on the Snares, a group of islets lying about seventy miles south of the southernmost extremity of New Zealand. I had hitherto referred this island-form to Mr. G. E. Gray's Sphenoeacus fulvus. But the opportunity of examining so good a series (both of males and females) led me to investigate the subject further, and I was then satisfied that the species inhabiting the Snares is distinct. Mr. G. R. Gray's description of Sphenoeacus fulvus appeared in his very useful 'List of the Birds of New Zealand and the Adjacent Islands,' which came out in the 'Ibis' for 1862. To commence with, his bird was from New Zealand ; and, although no locality is given, it cannot have come from the Snares, inasmuch as there was no communication with those small islands at that time. According to his description, Sphenceacus fulvus, although of "a rather larger size" than Sphenceacus punctatus, has a smaller bill and shorter tail. This is not the case with the bird from the Snares, which is altogether appreciably larger, the bill being more robust and the tail so conspicuously different that I have named the species from that feature; that is to say, instead of its being composed of Emu-like feathers with disunited barbs, the webs are closely set and compact, not differing in any way from the typical tail-feathers of the extensive family to which this genus belongs. Mr. Gray says of his bird that "the black streaks and dots are less pronounced than in Sphenceacus punctatus," which is not true of the present bird; and he adds that "the abdomen is white, more or less minutely dotted with black," a description which is equally inapplicable to this species. In Mr. Gray's bird the white superciliary streak is more pronounced than in Sphenoeacus punctatus, in this species it is less so. I thus distinguished the new form : — BOWDLERIA CAUDATA, sp. nOV. 3" act. similis S. punctato, sed paullo major ; ubique lsetius fulvescens, plumis vix ita distincte medialiter lineatis; pectore etiam minus distincte maculato; remigibus rectricibusque ochracescenti-fulvis ; cauda minus acuminata, scapis plumarum haud nudis, sed omnino plumiferis. Long, alse 2*75 poll., cauda3 3*5, rostri "5, tarsi '85. $ mari similis. Sab. Inss. Snares, maris Novi-Zelandici. The species appears to be intermediate between Bowdleria punctata of New Zealand and my Bowdleria rufescens, of the Chatham Islands ; and its occurrence on the Snares is the more interesting as another inhabitant of these islets is the Chatham Island Eobin (Miro tr aver si, Buller), which has never yet been found in New Zealand. This is the Sphenoeacus fulvus of my 'Birds in New Zealand' (2nd ed., vol. ii., p. 01). 133 The specimens therein referred to as having come from the south, without any locality being assigned, must, I now feel assured, have come from the Snares. They reached me through dealers, and it is almost impossible, in such cases, to obtain reliable particulars. Mr. Eeischek, who had collected examples of this bird on the Snares, informed me that he found it inhabiting trees rather than swamp-vegetation and fern-beds, like the New Zealand species. But it is evidently a ground feeder, for, on dissecting specimens- received in the flesh, I was impressed by the marked development of the tibial and femoral muscles. The following is a translation of Dr. Yon Lorenz's notes on this species ('Annal. Hofm.,' vol. xvii., 1902) :— In addition to the specimen in Eeischek's collection, I had an opportunity of comparing five skins from the Kothschild museum. The most striking differences in this species from B. fulva consist in the indistinct striping of the upper parts, in the colouring of the tail, the feathers of which have* dark- brown centres, along the shaft, not black ; in the darker colouring of the feet ; and, finally, in the size of the bill and feet, which are noticeably stronger Buller remarks that the muscular system regulating the feet is most strikingly developed, an observation in full accordance with what may be inferred from the robustness of the legs and toes of the specimen now before me. Order PASSERIFORMES.l [Family TIMELIIDJE. BOWDLEE1A KIT FES C ENS. (CHATHAM-ISLAND FERN-BIRD.) Sphenceacus rufescens, Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 62. The Hon. Walter Rothschild writes informing me that in the last collection of bird- skins recently received by him from the Chatham Islands there was a good series of this well-marked species. At a later date, however, Mr. W. Hawkins, the well-known Chatham Island collector, wrote saying : " The Fern-Bird is extinct. I spent a fortnight on the island where they used to be, but never saw any sign whatever of them." A collector also living on Pitt Island states that, partly through the firing of the low vegetation, and partly through the introduction of cats, which have run wild, this interesting species has become quite extinct. Since the publication of my work I have only succeeded in obtaining a single specimen, and that I picked up at a dealer's shop in London. There is a very good figure of this species (by Keulemans) in my first edition of the 'Birds of New Zealand,' fronting page 128. There is in my son's possession a partial albino of this now extinct bird from the Chatham Islands. Okdeb PASSBEIFOEMES.] [Family TUBDID/E. T IT R N A G E A TANAG 11 A . (NOETH-ISLAND THEUSH.) Turnagra hectori, Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 27. I confess that I relinquish the distinctive name of Turnagra hectori with regret ; but when such a specific name, for example, as Or ex crex or Nycticorax nycticorax meets with universal acceptance, in deference to the law of priority, my objection to such an unhappy combina- tion as Turnagra tanagra loses much of its point. After all, this species is now practically a thing of the past, and it matters not much by what name it is distinguished. As lately as February, 1902, Mr. W. T. Morpeth sent to the Auckland papers the description of a "new bird" he had shot in the Lower Ohura, in the southern part of the King Country. He stated that the natives did not appear to know its name, and that his object in writing was to get the bird identified. My attention having been called to the paragraph I immediately wrote to the New Zealand Herald as follows : — There can be no doubt that the bird described' is the Piopio, or native Thrash of the North Island. It differs specifically from the South Island Thrush (Turnagra crassirostris) . It not only differs in plumage, but is of superior size, and has a more strongly developed bill. Many years ago it was described by me, and n&med Tiirnagra hectori, in compliment to Sir James Hector (see 'Ibis,' 1869, p. 39). The species has become almost extinct, although thirty years ago it was very common in the woods around Wellington and the Hutt. Further north it has always been extremely rare. I never met with or even heard of more than one specimen in the Auckland Province. This was shot by myself in the Tangihua woods (Kaipara District) in the summer of 1852 — just fifty years ago ! It was quite unknown to the natives of the district, bat one old woman recognised it as the Korohea, saying that it was plentiful enough in the days of her girlhood. Through the courtesy of Mr. J. D. Climie, District Surveyor, I received from the Makuri Ranges a fine specimen of this rare species, positively the first I had seen in the flesh for twenty years and more. This bird measured 11'75 in. in length, the extent of wings being 16 in. It is to be hoped that the Little Barrier Island having been acquired by the Govern- ment for the purposes of a "native birds' sanctuary," at least one pair of the North Island Thrush (which is easily caught when found) may be obtained, and liberated there, so as to save the species from ultimate extinction. I have heard from surveyors and others that it is occasionally met with (always in pairs) along the Hunterville line of road, and in the wooded district north of Wanganui. The South-Island Thrush (T. crassirostris) is still comparatively plentiful in some parts of the West Coast, but its numbers have been grievously diminished by the diggers' dogs, and by wild cats, stoats, and weasels. The North Island bird has all but disappeared, and the specimen referred to above is the only one I have been able to obtain since the publication of ' The Birds of New Zealand ' (2nd ed.) in 1888. Mr. C. Field, a Government surveyor, writing to me from Moawhango, Inland Patea, says : "I know of four places where the Piopio was to be found seven years ago. In the Turakina Valley, about five miles south of the Te Ruanui, we used to see them every week ; also in the Mangamahu Valley, and about four miles from the last-mentioned place. At two different places in the Mangawhero Valley 135 they were to be found, and one of these localities was not more than two miles from Mason's house, but the other was far inland. In the Porewa, north of Hunterville, they were to be found at that time, and I believe some still remain. They were formerly so plentiful in the Turakina and Mangamahu Valley that I think it is likely a few might still be found there." The last tidings I had of this expiring species in the Wellington District was contained in a letter from a friend on the Survey Staff (dated December, 1892), as follows : u There is a pair now frequenting the survey camp at Pongarua, in the Puketoi Eange. They are constantly about, whistling in a sweet fashion, and, to my ear, mimicking the Tui and other birds." Order PASSERIFORMES.] [Family TURDIML T U U N A G II A CB-ASSIROS T E I S (SOUTH-ISLAND THRUSH.) Turnagra crassirostris (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 31. This is a fast expiring species. One of its last places of refuge was Stephen Island, in Cook's Strait, where it was once so plentiful that a dozen might be caught in the course of a day by means of a noose at the end of a long stick. But the introduction of the domestic cat by the lighthouse keepers sealed the doom of this charming bird, and it is now seldom or never seen on the island. On my last visit to the Buller Oorge I saw one hopping about on the ground under shelter of the roadside vegetation, and foraging for worms and grubs, just as we see the English Thrush on our lawns in this country. It requires no prophetic vision to foresee the absolute extinction of this form in the near future. It will become a bird of the past, as its congener, Turnagra tanagra, already is in the North Island. A caged specimen brought to me by Mr. Capper presents the abnormal feature of the whole of the middle portion of the tail being yellow, with a brown streak down the shaft of each feather. I shot a specimen at the head of Dusky Sound. So far as I could see, the habits of this species differ in no respect from those of the North Island bird. In the Colonial Museum there is a nest marked as being of this species, from Milford Sound. I cannot say whether this nest is correctly identified ; but it is exactly like that of the Tui, being composed of slender twigs intermixed with kohukohu moss, and carefully lined inside with grass bents. It is quite circular, measuring about 7 in. in outside diameter at the top, and the cavity or cup is about 5 in. across. In the Nelson Museum there is a nest of this species (from Stephen Island) measuring 7 in. by 5 in., and formed entirely of slender rootlets arranged in a circular forrm 136 The cup, which is very shallow, is lined with dry grasses. There are two eggs in the collection referred to this species; one of these, about the identification of which I am in doubt, is pure white; the other is somewhat smaller, measuring 1*25 in. by '75 in., and is white with scattered brown spots and dots at the larger end. A large cone-shaped structure fixed in the fork of a manuka tree {Leptospermum, scoparium) which graces the collection of nests in the Canterbury Museum is assigned to this species. It is fully 10 in. in depth, with a width at the top of about 8 in., and is composed of small dry twigs and kohukohu moss pressed well together; its deep, round cup is lined with fine grass bents. Order PASSERIFORMES.l [Family PARIDiE. CERTHIPARUS NOV^-ZEALANDIiE (NEW-ZEALAND CREEPER.) Certhiparus novae-zealandiaB, Lafresnaye ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 51. This little bird loves to flit about among the tops of high trees, where its movements are very similar to those of Pseudogerygone. The young does not differ from the adult, except that the colours of the plumage are somewhat duller and the tail shorter. A nest of this species, from the Eangitata Eiver, has a peculiar rounded, oval shape, and is composed of moss, small leaves, and fine, wiry twigs, compactly felted together, and presents a deep, well-finished cavity placed at one end of it, the edges being neatly finished off, and bound with cobweb. In a communication to the 'Ibis' (July, 1903) Captain Hutton has proposed to change the generic name from Certhiparus to Finschia " in honour of Dr. Otto Finsch, so well known as an ornithologist, and one who has given us much help in New Zealand." His reason for this is thus stated :• — A re-examination of these forms Las convinced me that Dr. Gadow is right in placing all three in the same family, but that Gray and Buller are correct in separating G. novm-zealandicc from the others generically ; while I also agree with Lafresnaye and Finsch that G. ochrocephalus and G. albicillus cannot be kept in the same genus on account of the great differences in their legs and feet. So, in my opinion, each species should form a separate genus. Next as to the names. The type of Certhiparus is C. albicillus, and this name must therefore be kept for that species. For G. ochrocephalus the oldest name is Mohua of Lesson (1837). Quoy and Gaimard had stated that the Maori name of this species is Mohoua (which, however, was a mistake), and Gray apparently altered the spelling to suit his own views. I see no good reason for dropping Mohua in favour of Clitonyx. Whilst as anxious as Captain Hutton to do honour to Dr. Finsch, I fear I cannot 137 follow him in the proposed change. Notwithstanding the difference in the tarsi of the two birds, I have always contended that the White-head and Yellow-head should not be separated generically. I have placed them together in the genus Clitonyx, a view in which I am confirmed by Dr. Sharpe, who has followed that arrangement in his ' Handlist.' The egg of this species is broadly oval; greyish -white, widely freckled with purplish- brown, the markings at the larger end assuming the form of a zone. Order PASSERIFOEMES.l [Family MELIPHAGID^E. POGONOENIS cincta (STITCH-BIRD.) Pogonornis cincta (Dubus), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 101. (Native names: Hihi, Ihi, and Kotihe.) No doubt New Zealand has deservedly acquired a name all over the world for being the most progressive of our colonies. This fact will appeal more than anything else to the naturalist in the policy of acquiring, at whatever necessary public expenditure, suitable island-sanctuaries in which to preserve a remnant of our unique avifauna. One of these insular retreats is Hauturu, or the Little Barrier Island, about twelve square miles in extent, well wooded and beautifully situated in the Hauraki Gulf, about eleven and a half miles from Point Eodney. The freehold has been purchased from the Maoris, who were thus induced to quit possession, and the Government has placed a custodian on the island whose first duty is to protect and conserve the native fauna and flora. This little island is positively the last refuge of the Stitch-Bird (Pogonornis cincta), whilst both Korimakos and White-heads are still abundant there. This policy of conservation was initiated by the first Liberal Premier, Mr. Ballance, at the instigation of the Earl of Onslow, when Governor of New Zealand; and there can be no doubt that it is becoming increasingly popular with both races. Even the Legislature has shown a praiseworthy interest in what is being done in that direction. So far the experiment has been highly successful ; but it would be interesting to carry it a step further. I remember urging upon Mr. Ballance that a few Huias, Piopios, and Kokakos should be taken alive, whilst that is still possible, and liberated on the island, all these birds being too weak-winged to escape to the mainland. Mr. Ballance fully agreed; but I fear this has not yet been seriously attempted. Some years ago I had an opportunity of examining a large series of specimens of Pogonornis collected for Mr. Spencer on the Little Barrier Island before that last resort of this species came under Government protection. I observed that the young male has exactly similar plumage to that of the adult female, except that there is a broad spot of canary-yellow near the bend of the wing. When the first moult commences this expands into a conspicuous band on the humerus, after which there is a gradual change of the body-plumage. A female of this very rare species which recently came into my hands has a yellow tinge on the angle of the wings Vol. ii. — 18 138 and on the tips of the white secondary coverts. The specimen, which has been in a private collection at Auckland for some ten years, came originally from the Little Barrier Island. The indefatigable collector, Mr. A. Eeischek, spent a considerable time on the Little Barrier, and shot a number of specimens for local and foreign museums, but I was assured by him that he did not destroy them all ; and I do not think any collector has sojourned on the island since his time. There is therefore just a chance of saving the species by timely intervention. An Auckland collector has more recently been on a visit, for a few hours only, to the Little Barrier Island for the purpose of getting specimens of this rare bird, several of which were obtained. This is the last refuge of the species, and unless the strong hand of the Government is invoked for its protection, and that at once, the Stitch -Bird will soon be lost to us for ever. Let us hope that steps will be taken to save the colony from this reproach. Order PASSEKIFORMES.] [Family MELIPHAGIDJE. ANTH011NIS MELANU1U (KOEIMAKO.) Anthornis melanura (Sparrm.), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 85. When I undertook to write the history of our native birds, one of the chief objects I set before myself was to make the subject as attractive and instructive as possible to the rising generation of colonists. The ' Manual of the Birds of New Zealand,' which I brought out at a later date, with descriptive diagrams, &c, was prepared avowedly for that purpose. It was therefore with much pleasure that I recently received a letter from a prominent member of the House of Representatives, saying that he had urged upon the Government to republish, with my consent, the more important of the plates in the 'Birds of New Zealand,' for distribution among the public schools of the colony. I replied, of course, appreciatively, and in due time received an answer in which he said: "T read your letter with great interest, and am very glad to see that you are so much in sympathy with the movement to make our school children more familiar with the beautiful bird-life of this country. Your book has created a wide-spread interest in the subject. Indeed, I firmly believe that to your book is chiefly due the strong public feeling which has found practical expression in the efforts now being made to preserve, by means of special legislation, the unique bird-life of this country." One of our best local observers, Mr. W. W. Smith, in a communication to the ' Ibis ' (1893, pp. 509-21), writing more particularly of this species, expresses himself thus : — Although the New Zealand avifauna is the most perfectly known division of our zoological province, new facts in the life-history of some of the species are occasionally presented to the ornithologist. Sir Walter Bailer's charming delineations of bird-life in all its peculiar forms in New Zealand, together with Mr. Keule- mans' exquisitely finished and life-like pictures of many species illustrating Buller's work, have produced an ever-increasing and lasting interest in our remarkable birds. If Mr. Keulemans had studied bird-life in forests 139 and lakes and sea-shores in New Zealand for many years he could not have depicted the birds in more natural positions or painted their haunts to greater perfection. In the individual history of most species Buller has left little of interest to be added ; in others additional features in their habits will transpire as colonisation spreads and the country becomes more settled. Since the second edition of the ' Birds of New Zealand ' in 1888, I have been able to gather additional notes on the habits of many species, some of which I now offer ; I also add some observations on the causes of the extinction and gradual disappearance of certain native birds. .... Anthomis melanura : The history of this delightful songster of the New Zealand bush is so perfectly given by Buller that nothing need be added to it here. The sudden disappearance of this species from many of its old haunts in the North Island, and the apparently inevitable extinction that similarly threatened it in the South Island were truly deplored by all naturalists. The causes, to which are attributed the gradual or rapid disappearance of certain species of New Zealand birds have been fully discussed by Buller ; these include the probable effects of the introduced honey-bee on the habits of the Meliphagidce, the changed environment produced by the perfect or imperfect clearing of open, swampy lands and forests, and the introduction of predatory animals. In discussing the various causes and their effects, he contended that the honey-bee theory was 'quite insufficient to meet the case,' and stated: 'As the result of long observation, I have come to the conclusion that apart from the effects produced by a gradual change in the physical condition of the country, the chief agent in this rapid destruction of certain species of native birds is the introduced Bat.' .... The forests on the eastern side of the South Island are of limited extent, and were the first to be worked or cut out by the colonists for building-timbers and fuel. The thinning and clearing of the smaller forests of many trees and shrubs bearing mellifluous flowers would appreciably affect the honey and insect supply of both meliphagous and insectivorous birds in a short space of time. To see a number of Korimakos in the spring months regaling them- selves on the sweet flowers of the kowhai, ngaio, papauma, tawhiwhi, and manuka trees is one of the naturalist's charms of the year. But alas ! from several districts, where only a few years ago those sylvan scenes were present, the forest flowers and the sweet song of the Korimako have vanished, and the flocks of the farmer now occupy their sites The loss of the species affected is due to some general cause, and, with the able author of the ' Birds of New Zealand,' I implicitly agree that it is attributable to the ravages of Bats. There is no doubt that the Norway rat was introduced into New Zealand in the early days of colonisation, perhaps even in the earlier days of the visits of whalers to the South Seas, and that, there being no indigenous Mustelidse or other natural enemies,* excepting the native Hawks, they multiplied in our genial climate at an astounding rate. Precisely the same thing is happening at the present time in the districts where the introduced Stoats and Weasels have been liberated to wage war against the Babbits. They first turn their attention to, and appease their voracious appetites on, the easily captured native birds A few instances showing the number and distribution of Bats in New Zealand may be of interest. About twenty-five years ago, when Peel Forest was first opened for timber-cutting, several of the bushmen afterwards informed me that wherever they pitched their tents or huts their stores were assailed in a few days by Bats. Mr. Eugene Lorgerie, an old resident in the forest, informed me once that he had shot a large Bat running along a high limb of a totara tree. But the most remarkable fact about the occurrence of Bats in remote places in the early days was illustrated during the gold fever on the West Coast. Amid great hardships the diggers penetrated into unknown regions in that great forest country in search of the precious metal ; no matter where the hardy fellows went, up lonely rivers or wooded mountain spurs, they found themselves invariably preceded by the ubiquitous Bat, and the greatest precautions had to be taken to preserve their scanty supplies of food from the attacks of these animals. Bats are common everywhere in the Westland bush at the present time, and are unpleasantly numerous about many homesteads of the settlers on the Canterbury plains, and on all the Downs country under the main range. There are two unfortunate drawbacks to most species of native birds, namely, their exceeding tameness and their easily accessible nests. Before the advent of the Anglo-Saxon and his accompanying- evils in New Zealand, the native birds had practically no enemies to contend with, and in many districts in the South Island peace and harmony had reigned in their domain for long ages. Hence their tameness, The honey-bee theory in its bearing on the disappearance of any of the native birds is, I am convinced, an utter fallacy. * The native rat, Mus exulans, was purely frugivorous. WWllilP W i i _ , 140 I have never seen any reason to alter or modify the views I put forward on this point in the ' Birds of New Zealand ' ; but at the same time it is only fair to give due weight to any reasonable objections to one's theory. The principal difficulties are formulated by myself 'in a paper read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, and, in the interests of truth, I will reproduce them. At 7 p.m. on October 26th we left Tokanu for Tapuaehariiru in a four-oared boat, manned by a good crew of Armed Constabulary. It was a beautiful, calm day, and the surface of the lake was a perfect mirror. Five miles from land we could still hear the hollow boom of the Bittern, and the barking of the curs in the Maori village. There was not a breath of air to cause a ripple on the bosom of the lake, and the rock- bound margin of Motutaiko danced in the mirage of the morning sun. Our men were settling down to a long pull of twenty-five miles, and we had just arranged to make straight for Motutaiko and rest there for an alfresco lunch, when the seaman Todd, who was in charge of the crew, pointed to an advancing ripple from the south- ward ; and, without a moment's warning, we were overtaken by a squall which increased in fury with amazing rapidity. Within the brief space of five minutes, instead of dreamily rowing on the placid waters, we were pitching and tossing in an angry sea — the rudder was powerless, and the oarsmen had the utmost difficulty in keeping the boat's head on. We shipped several heavy seas, and struggled on for hours, sometimes drifting, at others just holding our own, as the storm varied in force, the men all pulling with desperate strength, knowing that to relax for a moment meant swamping and destruction to us all; for the best swimmer could not long have survived a capsize in such a sea, and with the atmosphere and water so intensely cold. After some four hours of unflagging labour, a lull in the storm enabled us to get under the lee of Motutaiko ; but half an hour after we had landed, in a little rocky cove on the western side of the island, the storm redoubled in force, and for some hours such a gale blew as had not been witnessed in the lake for years. The ' little white horses ' of the sea chased each other in quick succession, and the spray rose in clouds as the wind swept over the tempestuous waters. Of course the first consideration on reaching land was a sense of gratitude at having escaped from a very perilous position ; but I was delighted on landing to hear on all sides the silvery notes of the Korimako. As is well known, this little songster, which formerly was so abundant everywhere, has for a long time past been practically extinct in the North Island. At the time of this visit to Motutaiko it had not been heard of for several years on the mainland, although it was known to exist on certain islands off the coast, such as the Little Barrier in the Hauraki Gulf, and the island of Kapiti in Cook Strait ; and the generally accepted theory had been that the chief factor in its extermination was the introduced Bat. That certainly was my own belief. But a fact now came to my knowledge which seemed to tell very much against that theory. It was this : the island on which I so unexpectedly met with the Bell-bird is famous for its Bats. It is covered with pohutukawa trees and koromiko scrub, and the whole island swarms with Bats. The ground is, in places, almost honeycombed with their burrows, for in one spot I counted no less than five holes within a radius of eighteen inches. So numerous were they that Topia Turoa had found it necessary to turn some cats adrift on the island to reduce their numbers before he could put in a crop of potatoes on one of the slopes; and wind-bound boats lying in the little sandy cove at night have, it is said, been invaded by multitudes of Bats and had all their provisions carried off. Then, again, as to the Bat theory, it is a significant fact that, although the Korimako has disappeared from the North Island, it has continued to exist in the South Island, although in somewhat diminished numbers; and, so far as I am aware, the introduced Bat is as plentiful there as in the North. There may be destructive causes in operation of which we have no present knowledge. Beferring to the Korimako or Bell-bird, Lord Onslow, in his now famous memorandum to the Premier, says : "I would also, at the same time, suggest that Ministers should take into con- sideration the propriety of including some other native birds in the list of protected species. As I have already mentioned, the Bell-bird, formerly so plentiful, has entirely disappeared from the North Island. But it is still very plentiful all over the South Island, and is a common denizen of the gardens and shrubberies in all the principal towns. This is the bird that so enchanted Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks by its song when their ship lay at anchor in Queen Charlotte Sound more than a hundred years ago, and, having become historical, it would 141 be a grievous pity for the bird to die out altogether. The general testimony goes to show that the protection extended to the Tuis had the desired effect, this species being now more numerous everywhere than it was fifteen years ago. Would it not be well to extend the same protection to its small congener, the Korimako, whose haunts and habits are almost precisely similar?" On February 15th last I shot a young Korimako on the summit of one of the lower ranges of the Tararua, at an elevation above the sea of 800 feet, about six miles in a direct line from Kapiti. I heard the sweet song of the adult, but did not actually see the bird. They were feeding on the flowers of the tawhiwhi or climbing rata (Metrosideros scandens), and, according to our Maori attendants, were visitors from Kapiti Island where, as already stated, this songster is still comparatively abundant. Writing to me on July 17th, 1902, Captain Gilbert Mair says : " I forget whether I wrote telling you of two delightful trips to Whale Island. On the top of the island (1,280 feet) there is a most beautiful patch of bush of surprising variety, and there I was de- lighted to find a large number of Korimakos and a few Popokatea. This is probably due to the fact that the European proprietors do all they can to prevent trespassers landing on the island and disturbing the birds. Mr. Eobert Mair, writing to me from Whangarei, under date of September 11th, says: " I was out last week in a six-ton yacht hapuku-nshing at the Poor ■ Knights, in the Hauraki Gulf. On the largest of the Poor Knights Islands there are numbers of Korimako. It was delightful to see them flying from bush to bush overhead, and to hear them singing their sweet notes." And, again, on October 6th, 1900, Mr. Eobert Mair, says : " The Poor Knights Islands, 4^ miles to the N.W. of Orangia, are of a different formation to any- thing I have yet seen in New Zealand. The cliffs rise sheer from the water nearly all round, and there is scarcely a spot to land on. The Korimakos are very numerous there. You see and hear them amongst the scrubby trees of these and the adjacent islets, and it is a very delightful reminiscence of the olden times." From Mrs. Halcombe, a daughter of the celebrated ornithologist, the late William Swainson, F.R.S.,* I have received the following interesting note : " Bell-birds are very plentiful on the Island of Kapiti. I stayed there for nearly three weeks in 1894, and every morning, about four o'clock, I was charmed to hear a perfect concert from the Bell-bird. The house was quite close to a beautiful piece of bush, which was full of. native birds, and, to judge from the noise they made, the Bell-birds must have been very numerous. . . . . I have all the tastes of my dear father, but I have not had the chance to develop them. I cannot help loving all the beautiful world of Nature, and I wish I had the time and opportunity to study all her wonderful secrets. The longest lifetime, it seems to me, is all too short for the full enjoyment of her treasures." I was delighted on my first visit to Stewart Island to find this bird as numerous as it formerly was in the North Island. It was very pleasant to hear its dulcet notes in the woods again. Some of them — especially the " cough " — are not to be distinguished from those of the Tui. My collector (Mr. Marklund) writes : " I took a run up Mount Anglian, but was caught in bad weather, and could not do much. I found the Tui and the Makomako at an elevation of 2,300 feet above the sea. It is a curious thing that scrub grows to 3,150 feet on Mount Anglian, whereas on Table Hill one loses all bush at 1,900 feet, and still the difference in latitude is so small." * It was from Mr. Swainson that I received my earliest lessons in zoological drawing. He had long before published a beautiful series of " Zoological Illustrations" (1820-21). "All the figures were drawn by the author, who, as an ornithological artist, had no rival in his time. Every plate is not beyond criticism, but his worst drawings show more knowledge of bird-life than do the best of his English or French contemporaries " (< Dictionary of Birds,' p. 28) ^w— — — — — 142 At the Bnller crossing— six miles from Westport— I found the Korimako, in 1898, very abundant.* I have from time to time recorded albinoes, more or less perfect, of this species; but there is in my son's collection a specimen in which the entire plumage is of a delicate olivaceous-yellow, the quills and tail-feathers being white with greyish webs. Bill and feet pale brown, instead of being respectively black and leaden-grey, as in the normal state. In the Nelson Museum there is another beautiful yellow specimen. The whole of the body-plumage is pale canary-yellow; the quills and tail-feathers, which are white, have their outer webs marked with yellow; bill and feet yellowish-brown. To the accidental varieties previously recorded, I have to add an albino received from Akaroa, the whole of the plumage being white, slightly tinged with golden-yellow. The last specimen of a Korimako's nest, containing eggs, received by me, was sent to England recently by Mr. W. W. Smith. It was taken from the collection formed by his late son, Walter Valentine, a youth of high promise, who was an ardent student of New Zealand ornithology. It is a good typical specimen, but differs from all other examples I have seen in the character of its lining. Invariably the cup is lined with soft feathers, but in this instance the material exclusively used is the soft pappus found attached to the dry seed- vessels of the pikiarero, or native Clematis. I lately had an opportunity of examining a collection of twenty-three eggs of this species, all from the South Island. I made the following notes : They vary only very slightly in size, but exhibit a considerable amount of variation in the markings. In most of them the ground-colour is white, in others it is suffused with a delicate blush of pink. Some have the larger end smeared and the rest of the surface irregularly spotted with rusty-brown ; in others the brown markings form an indistinct zone ; in some the brown is concentrated at the larger pole, the rest of the shell being entirely free from markings. In some specimens these markings are irregular, being streaky or blotchy ; in others they are rounded dots, being more or less confluent at the pole. Their colour varies from a dull umber- brown to a warm reddish-brown. In a few of them the markings are distributed over the entire surface in the form of minute speckles, without any appearance of a zone or any con- gestion at the larger pole. Two that I selected for the purpose measured, respectively, 0'75 in. by 0*625 in. and 0'88 in. by 0'55 in., both being slightly pyriform. I have seen an egg of this species conspicuously marked with scattered blotches of blackish -brown all over the surface. Mr. Percy Smith, the late Surveyor-General, has sent me the following interesting note : x In Dr. Lesson's ' Voyage aux lies Mangarewa ' I have come across the following : In a list of eighteen birds, of which he gives the native names, he ends by saying, * enfin le Komako, line espece cle Philedon qui ne quitte pas les lieux boises.' The resemblance of the name to our Komako or Korimako, together with its scientific name, being identical, would seem to prove that the Gambier Islands have a representative of our bird there. You have not noted the fact in your ' History,' so the information is probably new to you, and is of much interest." Specimens of this bird from the Auckland Islands appear to be, as a rule, a trifle larger than New Zealand examples. :: In a letter received from Mr. W. W. Smith, a member of the New Zealand Scenery Preservation Commission (dated Pipiriki, January 23rd, 1905), that gentleman says : "In my last note to you I stated that we had not met with the Korimako during our travels in the North Island. While passing down the Wanganui Eiver yesterday in a canoe, between Paranui Pa and Pipiriki, we heard several singing charmingly in the magnificent forest clothing the banks of the great river. To-day we were on the Pipiriki and Eaetiki road and again heard their rich notes in the beautiful primaeval bush crossing the whole extent of country we travelled through." — * '* i **i?i 143 Sir Joseph Banks says in his 'Journal' (p. 212): "Ship's Cove, Endeavour Inlet, January 17th, 1770 : I was awakened by the singing of the birds ashore, from whence we are distant not a quarter of a mile. Their numbers were certainly very great. They seemed to strain their throats with emulation, and made, perhaps, the most melodious wild music I have ever heard, almost imitating small bells, but with the most tunable silver sound imaginable, to which, maybe, the distance was no small addition. On enquiring of our people, I was told that they had observed them ever since we had been here, and that they begin to sing about one or two in the morning and continue till sunrise, after which they are silent all day, like our nightingales." (Korimakos must have changed their habits, for they have never sung at one or two in the morning in my time !) Mr. A. H. Turnbull, of Wellington, writing to me on January 9th, 1902, says : " I spent a week at Christmas in Queen Charlotte Sound, cruising about that beautiful arm of the sea in my yacht Iorangi. I was on the tracks of Captain Cook, and enjoyed myself thoroughly. Amongst other things, I was anxious to verify Professor Morris's statement that no Bell-birds now existed at Ship's Cove. Alas ! he was quite correct ! We rose at just before dawn- not a note to be heard of that music which so charmed Cook and his companions! I am pleased to say, however, that we observed Bell-birds at Grass Cove, on Arapawa Island, which forms the eastern side of the Sound. We got up at about 3.30 a.m., and heard the birds tolling loudly. The singing was magnificent, and the still morning air fairly throbbed with it. The settlers' explanation of why none of these birds are found on the mainland is that the stoats and weasels have destroyed them, whereas there are, as yet, none of these vermin on the Arapawa Island." Okder PASSERIFOEMES.l [Family MELIPHAGIDJE. AN THORN IS MELANOCEPHALA. (CHATHAM-ISLAND BELL-BIED.) Anthornis melanocephala, Gray ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 92. I have been fortunate enough to obtain some beautiful examples of this species from the Chatham Islands ; but, according to all accounts, the bird is very nearly extinct there. As far back as 1896, the late Mr. Hawkins wrote to me : " This bird, too, has very nearly disappeared. I have no difficulty in selling the skins for £1 a-piece ; so I have sought dili- gently for them, but it is very difficult to get any of them now." In the Colonial Museum there is a specimen of the nest from the Chatham Islands. It is a peculiar structure, being perfectly round or cup-shaped, with a very wide and deep cavity. It measures about five inches in diameter and is almost entirely composed of dry grass leaves intermixed with wiry stems. The cavity, which is about two and a half inches deep, is lined with sheeps' wool and a few feathers. In the Canterbury Museum there is a nest, assigned to this species, which is very different in appearance to that described above. It is composed of fine wiry twigs and grass stems, loosely put together, with a capacious cup, carefully lined with grass leaves. m*mm Order PASSERIFORMES.] [Family MELIPHAGID^E. P 11 S T II EMADERA NOV^ZEA L A N I) I M. (TUI OR PARSON-BIRD.) Prosthemadera novae-zealandiae (G-melin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 94. I consider it one of the principal charms of my country home at Papaitonga that the Tui is very plentiful there, enjoying the freedom of its native woods unmolested, and nesting freely wherever the local conditions are favourable. To add to the inducements to stay, I have planted the edges of the native bush with Australian Acacia, Eucalyptus, and Bottle- brush, the flowers of which trees are a "perpetual joy" to the Tui. Those who have observed this bird at all closely will be aware that it is in the nesting season — from September to December — that the Tui poses as a songster, and shows off to the greatest perfection. Whilst the hen-bird is sitting the male is accustomed to perch himself on the high limb of a tree not far distant from his mate, using this as a post of outlook ; and then, throughout the whole day, he pours out his soul in song. Puffing out his body feathers and gesticulating freely, so as to give greater emphasis to his melody, he produces quite a medley of musical notes, interspersed at intervals with that peculiar cough, and a sound not unlike the breaking of a pane of glass, followed by a series of gentle sobs. Then, quick as thought, he dashes upwards and makes a wide circuit in the air, or silently dives into the bush to exchange courtesies with his mate, snaps at a fly on the way, and then returns to his post of observation and song. After sunset, and as the shadows of evening begin to darken the forest, he alters his tune, and utters a succession of notes like the tolling of a distant bell. Many of the passages in the Tui's ordinary song are of sur- passing sweetness, and so rapid is the change from one set of notes to another that the naturalist never tires of listening to the wild melody. Both sexes sing, but in the breeding- season the female confines her efforts to a prolonged note like the low chirping of a turkey-hen. As already mentioned, the male has an evening song quite distinct from that of the bright morning. To many ears it has a resemblance to the tolling of a highly pitched silver bell, but to me it is more suggestive of the distant tapping on a metal anvil. Of course, these resemblances are merely fanciful, but the musical cadence of the note is exquisite, as all who are familiar with it will readily admit.* There can be no doubt that the protection extended to the Tui, some years ago, by a Government proclamation, has had a beneficial effect, for this beautiful and characteristic bird, which was becoming alarmingly scarce in some districts, has perceptibly increased. Although still killed in large numbers by the Maoris in remote districts, where the law is practically inoperative, during certain seasons of the year, it is effectually protected against the senseless killing by larrikins from the towns, and trade collectors, who at one time shot them by hundreds for the sale of the skin to ladies' costumiers in England. There is this to be said for the Maoris, that they will not allow the Tui to be killed wantonly or when out of condition. Their practice is to send a man out to spear a sample Tui after the berry season has commenced. The bird is then examined, and, if not fat enough, the slaughter of the Tuis is, by common consent, postponed for a time. In purely * On a quiet summer evening the Tui may sometimes be heard long after dusk. On the wooded shores of the Papaitonga Lake I have heard them tolling up to nine o'clock at night, the notes having a very sweet effect on the water. 145 native districts this rule is strictly observed, and, as a consequence, when the killing com- mences the birds are in prime condition, the body being then overlaid with rich yellow fat. By this means all unnecessary waste is avoided. From Hastings, under the date of January 18th, Captain (now Sir William) Eussell sent me the following note : " I have one good large plant of the mountain-flax growing in my garden here. It was planted by myself many years ago. This evening one Tui was hopping about it extracting the honey. Almost every season a pair of Tuis appear, when the flax-plant is in bloom, remain a day, and then vanish— where ? Why do they come ? And whence ? There is abundance of the swamp-flax not far away, but I have never observed a Tui upon it. There is no native bush, as you know, within miles of Hastings. Possibly you may not think the circumstance strange, and I mention it only because it seems so to me." In reply, I told Captain Eussell that the instance he records is by no means uncommon, but that it is quite impossible to account for these vagaries on the part of wild birds. I mentioned to him a very remarkable case within my knowledge of a Wood-Pigeon {Hemiphaga novcB-zealanclicB) which, for years past, had at a particular season visited a flowering yellow kowhai in a garden in front of Tinakori Eoad, in the suburbs of Wellington— miles away from the nearest haunt of the Pigeon — remaining a day and then disappearing. It may, I think, be safely assumed that the same individual bird came back season after season; and, whatever else it may indicate, it seems to furnish good evidence of the existence of memory in birds as a permanent faculty. The same thing has been observed of the common Sea Gull (Larus dominie anus) . Birds that have been reared by hand in the poultry-yard and have subsequently gone wild will, years after, revisit the scenes of their youth, regale themselves for a day with the fowls, then betake themselves to the sea again. One of the most remarkable features in the ornithology of New Zealand is the frequency of albinism. In the case of our common Tui (Prosthemadera novce-zealanclice) four examples are mentioned in 'Birds of New Zealand' (vol. i., p. 95). I have now to add several more. A singular specimen was obtained at Table Hill, about twelve miles from Milton, in March, 1887. The general plumage is white with a creamy tinge, the quills and tail-feathers being pure white. The forepart of the head is dull steel-black, which colour fades away into greyish- brown on the neck and upper part of the breast, and then gradually blends with the white. The bill and feet are of the normal colour ; but the claws are pale brown. In a fine example, shot by my son Percy, at Kaikoura, the greater wing-coverts are minutely tipped with white— a very unusual feature. From Stewart Island I have received a beautiful albino. The whole of the plumage is of the purest white, with the exception only of a tinge of cream colour on the shoulders, back, and sides of the body; the bill and feet are also white. This is now in the Tring Museum. An albino in Mr. Drew's collection has many of the quills in both wings, and the three middle tail-feathers wholly or partially normal; most of the secondaries in one wing partially white; cloudy patches of black on the shoulders and on the abdomen, with a few scattered black feathers on the breast ; the rest of the plumage pure white ; bill and feet normal. An albino specimen, lately added to my son's collection, has the head and throat smoky- brown; the whole of the body-plumage white, with a creamy tinge on the shoulders, breast and flanks. The Tui owes its present very efficient protection in some measure to the occurrence of a beautiful albino in the Taranaki district in the spring of 1902. This bird was shot by a simple country lad who knew nothing about the ' Wild Bird's Protection Act.' So lovely a specimen attracted a good deal of public attention, and the friend to whom the lad gave the bird promptly sent it to the Colonial Museum to be skinned. And now the trouble Yol. ii. — 19 ■■H 146 ¥ commenced ! The boy who shot the bird, and who did not really know that it ivas a Tui till he had it in his hand, was prosecuted for a breach of the prohibitory Act, and was fined ^3 10s. and costs, and the Tui itself, which was traced to the Museum, was con- fiscated to the Crown. Questions were asked about it in the Parliament which happened to be in session, the Member for Taranaki, with much vehemence, claimed the bird for the local museum, and the Press of the Colony was full of the incident. In this way the enactment, which hitherto had been little more than a dead letter, became known and was discussed in every settler's home. The snow-white Tui suffered destruction, but its life was not sacrificed in vain; for in the country districts it is now widely known that to shoot a Tui is a violation of the statute law and may be punished by fine or imprisonment. In this instance a fine of seventy shillings upon a country lad, who possessed nothing in the world, was a very exemplary punishment. My son Percy, who examined this specimen, writes me: "It is a beauty, being pure white except on the crown of the head, which is smoky-brown." But the most beautiful one I have seen is the " White Tui of Westport," belonging to Mr. Townson, whose collection of native birds has for years past been one of the attrac- tions of that town. On my last visit to Westport, Mr. Townson kindly presented this unique specimen to me, and it is now one of my ornithological treasures. It is a lovely bird, of snowy whiteness, without a single dark feather on any part of its body. It came into his possession alive, and he then noticed that it had jxile blue iricles. The bill and feet are white horn colour. A remarkable specimen which has been added to my son's collection, has the head and neck all round, the whole of the breast and sides of the body umber-brown, the feathers of the breast having pale shafts ; neck-frill very indistinct, being often reduced to mere shaft-lines of white ; upper surface of body, wings and tail creamy-white, with a broad alar bar of pure white ; thighs, abdomen, and upper and lower tail-coverts pale yellowish-brown ; quills and tail-coverts umber-brown on their inner webs ; neck-bands pure white ; bill and feet horn-coloured. The Rev. Canon Stack writes: "I want to tell you, before I forget, about a curious acquired habit I have noticed in the imported Starlings. The roof of my house is a favourite breeding-place, and we always have them about us. Close to the house, along a running stream, native flax grows in abundance. While this was in flower I noticed what I thought to be Tuis sucking the honey. The action of the birds on the flax-stalks exactly resembled that of Tuis, but on examining them more closely I discovered that they were Starlings. Have they learnt the habit from seeing the Tuis, which they probably mistook for their own species ?" Mr. W. W. Smith, in a communication to the 'Entomologist,' says: "The Tui or Parson-bird (Prostliemadera novce-zealcmdice) has been detected killing the introduced Humble Bees of Akaroa, on Banks Peninsula. The case is remarkable as illustrating how new habits are acquired, or family habits are destroyed in some species of birds when certain conditions are present. As the Tui is one of the native Honey-suckers, it is possible it also was killing Humble Bees to feed its young (as the introduced Starlings are in the habit of doing) when it discovered the honey-sac of the insects. The Tui, while engaged in killing the Bees, would discover their honey-sac, which would also lead to a continuance of the habit as a ready means of procuring their favourite food." I have read somewhere that specimens of Strejiera graculina, in Australia, shot in the neighbourhood of Sydney, sometimes exhibit a violet discolouration in their internal parts, this being occasioned through the birds feeding upon a species of ink-weed. The same thing happens in the case of the Tui, when feeding on the tutu, mahoe, and other highly coloured berries. 147 As I have already stated (vol. L, p. 9), Maoris are fond of keeping pet Tuis and teaching them to "talk." Many stories are told of the proficiency these birds sometimes attain. Mr. Elsdon Best has furnished the following samples of speeches taught to this bird, with more or less success: — Uia te marmhiri me ko wai, Uia te manuhuri me ko wai. Ko Tu koe, ko Eongo koe, ko whakamau tarawa. Tahia te wananga-e ! ko matiti, Ko matiti-kura, ko matiti-aro. Ko te when, ko te whare, te whare patahi-e Huia te rangiora. Erongo ki waho-e. Haere mai ! Haere mai ! E te manuhiri tuarangi. Kaore he kai o te kainga. Kai tawhiti te kai. Moi moi-e ! Haere mai ! E-he ! E-he ! Kai tuwha ! The Tui or Koko was tamed by the old-time Maori, and was often taught to talk. Cases are on record where they have been taught to repeat karakia (invocations), and such an accomplished bird was highly prized. Again, they were taught to welcome guests arriving at the village. The same intelligent writer gives the following account of Maori methods of taking the Tui:— The Koko or Tui were taken by the pae, spear, tahei (snares), mutu and whakamoe. The mutu (or mutumutu) is like a small mutu-kaka, the perch being about four inches in length. It is fastened to a pole, and manipulated as the 'pewa,' of which more anon. The mutu must not have a new appear- ance, or the birds will not settle upon it. It is exposed to the weather to give it an old appearance (kia hiwia) and make it resemble a weather-beaten dry branch. The end of the perch and the lashing are con- cealed by moss, fastened on in a cunning manner by the wily fowler. When the Koko are feeding upon the mako berries they will not respond to the call leaf, and at such a time are speared with the maiere. ' Tahei,' or sets of noose snares, were set on trees and around pools of water, as for the Pigeon . The ' whakamoe ' method of taking the Koko is somewhat curious. It could only be effected on very cold, frosty nights, when the birds become so cold on the perches that they could be taken by hand. The natives state that the birds become quite benumbed, and so much affected by the cold, that they are as it were frozen to the perch. In the evening the perches or resting places of the Koko are located, and the way thereto marked, either by bending down branches or by placing on the ground leaves of the rangiora, with the white side uppermost. This enables the fowlers to return to the resting-places of the birds, at a late hour of the night, when the frost and cold have rendered the Tui powerless to fly. Armed with torches, they return, two men working together. One man remains below, while the other climbs the tree and takes the birds by hand. The birds do not awaken ; they are at that season very fat, and are paralysed by the cold (ka tikona e te huka). The man puts the birds into a basket as he takes them. Should a bird fall it cannot fly, but falls to the ground, where fowler No. 2 secures it. It will utter a cry as it falls, but that is of no moment. "He koko whakamoe, ka mate te tangata." This is an old saying for people of a pa found asleep, or with no sentries set, by an attacking force. " The sleepy heads are slain as easy as is the frozen Koko." The ' pewa ' is a device used principally for taking the Tihe and sometimes the Tieke. It is a most ingenious perch, set with a loop snare, and worked as a mutu-kaka, the pole and perch being, however, as one, the lashing carefully covered with moss, and on the outer end of the perch is tied a bunch of berries, such as the kueo, or sometimes flowers, as the kahika (blossom of the rata) or the aka-tawhiwhi, The pewa is used in the winter season. I have described in the 'Birds of New Zealand' (vol. i., p. 99) the nest of the Tui, always constructed of small twigs and moss intermixed, with a neatly lined cavity iPVMMNHNMMHHMPK7T» : 148 for the eggs. The moss generally used is a soft, light green kind, which is found trailing from the branches of young trees in the forest; the same with which the Maoris in- variably disguise their " tuke " or snares. But I have known the Tui in certain localities substitute the greenish-white kohukohu (Usnea), which is seen hanging about the branches of the kahikatea and other trees at the edges of swampy ground. When perfectly dry this is very soft and yielding, and no doubt it suits the Tui's purpose as well as the green forest moss. I met with exactly the same epiphytic growth in the Rocky Mountains and in the United States of America. Here it is utilised by a particular species of bird, the Parula Warbler (Compsothlypis americana)—^ lovely little bird attired in purple and orange and white—which constructs its nest of this lichen, and uses no other material. There are two or three pretty pensile nests of this bird in the Museum of the Academy at Philadelphia. Sir H. H. Johnston reports that in the Uganda forests, in Africa, the trees are sometimes richly draped with the Usnea lichen. A nest of this species (now in the Otago Museum) was found by our ' Sounds excursion party' fixed in the branches of a makomako (Aristotelia racemosa), about 12 feet from the ground, at the head of Milford Sound. It is of symmetrical shape, and firmly put together, the outworks consisting of twigs and soft tree-moss, then a layer of fern-^ hair, and inside of this a lining of white feathers. Curiously enough, these are sea-birds' feathers, the builder of the nest having evidently repaired to the shores of the Sound to collect them. On examining a series of ten eggs I find that they vary a good deal both as to shape and colouring. For the most part they are of a narrow ovoido-elliptical form, with a very ■, pronounced smaller end, but a few of them are less acuminate, and one is broadly ovoid. A typical one measures 1*25 in. by 0*80 in.; the more rounded one I have mentioned measures 1125 in. by 0'88 in. This is almost entirely white, with only a few indistinct widely scattered rusty or pale red spots towards the larger end. The most highly coloured example is of a delicate creamy-white • or salmon tint, the larger end darker and thickly spotted and dotted with pale brown, these markings forming an indistinct zone. Two other eggs are almost exactly similar to this one, but with a paler ground, and all three are probably from one nest. Another set of three have scattered, somewhat obscure, pale brown markings over the entire surface. The three remaining ones (presumably from one nest) are white, with here and there a speck of pale brown, chiefly at the end. Obder PASSERIFORMES.l [Family MELIPHAGIMS. A C A N T H C H M R A C A P. UNCULA T A . (AUSTRALIAN HONEY-EATER.) Anthochaera carunculata (Latham), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 106. I am not aware that any more stragglers of this well-known species have been observed in New Zealand since the publication of my work. Order PASSERIFORMES.l [Family ZOSTEBOPIDiE. ZOSTEEOPS C M 11 U LESOENS. (SILVEE-EYE.) Zosterops caerulescens (Latham), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 77. The history of the arrival from the South and subsequent stay in the North Island of this little migrant is familiar to all who know anything of our local natural history. Its services to the agriculturist and to the gardener are also pretty generally recognised. But one is always glad to record fresh evidence in favour of any deserving bird— especially, too, when there is a widespread prejudice abroad against little birds in general, and an organised crusade for their destruction. As an instance of this, I may refer to a newspaper paragraph to the effect that during a period of three months the Knapdale Eoad Board (Otago) pur- chased the large number of 56,612 birds' eggs, for the purpose of destroying them. I am glad, therefore, to give the following from my excellent local correspondent, Mr. Bobert Wilson : " The Blight-bird is undoubtedly on the increase in the Bangitikei district. They seem to have found a winter food in the introduced insects, and may now always be seen flying about the run in flocks. The food they are now chiefly subsisting on is a little caterpillar — a striped-green species — which does great harm to the crops in summer. These are now — September— to be found all over grass-lands — under logs, sticks, &c. — and the Blight-bird pursues them indefatigably. When I am working at a fence they will sometimes be within a couple of yards of me, searching every cranny for insects. They are par- ticularly fond of diving out of sight into a common tussock (Gar ex), the plant which grows so freely on the hills, and they crawl about under any fallen scrub, looking for insects, and keeping up a pleasant cheeping all the time. I have sometimes seen them with a caterpillar nearly as big as themselves battering it against a wire on a fence till it was reduced enough to swallow. They must do immense service to farmers at this time of the year, as one caterpillar now means thousands in summer. As every one knows, it is very fond of the American blight, which is so destructive to the apple-trees. There is an orchard close to a patch of native bush on the farm, and the Blight - birds keep it entirely free from this pest. Though the blight sometimes, in hot weather, makes a start on the trees, in winter these birds always keep it under." In Fiji I saw small flocks exactly resembling our Blight-bird in their flight and habits, but on shooting one I found that it was quite a distinct species. It has a more con- spicuous eye-ring, with a beautiful lemon-yellow throat, and only the slightest indication of brown on the sides of the body. A charge of feasting on pears having been formulated against the Zosterops, an " Old Colonist " came to the rescue in a letter to the Canterbury Press, in which he makes a very good defence : " Under an excellent illustration of Wax-eyes sucking up the juice out of holes made by English birds in the pears, I read ' Blight-birds or Wax-eyes having a feast of pears.' This will mislead a great many people, for there are so many who do not notice that the beaks of all native birds are much too slender to make holes in fruit, and they will think them so very destructive that they will kill all they can. If it had been put that they were having a feast of pear juice everybody would have known they were not destroying the fruit. Afterwards a short note should have been added, saying that English birds had picked the holes. I have lived in New Zealand for forty-seven years, and no fruit was picked till the English birds were brought many years afterwards." 150 I may mention that in one of the local collections there is an eccentric egg of Zosterops more than a third smaller than the ordinary egg and the colour far more intense. It was found associated with an egg of the normal type. In describing Zosterops westernensis in the " Catalogue of Birds in the British Museum," Dr. Sharpe expresses his astonishment that this widely distributed species should have escaped notice ; the only mention of it being Mr. Gould's statement that " some specimens of Z. ccerulescens had the throat waxy yellow." Mr. A. J. North investigated the subject with great care, and made a critical examination of nearly fifty skins, in every stage of plumage, obtained in the neighbourhood of Sydney. The result of his observations is thus summed up by him ('Bee. Aust-Mus.,' vol. ii., p. 99) : " Zosterops westernensis of Quoy and Gaimard, the type of which was obtained by them at Western Port, Victoria, is only the spring and summer attire of Z. ccerulescens of Latham. Taking the two extreme phases of winter plumage exhibited in Z. cceru- lescens, it can be easily understood why each phase should be thought to belong to a distinct species ; and it is only where one has these birds under daily observation, and obtains specimens during every month of the year, that the intermediate stage, or the gradual transition of one phase of plumage to the other, is observed. . ; . . Typical examples of Latham's Z. cceru- lescens, with the deep tawny-buff flanks and grey throat, the autumn and winter attire of this species, may be obtained in the neighbourhood of Sydney from the middle of April to the end of August. . . . During August and September, however, the gradual transition from the winter to the spring attire (the Zosterops westernensis of Quoy arid Gaimard) is slowly taking place, and by the middle of October not a bird is to be seen with the deep tawny-buff flanks and the grey throat. Specimens shot in November had the throats of a brighter olive-yellow than at any other period of the year ; the flanks at that time being of a very pale tawny- brown. At mid-summer, when the breeding season with the species is virtually over, the throat is slightly paler than in the spring, and this livery is retained until the beginning of March. The flanks then become darker, increasing in intensity of colour from that time forward; the yellow feathers on the throat also disappearing and passing into grey until the autumn livery is again fully assumed by the end of April. . . . All through the year some specimens are found with the under tail-coverts tinged or washed with yellow." I have taken the New Zealand bird, for specimens, at all seasons of the year and I have never observed these changes of plumage. This is Mr. Elsdon Best's account of the taking of this bird as told in his ' Sketches from Tuhoeland ': — The small bird known as Pihipihi is taken in great numbers still for food. Two upright poles about five feet high are stuck in the ground, generally in a clearing near the edge of a forest. Across the top, from pole to pole, is fastened a stick called the ' rongohua,' and underneath that a cord or piece of flax is tied across from pole to pole. This string is the ' tau maimoa,' and to it are tied the first few birds caught, generally by the beak. These birds being alive make great efforts to escape, and thus, in their fluttering, attract other birds. The fowler, rod in hand, is seated beneath a slight shelter of boughs or fern-fronds, and strikes down the birds as they flutter about the ' tau maimoa.' Great numbers of the Pihipihi are here yearly preserved in fat. The birds are so small that the only preparation they undergo is being plucked, head, bones, and inside being eaten. The Porete, or Paroquet, is taken in a similar manner. This is termed a ' tanga kakanki.' Another method of taking the Paroquet is termed the ' koputa.' A rough shed is built near the edge of the bush. Branches are stuck in the ground, the tops being bent over to form the roof, the front of the shed being left open. Inside, and near the back of the shed, small poles are placed horizontally, as perches. These are the ' kurupae.' Near them short sticks (turuturu) are stuck in the ground, and to them are fastened the decoy Paroquets, to attract the birds within the shed. The fowler then procures some fronds of the fern known as paraharaha, which he bunches or arranges in a certain manner, and then ties to the end a long stick. When he sees a flock of Paroquets (pokai porete) he waves this pole to and fro. This attracts the birds, which soon settle on trees near the shed. wmsmmmmMMmimmmmmmmmmimmmimmmmMHm ■HMMii 151 The fowler then conceals himself behind the hut. He has lying by his side a number of short sticks, each with a noose (tari or reti) attached to one end. He calls the birds by placing the sides of his hand to his mouth, and imitating the sounds made by the Porete when flitting about. The birds soon commence to enter the hut and settle on the ' kurupae/ where they watch intently the decoy birds fastened to the ' turuturu,' just in front and below the ' kurupae.' When a goodly number of birds have settled on the perches, the fowler takes up a stick and pushes it through the screen. He slips the noose over the head of a bird and thus secures it, and so on until he has used all his snares, when he resets them and makes a fresh start. The call leaf was used for attracting many of the smaller birds, the leaf of a plant called pepepe being often used, as also various other kinds of leaves. To take the little Momoutu the fowler twirls a leaf rapidly between his fingers, at the same time imitating the cry of the bird. It is said that the bird mistakes the twirling leaf for its young, and will come so close as to be caught by hand. The Momoutu is now extinct in Tuhoeland. The raurekau, or leaf of the manono (Goprosma grandifolia), is used to call the Koko or Tui, as also the Tihe, Eearea, Tieke, Kokako and Tataeto, by the ' pae ' method. Mr. W. W. Smith, writing on September 28th, 1903, says :— I ought to mention the great rarity of the Silver-eye (Zosterops ccsrulescens) in this district during the last five years. Since the dull, cold winter of 1898 I have seen only two small flocks, of about eight or nine individuals in each, instead of the large flocks numbering occasionally hundreds that visited the settled districts in the open Canterbury Plains in former years. The scarcity of food caused by the two previously cool, wet summers is unquestionably the cause of their non-appearance on the Plains as in former winters. I am informed by residents of Mount Somers that these interesting little birds are now scarce in the bush districts compared to their numbers of five years ago. It is, as you are aware, very difficult to procure accurate infor- mation as to their numbers, migratory instincts, and habits in the extensive and recently settled districts in the North Island. I am, nevertheless, of opinion that the species is much affected by the continuously chilly summers and lack of food in the settled districts in the South Island, which has compelled them to migrate to the warm West Coast or to the North Island. Let us hope, however, that the species is not undergoing any decadence from climatological or other effects. Dr. Forbes records the new fact, that in the Chatham Islands these birds at certain seasons frequent the shores of Hanson's Bay in myriads and feed on the little Sand-hoppers (Crustaceans of the Amphipodous group). Captain Hutton writes : ' We found the White- eye both on the Snares and Auckland Islands, and Filhol has reported its presence on Campbell Island. A nest with three addled eggs was found on the Auckland Islands in the branches of a Dracophyllum longifolium." Order PASSERIFOKMES.l [Family MOTACILLID^E. A N T H US NO YJE -ZEALANDIZE. (NEW-ZEALAND PIPIT.) Anthus novae-zealandiae (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. i., p. 63. It is very clear that these birds congregate in the autumn. On March 21st, 1882, I found them forming into parties of ten or more in the Taupo-Patea country, where this bird is more plentiful than any other species. At other times they are generally to be seen singly or in pairs. During a ride to and from Owhaoko (April 22nd to 29th) I met with numerous flocks, numbering from twenty to fifty at a time. I hardly saw a single bird detached from the flocks. ~ «'*HRMHi 152 i" r ' '-'"*! I have already noticed the inquisitive disposition of this Pipit, and mentioned the circum- stance of a flock keeping pace with a train for some miles. As you ride along the road they keep before you, almost allowing your horse to tread on them, then rising with a shrill "cheep," flying a few yards further, and so on again, till their curiosity is satisfied, when they wheel upwards and fall to the rear. A partial albino from Canterbury has the upper surface of wings, sides of body and abdomen, scapulars and tail-feathers greyish-white, the rest of the plumage normal. A specimen which I saw in Dunedin in January last had the entire plumage of the body pure white, the head only betraying the natural colours. A specimen which I purchased from Mr. W. Smyth, of Caversham, has the entire plumage creamy-white, more or less stained on the upper surface, especially on the back, with pale yellowish-brown. Mr. Langley, of Foxton, forwarded to me for examination the skin of a pure albino of this species, very skilfully prepared by himself. There is also another perfect albino in the Colonial Museum collection, obtained, I believe, in the Hawke's Bay district. Mr. Eobert Mair writes : " On a small island about four and a half miles from the Poor Knights, and about eleven from the shore, the only land-bird I saw was a Pihoihoi (Ground Pipit). Eather a strange place, I thought, for him!" There is no difference whatever in the plumage of the sexes. Out of a good number I collected on one occasion, a bird I picked out as being a male proved on subsequent dissection to be a female, and vice versa. The nest of this species is composed entirely of fine grass stems, placed loosely together, and is generally accommodated to horses' footprints or other depressions in the ground. Dr. Otto Finsch who, in 1875, paid a visit to New Zealand and travelled through both islands, published an account of his experiences, in which he stated that by far the com- monest bird observed by him was this Pipit, which he met with everywhere. What is the record now ? Mr. W. W. Smith, in a letter dated August 15th, 1903, says : — In crossing the great Ashburton moraine, which is an ideal habitat of the native Pipit {Anthus novce- zealandice), we did not see a single specimen of this familiar old-time species. It would now be a rare and pleasant occurrence, when riding across the open country, to observe a single Pipit, running and flying short distances, alternately, along the tussock track, which habit you have so accurately sketched. I painfully regret the disappearance of this denizen of the open tussock country. There are some ornithologists who would not find any difficulty in distinguishing sub- species, founded on variations, in as common a bird as our House Sparrow. I can hardly regard as more serious the attempt that has been made to differentiate three sub-species of this common Pipit under the distinctive names of the typical Anthus novce-zealandicB novce- zealandice, A. novce-zealandice reischeM, and A. novce-zealandice chathamiensis, and I have carefully studied the minute descriptions given by Dr. Yon Lorenz (in the Annals of the Hofmuseum of Vienna, xvii., 1902), but I can find nothing to justify the proposed separation. These forms are founded on minute variations in the plumage ; but, while admitting a certain amount of individual variation, I am quite unable to accept these distinctions as specific. I notice that Captain Hutton, when exhibiting to the Philosophical Society of Canterbury an albino English Skylark, referred to it as the first example of the kind obtained in New Zealand. This is not exactly the case, however, for in 1886 I received two specimens from Mr. W. W. Smith, of Ashburton. One of these I presented to the British Museum and the other to the Cambridge Museum. The fact is interesting, in itself, as showing the strong tendency to albinism in this country even among introduced birds. wmmnmemmm MmsmmmmamamBmamBmn 153 The last letter received from Mr. W. W. Smith, who is visiting every part of New Zealand as a member of the Scenery Preservation Commission (dated Botorua, November 12th, 1905), contains the following interesting observations on the habits of this species :— I observed an article lately in a London journal on your work on New Zealand birds which induces me to send you just a few notes. A week ago we were at the Hot Lakes and Hot Springs, Taupo, for several days. I was very much interested in seeing the Ground Lark (Anthus novce-zealandice) walking about in the hot water flowing over the beautiful siliceous terraces and feeding on the numerous diptera and dipterous larvae living on and in the water. Some mornings there were at least fifteen of these birds wading through the hot, shallow, steaming water flowing over the terraces. Pied Fantails were also numerous, flitting through the steaming air, sub- sisting on minute flies. They were at times quite invisible in the steam filling the valley on calm days. The Larks were there generally in the early morning ; but the Fantails were there all day, excepting when the wind was too strong to permit their tiny prey to be on the wing. On November 8th we visited Ohaki and Orakei-Korako, on the Waikato. At the former place I observed a pair of Pied Stilts also walking around the edges of the hot pools and fumeroles. Mr. Percy Smith informed me that before the destruction of the magnificent Pink and White Terraces by the Tarawera eruption on June 10th, 1886, he had seen thousands of these birds walking about and feeding on insects inhabiting the hot water flowing over these siliceous masses. I may also mention that when at Eotokawa, near Taupo, we observed numbers of English Starlings nesting in the holes and crevices formed in the perpendicular sulphur walls surrounding the circular fumeroles and boiling mud-pools. Many of the walls, as you are aware, are of great height. They must, however, be subject to great heat at times, as the steam and sulphurous vapour sweep up their faces. It is interesting as illustrating how the introduced birds adapt themselves to conditions wholly different from those of their former home. I am pleased to say that the Kiwis, including albinoes, are still numerous in the Kaimanawa Kanges. I made numerous enquiries respecting them when at Tokanu. I hope the Natural History Committee of the forthcoming Christchurch Exhibition will make a good display of the Native birds. They are certainly working earnestly at present with a view to doing so. Oedbe PASSERIFORMES.] [Family MOTACILLIDiE. ANTHUS AUOKLANDICUS. (AUCKLAND-ISLANDS PIPIT.) Anthus aucklandicus, Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 254. Although hitherto rejected by me, I feel constrained at last to admit the Auckland Island Ground Pipit to the rank of a separate species. I have had an opportunity of examining a series of specimens representing the adult male and female and the young. On com- paring these birds with specimens of Anthus novce-zealandice the difference is at once apparent. In the Auckland Island bird the white superciliary streak is wanting; the feathers of the upper surface are not margined as in Anthus novce-zealandice, and the under-parts, instead of being white, are of a fulvous cream -colour, slightly mottled on the sides of the breast with brown. Vol. ii.— 20 ||MMMHWpi)Wl«iM ■ miii 154 Young. — A young bird, just from the nest, has the plumage of the upper surface strongly suffused with fulvous, the quills and their coverts, as well as the tail-feathers, broadly margined with fulvous, and the face, throat and under-parts entirely of that colour. The outer tail-feathers, which are white in the adult, are of a uniform pale fulvous. This colour is brightest on the fore-neck and breast, where the feathers are obscurely centred with brown. I have received a specimen from Antipodes Island, which does not differ from the Auckland Island bird, except that it is somewhat darker and yellower, being evidently a younger bird. Specimens have likewise been received from Campbell Island. Referring to two specimens in my collection purchased from Mr. Henry Travers, that gentleman writes : "I saw this bird myself on Eose Island, one of the Auckland group, and shot it there ; so mine is positive evidence as against any theory to the contrary. Mr. Bethune's belief that it does not exist there rests on merely negative evidence of his never having actually seen it." In the ' Transactions of the N.Z. Institute,' vol. xxi., p. 388, Mr. Eeischek, after con- sultation with Professor Thomas and Mr. Cheeseman, at the Auckland Museum, described a new Ground Lark or Pipit from Antipodes Island, and named it Anthus steindachneri, after the Director of the Imperial Museum at Vienna. I have not seen the type, but the description of the bird given by Mr. Eeischek indicates no difference between this bird and Anthus aucklandicus. Order PASSERIFORMES.] [Family STURNIMS. H E T E R ALOCHA AC U T I R OS T R I S. (HUIA.) Heteralocha acutirostris, Gould; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 7. I do not know of any more picturesque sight in the New Zealand woods — now, alas ! the opportunities are becoming few and far between — than that of a small party of these hand- some birds, playfully disporting themselves among the branches, in the intervals between their customary feeding times. Take for our purpose a dense piece of native vegetation — jungle I may call it — aiid furnish it, in imagination, with two pairs of these graceful ebony-coloured Starlings with their prominent orange-yellow wattles. They are hopping actively from branch to branch, and at short intervals balance themselves and spread to their full extent their broad white-tipped tails, as if in sheer delight; then the sexes meet for a moment to caress each other with their beautiful ivory bills, while they utter a low, whimpering love-note ; and then, without any warning, as if moved by a sudden inspiration, they bound off in company, flying and leaping in succession, to some favourite feeding-place, far away in the silent depths of the forest. I ! *~*£5k ">r-«r*?B 155 The beautiful Huia, famous alike in Maori tradition and song, is becoming every year more scarce, notwithstanding its close protection by a statute which, I am glad to say, is very rigidly enforced by the police in the bush districts. Its decrease is, no doubt, owing mainly to the inevitable destruction of its favourite forest haunts in the steady march of European settlement, large areas of bush -land being annually cleared and burnt off in every district. Apart from this, the periodical recurrence of devastating bush-fires, originating nobody knows how, is altering the whole aspect of the country. However much this may be deplored, it is one of the necessary accompaniments of colonisation in a country like New Zealand. Owing to such causes, the range of the Huia, always very limited in extent, is becoming more and more restricted every year, and its ultimate fate is not a matter of mere speculation. I was never more impressed with this than when I made an ascent of the Euahine Eange in July, 1898. A wide spread conflagration had swept through and killed many thousands of acres of virgin forest on the side of the range towards Woodville ; but on getting beyond and above this scene of desolation, we found the mountain-side clad with thick vegetation. This con- sists on the lower ranges of the usual mixture of native trees, but at a higher elevation it changes almost entirely to tawhero, or mountain-cedar, which becomes more and more stunted the further you ascend, till at length it is as gnarled and twisted in its growth as the olives of Gethsemane, to which, indeed (according to Bishop Stuart), the trees in this con- dition present a remarkable likeness. At an altitude of 1,800 feet the lovely Todea superba made its first appearance, but this fern soon became the dominant plant, and we at length found ourselves in patches of it many acres in extent, looking very beautiful in symmetrical fronds of vivid green. We reached the summit of Whariti (3,500 feet) in good time, and then stood on the dividing line between the provincial districts of Wellington and Hawke's Bay. The sky being clear, we had a magnificent panoramic view of the surrounding country, both east and west coasts being visible, and the cone of Mount Egmont in the far north, whilst a distant veil of cloud alone prevented our seeing Euapehu and the burning mountain. We descended by the same route, crossing several densely wooded spurs, and arriving at the foot of the range before nightfall. Although the season was favourable, and the weather perfect, there was an almost total absence of bird-life. During the whole excursion we never saw or even heard the note of the Tui; we shot a Kaka, heard a Parakeet, and saw a single Huia (a fine female bird), which, on our near approach, went bounding through the mountain vegetation with the swiftness of a greyhound. Our attention was first attracted to it by the peculiar whimpering- note, which I have described elsewhere — very soft and musical. Formerly this was a favourite haunt of this elegant mountain Starling, which could always be attracted by an imitation of its peculiar whistling cry; now it has all but vanished. Seeing that excellent insular preserves have been acquired by the Government, it seems to me a great pity that an effort is not made, before it is too late, to capture a few live Huias and turn them out on the Little Barrier, on Kapiti, and on Eesolution Island. Unless this be done, the final extinction of this species can only be a matter of a few years. Its powers of flight are so limited — its progression being generally effected by a bounding movement through the branches — that, once safely introduced, there would be no danger of its quitting its island home for the mainland; and the difference of climate at the three points I have indicated would give the experiment every chance of success. The cost would be very small, as this bird is easily snared; and, if the Government would not defray the trifling expenditure necessary, the task might be properly undertaken by the local Acclimatisation Society. From a zoo- logical point of view, it is even of more importance to preserve the Huia for the student oAhe future than the little Stitch-Bird, about which so much has of late been said and ■MjrnMpi ■ mm MHMPJ _^ r 156 written. The Huia is more tameable than perhaps any other New Zealand bird, and will accept suitable food almost immediately after being caught ; so there would be no practical difficulty in effecting its transportation to any part of the colony. It should be remembered, also, that this was part of the original scheme proposed by Lord Onslow, whose celebrated memorandum to his Ministers gave the first impulse to this insular-conservation which has so taken hold of the popular fancy. To show how much scarcer this bird is than it was formerly, I may mention that in 1892, accompanied by Mr. Morgan Carkeek, I made an expedition into the wooded ranges at the back of Waikanae. We crossed the Akatarewa saddle, at an elevation of 1,200 feet into the valley of the Hutt, and made a ten-mile circuit over the wooded ranges, cutting our path with bill-hooks through the virgin forest, rendered almost impervious by a tangle of kiekie and supplejack, and camped several nights in the woods. During the whole ex- pedition we only saw a single Huia — which I shot — a male bird, which visited our camp in the early morning. Mr. Carkeek assures me that when exploring and surveying in these ranges only five or six years before the Huia was comparatively plentiful. On a more recent occasion, accompanied by a Maori, I visited the portion of the Forty- mile Bush, where, as related in my account of the species (vol. i., 2nd ed., pp. 8-17), I obtained so many specimens in 1883, but the bush has completely disappeared before the advancing wave of European settlement. From Pahiatua we rode for twenty miles through clearings exhibiting nothing but charred stumps, the whole of this country having been at the time of my former visit covered with beautiful forest. From the practical standpoint of material advancement, there is nothing regrettable in this ; but the fact remains that the home of the Huia is being swept away, and, although these birds, in greatly diminished numbers, .have taken refuge in the wooded mountain ranges, the date of their extinction cannot be very far distant. In conversation with intelligent men in the survey parties, I obtained some interesting- particulars relating to the Huia in its native haunts. As illustrating its extreme docility, even in a wild state, Petersen, a very observant man in the survey party, who was specially recommended to me by Mr. Climie, the head surveyor, because of his knowledge of the Huia and his habits, related the following incidents: On one occasion, almost immediately after pitching a temporary camp in the ranges, Petersen found that a pair of Huias had a nest in the vicinity — in fact, not more than ten yards from the camp. On an old gnarled rata a branch overhung another part of the tree in such a way as to present a broad covered ledge, and this was the spot the birds had selected for their nest. There were three young ones ; this being the only instance, Petersen says, of his finding so many, the usual number being two. The Huias were very tame and fearless, the female bird allowing herself to be handled on the nest. In the evening Petersen took her off, and, placing her on the ground near the camp fire, gave her some food, which was very readily taken. The bird was then replaced on the nest, and manifested no concern at this familiarity. In a few days' time the survey party had to shift camp, and, to their credit, the Huia, with her callow young remained unmolested. On another occasion he found a Huia's nest con- taining a single nestling; this was low down in a wooded valley near a stream of water, whereas all others seen by him were near the summit of the range. The nest was not in a hollow tree, but in the depression formed at the top of a truncated one, with a mass of overhanging vines and epiphytic growth, affording it complete shelter. He took the nestling and placed it in a cage made of kareao-vine, which was then suspended from the ridge-pole inside the men's tent. The old birds followed him to the camp, and continued to feed their young one, coming into the tent for that purpose, quite regardless of the men's presence. The mmmmMmmm 157 nestling got strong and robust, but was so noisy in the early morning that the men complained of its disturbing their rest, so the owner passed it on to a settler in the Makuri valley. He kept it for a considerable time, but one frosty night its cage was left exposed, and in the morning the Huia was dead. Shortly after this, one of the survey hands brought him two Huias taken from one nest. The old birds remained in the vicinity ; and after facetiously 'making a new species," by snipping off the white tips of the tail-feathers with a pair of scissors, he turned the young birds adrift, whereupon they joined their anxious parents and disappeared in the woods. The nesting-season of this species must be well over at the end of November, for all the female birds I obtained at that date, although greatly denuded of feathers on their under-parts by their protracted, labours in the way of incubation, were recovering their yellow fat in various parts of the body. I think the male bird must assist more or less in the work of incubation, for most of those I killed at that period had the under-parts bare, but to nothing like the extent presented by the other sex. In the stomachs of eight which I opened at this season I found very few insect remains, but abundance of vegetable matter, among which I was able to distinguish a ripe berry of porokaiwiria and the pulp of others, with numerous seeds of tawhero and kaikomako. In the stomach of one I found a spider, and the remains of a small weta or tree-cricket. I was informed by the late Mr. Drew, of Waganui, that he had a beautiful albino Huia offered to him in the flesh, but unfortunately allowed it to pass him. I afterwards endeavoured to trace this specimen, but without success. I know it is the fashion to raise a wail over the disappearance of the New Zealand birds, and to invoke the powers in the way of protective measures. But there are certain species which, from the nature of the case, it is impossible to preserve, and it seems to me that the Huia is one of these. The Maoris, with their usual directness, struck the nail on the head when they said to the Government : " You have prohibited the killing of the Huia, under a heavy penalty, and yet you allow the forests, whence it gets its subsistence, to be destroyed! Where is the consistency of that?" This was on the occasion when the Govern- ment, out of a very proper feeling, and, in compliance with the Governor's request, issued a proclamation protecting this beautiful bird, whose name Lord Onslow had adopted for his New Zealand-born son. The argument is true enough, and, indeed, unanswerable. From what I have related, it will be seen that, with the progress of settlement the forests where the Huia formerly abounded have almost entirely disappeared. It was hoped that the Huia, on being driven from these domains, would take refuge in the mountains; and to a certain extent they have done so, but the cold of the winter drives them down to the lowlands, and and now their forest home no longer exists. From the accounts I have given of my own ascents of the Tararua and Euahine Mountains, it is clear that, whatever be the cause, they do not survive to any great number in the supposed refuge. For this reason, I think it is to be regretted that more specimens of a bird destined ere long to become extinct do not exist in our local museums. A few years hence it will be impossible to obtain any. For- tunately, long before the introduction of the prohibitory law, I had secured a dozen or more superb specimens for my own collection. Without exception, these were obtained in what was then known as the " Forty-mile Bush," a district now entirely covered with green fields and smiling farms, as I have already stated. One is glad, of course, to see the country thus reclaimed, but it is no less gratifying to reflect upon the fine representative series of these birds obtained, before it was too late, for the student of the future. No one is more in sympathy with protective legislation than myself, that is to say, where it can be applied with any success ; but here, as in everything else, we must be rational. Even Professor 158 ■ mm Newton, who is known to be a great advocate for protection, says in a recent letter to me : l The New Zealand Act is, I daresay, a very laudable and much wanted measure, but unless it is very unlike everything else of the sort known to me, it will probably defeat its object. The things it is intended to protect become so valuable that it is worth almost everybody's while to evade it. As I pointed out, not long ago, that will, I expect, be the effect of the Sudan regulations for the protection of certain beasts and birds. I shall be glad, however, if in either case my fears prove groundless." Sir John Lubbock (now Lord Avebury), in his charming volume " The Beauties of Nature," in an account of what he terms the "Hura" (meaning, of course, the Huia), pp. 48, 49, makes two mistakes. In the first place he calls it a Crow, whereas it has been proved to be a Starling ; and, in discussing the curious modification of the bill in the two sexes, and its use, he says : u When the cock has dug down to the burrow, the hen inserts her long- bill and draws out the grub, which they then divide between them'" — the italics are mine — " a very pretty illustration of the wife as helpmate to the husband." Now, I believe I was the first to observe and record the peculiar adaptation of the Huia's bill to its habits of life, in a paper which I read before the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1870, describing the conduct of a pair of live birds then in my possession (' Trans. N.Z. Inst.,' vol. hi., pp. 24-29). But I had previously told Sir George Grey all about it, and he, with his usual felicity of expression, told the story at a meeting of the Zoological Society on his return to England. It seems a pity to destroy the pretty sentiment in the case as put by Sir John Lubbock, but science is inexorable, and the truth must be upheld. What I stated in my record of observations was this : " The very different development of the mandibles in the two sexes enabled them to perform separate offices. The male always attacked the more decayed portions of the wood, chiselling out his prey after the manner of some Woodpeckers, while the female probed with her long pliant bill the other cells, where the hardness of the surrounding parts resisted the chisel of her mate. Sometimes I observed the male remove the decayed portion without being able to reach the grub, when the female would at once come to his aid, and accomplish, with her long slender bill, what he had failed to do. I noticed, however, that the female always appropriated to her own use the morsels thus obtained." I am sorry that the stern truth should detract from the poetry of Lord Aveburv's narration.* * This correction was first made in my ' Illustrations of Darwinism,' and Lord Avebury, to whom I of course sent a copy, wrote to me as follows: "Many thanks for the ' Illustrations,' which I have read with much interest. Huia is, of course, allied to the Crow, and I said Crow rather than Starling, as giving a better idea of the size and colour. I observe you say that the female ' comes to the aid ' of the cock, so that my account does not differ so very much from what you say. Probably if the cock has not had enough he would take some." Mr. Jonathan Hutchinson made a practical application of this incident in his speech at the Festival Dinner of the Medical Graduates' College and Polyclinic, the Eight Hon. Arthur Balfour in the chair: "A not inappropriate illustration comes to my mind as to the relationship between the wealthy aud the scientific in this great work. There is a species of Woodpecker — I will not give you its exact ornithological name, because I have forgotten it — it is a curious bird, and this bird hunts in couples, male and female. They are differently organised as regards their beaks. The male of this bird has an enormously strong beak, and with it he can drive a great hole deep into the stem of a tree where he thinks the grub is hidden. The female has no beak that will suffice for such work, but she has a long slender one. After the male bird has made the hole he calls to his wife, who is enabled by her long beak to get out the grub. She gives him, I hope, his share. My application of this as regards w T ealth and science is — wealth can make for us the hole and can do the rough work which is absolutely necessary to precede the application of scientific methods. We of the Polyclinic persuade ourselves that our hearts as well as our heads are engaged in the work which we have in hand. We look forward to greater triumphs in the future in the advancement of medical science than any that the world has yet seen, and we invite those who possess the means to join us in the attempt to achieve them. We ask our wealthy ■■■!HiHiHM>BHi mmm 159 The moulting of this bird takes place in February ; and it would seem that at this season there is a separation of the sexes. In this month I have had as many as four males sent to me, each of them being solitary : whereas at other seasons these birds invariably go in pairs. My friend Waata Tohu, a renowned Huia-hunter, informed me that the best month for taking this bird is November, the tail-feathers at that time being in prime condition. The season, he says, is coincident with the flowering of the hinau. In July, 1898, I paid a visit to the Whariti range of the Euahine Mountains, formerly a place noted for the abundance of Huias. But, alas ! during a whole day spent in the woods I saw only a single Huia. However, the immediate object of my visit was to obtain specimens of the beautiful Todea superba fern, and I did not deprive the mountain of this solitary Starling, although carrying a small gun. I made the ascent of the range in company with the Eev. Mr. Eccles and Herr (1. Lindauer, the celebrated Austrian artist. We drove in a buggy from Woodville to the end of the road which ascends the lower wooded spurs and then, leaving the track, we entered the bush and made straight for the summit (3,500 feet). We reached it about l 2 p.m., and, after a short rest, commenced the descent, getting out of the forest just as the evening shades were closing in upon us. Then we had a live-mile tramp along a very uneven road, in the dark, before we re-entered the trap that had brought us up. The magnificent view we had from the summit fully rewarded us for the toil of the ascent. The day was fortunately clear and we had a very extensive panoramic view. A large portion of both Wellington and Hawke's Bay districts lay spread out before us. Mount Bgmont was only just visible, being partly obscured by clouds. Euapehu and Tongariro were quite obscured ; but we had a fine view of both East and West seas, with all the familiar head- lands — Cape Kidnappers and Castle Point on the east, the Island of Kapiti and the Taranaki ranges on the west. The Wellington Heads were also in sight, and we were assured that in very clear weather vessels may be seen passing in and out. Immediately below us lay the Eangitikei and Manawatu districts, spread out like a huge map, the swamps and clumps of bush and townships being distinctly visible. The widespread valley in which the thriving town of Woodville is situated, and which only a few years since was one unbroken stretch of forest, is now a rolling plain, presenting, at long intervals, irregular patches of native bush. This shows how rapid has been the progress of settlement in this part of the country. As I have stated, the special object of my visit to the Euahine Mountains was to obtain a supply of Todea superba. We saw none of these ferns till we had reached an elevation of about 1,800 feet, then they appeared sparingly— one here and another there. But they soon became more plentiful, till at length the entire ground was covered with these exquisitely lovely ferns, and this continued to be the case almost to the summit. Indeed, just below the summit, on the northern side, there is a deep ravine containing a natural spring, and here Todea superba (the "Prince of Wales's Feather Fern") is to be seen in its utmost perfection. There are millions of plants, and the general effect is that of an illimitable natural conservatory. The only difficulty was to find plants young enough to bear removal. We were not long, however, in filling two sacks, and these we had to carry down on our backs through the thick vegetation covering the side of the mountain. The Maoris make a much prized cap or turban of scraped flax, ornamented with Huia countrymen to make warm their hearts by contemplation of what medical science has done in the past, for the mitigation of human misery, and to come forward in a liberal spirit to help in the work. Our aim is nothing less than as far as may be permitted to realise the poet's vision : " To sweep distemper from the busy day, and make the chalice of the big round year run o'er with gladness." I— — *\ HI WW M 1 160 heads, carefully dried, the beaks of which, hanging down all round and coming into contact make a rattling sound as the wearer moves about. These are called potae huia, and no one but a woman of high rank would presume to wear one. There is a nest of this species from the collection of the late T. H. Potts, in the Canterbury Museum. It is a broad, flat nest, looking more like a Shag's nest than any thing- else, and is composed of twigs and fern-stalks, pressed closely together. It has a very wide, shallow cavity roughly lined with soft materials, mostly broad grass leaves. In the ' Birds of New Zealand ' (vol. i., p. 17) I have represented in a woodcut a very curious deformity in the bill of a Huia, in which the upper mandible had assumed the form of an erect corkscrew, like the spiral horn of the Strepsiceros. This specimen had been obtained in the Forty-mile Bush, and was minutely described afterwards by the Rev. W. Colenso, F.E.S. ('Trans. N.Z. Inst.,' vol. xix., pp. 140-145). More recently the skin of a Huia, with a curiously contorted bill, was brought to me by a Bombay Indian who had been hawking goods in the Wairarapa. He had a very inflated idea of its value, and asked me a correspondingly high price. I could not come to terms with him, as the object had no intrinsic scientific value, but he left it with me long enough to enable me to take a pencil sketch, which I afterwards published in the ' Trans- actions of the New Zealand Institute,' and have much pleasure in reproducing here in a more finished form. MALFORMED AND NORMAL BILL OP HETERALOCHA ACUTIROSTRIS, $ ■1 H I OiiDEit PAS'SERIFORMES.] [Family STURNIDjE. CREADION CA'E'UNGU-LATUS. '•■■<-,h , •'• (SADDLE-BACK.) 1- : : : Creadion carunculatus (Gknelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, p. 18. In some respects this is one of the most distinctive of our native birds. Its woodpecker-like form, its strangely contrasted plumage of brown and black, with yellow wattles, its lively habits, its clarion cry, and its power of subdued song, all tend to make it an attractive object to the student of Nature. I well remember how intensely interested I was on receiving, a little more than fifty years ago, my first two specimens, which had been shot by a Maori in a clump of bush near the head- waters of the Northern Wairoa, a district in which } this bird had been rarely ever heard of. I examined my specimens with the closest attention, 1 for the Saddle-back was at that time quite new to me, described them very minutely (the pair representing both sexes), and lavished upon them what taxidermic skill I possessed. The male bird, mounted in a glass case, I presented to the Auckland Museum on the occasion of its first opening, and it remained there for many years. I did not become really familiar with the species till I removed to Wellington in 1855. It was then comparatively common in the low woods which environed what is now the City of Wellington, and in the valley : of the Hutt. It was more plentiful than elsewhere in the thick woods of the Makara district, all of which have since disappeared with the spread of agricultural settlement. ■ ; ; I received a fresh specimen from Stephen Island (in Cook Strait) which possesses special interest, not only as proving that the species still exists in this part of the colony, but because it is a very young bird (in the true plumage of C. carunculatus), with very small caruncles and a narrow yellow membrane at the angles of the mouth. The only difference in the plumage is that it is duller than in the adult. Such a specimen as this establishes beyond all doubt the validity of Creadion cinereus as a distinct species. Creadion carunculatus is still to be met with on several of the wooded islands in the Hauraki Oulf, but it has entirely disappeared from the mainland. I expected to find it on the Island of Kapiti, but the natives assured me that it had not been seen there for many years. • ■ : :i ; ' '' A nest of the Saddle-back, from Okarita, in the Westland district, is a broad, thick, oval structure/composed of twigs, mosses, and dry grass leaves, the latter predominating. It has a somewhat shallow cavity, lined with similar materials, but of finer quality. Altogether it may be regarded as a loosely constructed nest. It, is indeed singular how this species, so abundant in our woods thirty or forty years ago, has, without any apparent cause, so completely disappeared from the North Island. It still exists, but in sadly diminished : numbers, in the South Island ; so also does Creadion einereuk ^During two visits to the West Coast Sounds I was only able to obtain one specimen ") of each species. I sought in vain for skins at the various dealers' shops I visited. I believe the current price now is a guinea, and in a few years' time it will be impossible to obtain specimens at any price. Speaking on , the subject to old Ihaka ? of ' Ngatiwehiwehi, he said: " Oh, yes; when I was a young, man. the. woods about here [Manakau, Manawatu district,] were swarming with these birds; also with the Kotihe, the Whiowhio, the Pitoitoi, and the Popokatea. Now they are all Yol. ii.— 21 — WW— — i BWIBHf M m Win 162 f gone — as completely as the moa ! Soon also will my race vanish from the land, and the white man, with his sheep and his cattle and his birds, will occupy the country!" This was Ihaka's simple way of formulating the doctrine of the survival of the fittest. Tt is curious that although the Native Thrush abounds, neither species of Creadionh&s ever been observed on Stewart Island. I have mentioned before the habit of this bird to follow, in flocks, the movements of another native species, the Yellow-head. The following account is from the pen of Mr. W. W. Smith, who had an opportunity of minutely observing this habit under very favourable conditions. He writes, in 1888 : — * Probably no scene in bird-life is more attractive or beautiful than to observe a flock of Yellow-heads followed by a flock of Saddle-backs. On June 2nd, 1887, I rambled up Stoney Creek, a small stream which flows into Lake Brunner, a little above the outlet of the Arnold. I had travelled on the banks and bed of the creek about a mile when I turned to the right up a small narrow gully, in search of ferns or other botanical rarities. On reaching nearly the top of the gully, I heard the shrill, ringing notes of a flock of Yellow-heads. As I noticed them crossing the gully some distance above me, I moved on gently until I was under the branches on which the birds were passing over the gully. They numbered about two hundred, and were m rich plumage. They fed eagerly for some minutes among the branches of the trees ; then, simultaneously uttering their call, they flew forward some yards and began to feed, until they again sounded the signal to advance, repeating it at short intervals, and passed through the bush in this order. Before the Yellow- heads had quite disappeared I heard the rich flute-notes of a flock of Saddle-backs advancing. 1 climbed up the side of the gully and stood on the edge. Two males were the first to appear, followed by the remainder of the flock. They advanced in the line of the Yellow-heads ; not so high among the branches as the latter, but more among the tree-ferns, while some fed among the ferns and mosses covering the ground. When they noticed me some approached closely, twittering and elevating their tails. They moved about in a sprightly manner on the lower branches, within a few feet of my face, scanning me carefully and wondering, perhaps, at the intruder on their solitary domain. They were exceedingly tame, and moved with great activity, halting at intervals and resting their breasts for a few seconds on the boughs, and again proceeded, searching eagerly for food among the ferns and mosses covering the ground. They were in the perfection of plumage. The saddle- shaped patch of rich brown extending over the back and shoulders, on the lustrous black ground, contrasted with the deep green fronds of the tree-ferns. The sexes were about equal, and the plumage of some paler than others, which were young birds. They remained hopping on the branches and ferns near me for about seven minutes, and disappeared slowly on the track of the Yellow-heads. The purpose served in the Saddle- backs' economy in following the flocks of Y r ellow-heads is unquestionably to obtain food. The latter, m moving through the bush, will disturb numerous large insects, which they reject, and which are consumed by the Saddle-backs following them. The rich insect fauna in some parts of the bush in Westland, at certain seasons, will account for the appearance of flocks of the native insectivorous birds in these districts. The flights of Yellow-heads must be entirely regulated by, or restricted to, the supply of food. Where the bush remains in its primeval state they remain numerous ; where it is partly cleared or disturbed these species and many others diminish in numbers, and ultimately vanish from the locality. Although the Saddle-backs are not dependent on the flight of Yellow-heads for food, they are able to obtain it by following them and do not always travel in flocks, as they are occasionally seen singly and in pairs, in some of the gullies of the Arnold and around the lakes, but are now very rare, compared to the numbers which inhabited the banks of the Arnold fifteen or twenty years ago. . . . .1 was attracted early one morning in March towards some old fallen and decayed timber, where I heard some peculiar tapping sounds. On cautiously reaching the place I found a Saddle-back busily digging in the decayed timber for the larvae of the Huhu-beetle {Prionoplus reticularis). The tappings and actions of the bird resembled much those of the Green Woodpecker (Plcus viridis) of Britain, in its mode of procuring food. Mr. Handley, in his notes on the 'Birds of Nelson/t states that in that province also, where formerly it was very abundant, the Saddle-back is becoming yearly more circumscribed, and it is now practically confined to a few out-of-the-way localities, such as Tophouse, on the road to Nelson, and the Sounds district, where it is rare and widely distributed. * Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxi., pp. 218-9. t Idem, vol. xxviii., p. 362. ■ Order PASSERIFORMES.] [Family STURNIDiE. C R E A 1) I N C INEREUS. (JACK BIRD.) Creadion cinereus, Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 21. My first acquaintance with this very distinct species was made on Banks Peninsula during my first visit there in 1859. This form was absolutely unknown in the North Island, and I had no hesitation in characterising it as new under the name of Creadion cinereus. But it was a long time before ornithologists would believe that it was other than the young of G. carunculatus. Dr. Otto Finsch pronounced against the species, and his example was followed by others — all basing their conclusions on the examination of cabinet specimens. This view was strengthened by the exhibition in the Canterbury Museum of some apparent hybrids which seemed to show a transition of plumage. In the end, by the kind aid of the late Mr. A. Reischek, a very active collector, I was able to bring forward irrefragable proof by producing nestling birds of G. carunculatus in the same garb as the adults. There is an exceptionally large example in my collection, received from Mr. J. Brough, who obtained it on Mount Luna, in the Nelson provincial district. In forwarding it he wrote: "During the whole four months I was camped in the woods on the Karamea Saddle I only heard one Saddle-back. I managed to secure it, and may remark that it is the largest-boned bird of the kind I ever shot. The colours are plain, but the bird is in perfect plumage. I cannnot say whether it is a male or female, for before I had time to make a dissection, after skinning it, the Wood-hens ran away with the carcase." This species was formerly very abundant in the South Island, and especially in the woods of the West Coast, but it is now fast disappearing. As I have stated earlier in this work, I made an expedition round the West Coast Sounds, in the summer of 1895-6, with His Excellency the Earl of Eanfurly and his family, in the Government steamboat ' Tutanekai.' Whilst lying at anchor in Milford Sound we frequently visited the shore; and one bright morning, when exploring the beautiful woods around Lake Ada, while I was sauntering along, gun in hand, in company with Lady Constance Knox, the Governor's eldest daughter, one of these birds, with a sharp flute note, appeared suddenly at the roadside, and I immediately shot and secured it; but this was positively the only one we met with during the whole of the expedition. ORiMlMSS&BIFOEMES.] ]FAMiisx'GJjAUGO-pmmj ; G ' L ] A 'ifGOPl'S M Wti fe/E A" (ORANGE-WATTLED' cfeow.) Glaucopis cinerea, Grmelin ; Biillerj Birds of New Zealand, vol. 1*, p. 5. THiS !i is perhaps the most striking instance of the parallelism which produces representative 1 species 1 in the North and South Islands 1 respectively. This aberrant Crow, known as ' the Kokako, exists on both sides of Cook Strait which divides the two main islands ; ;' : tno ! se' at the 1 NorthXhave large fleshy wattles at the angles of the mouth, of a brilliant blue colour, while 1 those at the South have similar wattles of a bright orange-yellow, changing to blue 1 at the root. The birds are practically alike f m other respects, but represent two entirely distinct species, ; affording good evidence of the j long period of time that marks the physical separation of the' Islands. Numerous other instances of this parallel representation are mentioned in the course of my work, the difference in every 1 case being characteristic and constant, clearly the result of selection and gradual development under the operation of well-known natural laws/- ■ ' • ■ ■ ;] V ' ; - '. :f • ©r. Cahill, of Wellington, kindly presented me with a live bird which he had received' frofn Westport; and I had it in my possession many months. The bird was accustomed to ; occupy a large wire cage in my library, and was a very lively companion, being perpetually' on the 1 move and very musical. Filially it died in a fit, due, I think, to over -feeding 1 without the stimulus of freer exercise.' It was an adult male and in perfect plumage, with; bright orange wattles, dark /blue at the base.' Its habitual note, emitted frequently, but 1 chiefly in the early morning ; and forenoon,' was a long, plaintive double-note, pitched in a minor key, very pleasant to hear, but to my mind possessing less richness than the organ^ note of the North Island bird (Q. wilsoni)i It was accustomed to use its feet on eating leaves or berries presented to it, •jus't as a Parrot would. On offering this bird a large blue-' bottle fly he held it to his perch in the ' manner described, and deliberately tore off one wing, then the other, tasted its flavour : and immediately dropped it. As a rule he would' not touch insects, but showed great fondness for succulent leaves of any kind and all sorts, of berries, particularly those of Cojwosma Moida, whether ripe or green. ^ It ate freely 5 of the ripe fruit of the whauhe, but it c had a\ scouring effect, and I had to discontinue^ the use of this food. It partook readily of cooked potato, boiled rice, and soaked bread;' and it was fond of water, drinking freely, but rarely washing itself as other birds do, and yet its plumage was always in clean, silky condition. The wattles were always carried tightly compressed under the chin and meeting at their edges. As I became better acquainted with the bird I found that it possessed several notes besides those described in the recorded history of the species. In the early morning, or before rain, it had a melancholy call like " Kowai-Jcoe ? " (Who are you?) in a high key; at "other times a mellifluous whistle, and every now and then a liquid note, twice repeated, quite indistinguishable from the evening bell-toll of the Tui. To this is no doubt due the circumstance that this is the Bell-bird of many of the country settlers. Occasionally, but not often, it sounded the rich organ- note — short, but of surpassing sweetness — and at other times a soft note in repetition like the low whimper of the Huia. The mention of yet another note, not unlike a short, hollow cough will prove that this bird was not wanting in vocal accomplishments. Curiously enough, after losing its tail by accident, the Kokako moped and hardly uttered a sound, ivri:.T/;;;:jA ■:■> -r-r-.\ i 65 , vv > rVi r; rr ,.« , . n as if ashamed of the sorry condition it presented ; and as the new tail began to show itself the bird regained its wonted sprightfulness. I know nothing of the history of the bird before it came to me, or whether it, was , brought up from thev nest or, not, but I was often inclined to think that, as a caged bird, it had been exercising some natural power of mimicry. Mr. Brough, in one of his letters, says: " During my last trip into the ranges [Nelson district] we had twenty-six wet days in January, and for the whole time it was mostly wet with no sunshine. I saw a few Orange-wattled Crows and a few Thrushes, and I often heard the note of the Kakapo, but I did not get any." Mr. Jennings states that this bird is still to be met with in the woods at Catlin's Eiver, in the Otago district, but believes that it will soon disappear altogether. Mr. Eoberts, when surveying in the wooded, districts on the West Coast several times met ! witri' the ; riest of this ■ species-^-always very massive, and placed near' the ground. In 'th ; e ; Colonial < Museum there is a nest from Freshwater Basin, Milford Sound. It is a fine massive nest/ about ten inches long by eight broad; rounded, and bulging at the ends; composed 'almost' entirely of coarse 1 tree-moss and grass, the former preponderating, with a few sMaiir twigs intermixed. The cavity ig round and shallow, measuring about six inches un dia'meter,' and is Completely lined with fine grass bents, carefully arranged in a circular form. r Altogether the nest is compactly built, and shows some skill in the construction; — • - ; ■ >' < ' \-, \ 1 When,' visiting the West Coast Sounds with Lord Eanfurly,* in the Government steamer ' Tutanekaij' in January, 1896, our party spent a delightful day in the Bush at Milford Sound. On being landed at the mouth of the river, we walked up to Lake Ada, and then took i to the boats'. His Excellency, with his private secretary and A.D.C., remained on the lake to fish for trout. > The Countess of Eanfurly and Miss Hozier had remained on board to sketch the magnificent scenery. I, with the rest of the party, was landed at the far end of the late, and we worked our way down the margin, through beautiful natural woods, dis- playing a perfect glory of tree-ferns and carpeted with the lovely Todea superba. We shot a good' many birds, but nothing of any special value, except that I got a good specimen of CreMiSn^eiMr'eitJSj the only one I saw during the whole of our trip. We several times heard the rich organ -note -of the Kokako; but could not locate the bird. The note seems to me feebler than that r of the northern species (Glaucopis wilsoni), that is to say, not so full and mellow. The common birds were plentiful, and we saw several Tuis chasing each other and indulging in amorous* play. Either the breeding season is later here than in the North, where the' young have already left the nest, or there are two broods in the season. What strengthens ' the latter view is the circumstance that one of the Tuis shot (a female) was very bare from incubation, as of recent date. * Lord. Eanfurly' was now making his first, acquaintance with the birds of New Zealand, of which, at a later date, he made a, large and valuable collection for the British Museum, in which he was assisted by Professor Hutton and many other, willing New Zealanders. (Cf. Ogilvie Grant, 'Ibis,' 1905, pp. 543-602.) Would that British Colonial Governors in other parts of the world would follow the example, in this respect, of the Earl of Eanfurly and the late Sir George Grey, for the National collection would thus be enriched, to the great benefit of science ! ? * *— i WJJW.3I or ...a Order PASSERIFORMES.] [Family GLAUCOPIDiE. GLAUCOPIS WILSON I. (BLUE-WATTLED CROW.) Glaucopis wilsoni, Bonap. ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 1. HWi V I My first knowledge of this bird was derived, some Rye and fifty years ago, through a young- Maori coming into the Mission station, at Tangiteroria, with a bright blue wattle glued upon each of his dusky cheeks. From that moment, of course, I never rested till I had made the acquaintance of the bird which was then, as now, extremely rare in the far north. My first four specimens (two of each sex) came from the Tangihua Mountains, that succession of wooded ranges standing up, blue and distinct, far away to the rear of the Wairoa River. I was at that time a lad of twelve, and had accompanied my brother Martin to a boarding school in Auckland — in those days a somewhat formidable journey by water and by land. A devoted mother who had never skinned a bird before, succeeded, with infinite trouble, in converting the birds into four beautiful cabinet specimens, and they were put aside to gladden the heart of her boy on his return home for the summer vacation, then approaching. I recall this trivial circumstance with deep filial appreciation, because I am convinced that this early influence had a powerful effect in shaping my subsequent life and attaching me to a pursuit which, in the intervals of a very active judicial and professional life, has yielded me unspeakable pleasure. When, some j^ears later, I moved to the Wellington province, I came into the home of the Kokako, heard with delight its rich organ -note, and obtained as many specimens as I wanted; for in 1854 it was a comparatively common bird in the thick forest surrounding Wellington and filling the valley of the Hutt. From these districts, with the destruction of the native bush, it has long since disappeared; but it may yet be occasionally seen and heard in the wooded Tararua and Rimutaka ranges, especially at the back of the Otaki district. Owing to these early associations I, not unnaturally, formed a special affection for this beautiful bird. And my interest in the species, as I came to study it, with a maturer know- ledge of the subject, increased rather than diminished. It is a matter of keen regret to me, as it must be to every true naturalist, that this is one of the endemic species destined ere long to vanish from the land. This bird is becoming very rare, however, in localities where formerly it abounded. During . an expedition into the Tararua ranges, extending over three days, I met with only one, a fine adult male, which I had no difficulty in shooting, as the bird is not shy. It made a beautiful cabinet specimen, although soon after death the rich mazarine-blue faded out of the wattles, and they became black as the skin dried. My son, Mr. Leo Buller, has the following note in an old diary : " While out pig-hunting on the ranges near Whangarei, on January 15th, I found a Kokako's nest, which contained two young birds. These made their escape from the nest, but the dog caught them, killing one in the operation. I endeavoured to keep the other alive in a cage, but it moped and died." "Honge" is the name by which it is known to the Waikato tribes; but it has always been a rare bird in that district. mmSfmm&mi Em jk m m. mat m jc« ■ 167 A perfect albino of this species, obtained in the Wairarapa Valley, has the whole of the plumage pure white, with a tinge of cream colour on the under-parts of the body ; bill and feet horn-coloured ; wattles flesh colour. Of this bird I have a beautiful portrait from the pencil of Mr. Keulemans. Mr. T. W. Kirk has recorded several other cases of albinism in this species, more or less complete. The four specimens dressed, as I have mentioned above, with loving hands, and prepared with so much labour, were, in point of fact, the foundation of a collection which in after years assumed important proportions, and was, on the publication of my first edition, in 1872-3, presented by me to the Colony, when it straightway became the " Type Collection " in the Colonial Museum. This was done in recognition of the generous assistance accorded to me by the Stafford Government in the prosecution of my scientific work. My second collection was sold by me, on the publication of my second edition, in 1888, to the Hon. Walter Eothschild, for the Tring Museum — on the assessment of Professor Newton, of Cambridge — for £1,000; and my third collection, on the completion of this ' Supplement,' to the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, U.S.A., for a similar sum, the price having been arrived at after a careful valuation by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, the assistant keeper in charge of the ornithological collections in the British Museum. All three collections will, therefore, be available for the student of the future, when many, if not most, of the species will have passed away for ever. I think these facts are worth recording, seeing that the collections relate to a fauna characterised by Professor Newton as " the comparatively little changed relic and representative of the early fauna of much wider range." In a private letter to myself, this same high authority observes, " the New Zealand avifauna is undoubtedly the most interesting avifauna in the world." The End. =-§*B«*-*^ B *«..^ ?a=s.i*^ i ■■■■■ nHmm 169 INDEX. Acanthidositta chloris, ii. 102, 103, 104. citrina, ii. 103. Acanthochaera carunculata, ii. 148. acuminata, Heteropygia, i. 187. , Tringa, i. 187. acutirostris, Heteralocha, xxi, xxxi, xxxvii, xxxviii ; ii. 154. , -, Malformed and normal bill of, ii. 160. Adamastor cinereus, i. 106. iEgialitis ruficapilla, i. 175. cequinoctialis, Majaqueus, i. 109. affinis, CEstrelata, i. 117. , Ortygometra, i. 63. , Porzana, i. 63. alba, Ardea, i. 194, 195. , Gallinula, i. 73. , Guara, xli. , Gygis, i. 163. albaria, Ninox, ii. 61. Albatros, xxiv. , Black-eyebrowed, i. 146. , Buller's, i. 149. , Flight of, i. 134, 135. , Grey-headed, i. 154. , Eoyal, i. 138. , , on her Nest, i. 145. , , Young of, i. 143. , Salvin's, i. 150. , Shy, i. 152. , Sooty, i. 155. , Wandering, i. 128. — — •, Yellow-nosed, i. 154. albicapilla, Clitonyx, xviii, xxxiv ; ii. 128, 130. albicillus, Certhiparus, ii. 136. albicollis, Himantopus, i. 179. albifacies, Athene, ii. 62. , Sceloglaux, xviii ; ii. 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68. albifrons, Miro, xviii; ii. 100, 120, 123, 124. -, Muscitrasa, xxxix. , Turdus, ii. 123. Albinoes, xxxix. albistriata, Sterna, i. 158, 159. albofrontata, Gerygone, ii. 119. , Pseudogerygone, xxiii; ii. 119. albosignata, Eudyptula, i. 96. Allied Shearwater, i. 100. Alpine Robin, ii. 123. alpinus, Cyanorhamphus, ii. 89. , Platycercus, ii. 89. altus, Dinornis, xvi. aluco, Syrnium, xlii ; ii. 66. americana, Compsothlypis, ii. 148. Anarhynchus frontalis, xxi; i. 177. Anas castanea, ii. 11. chlorotis, ii. 11, 13. gibberifrons, ii. 10, 11. gracilis, ii. 11. super xiliosa, ii. 5, 7, 9. Ancylochilus subarquatus, i. 186, 187. anglorum, Pumnus, i. 105. Anomalopteryx, xvii ; i. 14. didiformis , xvii. Anous cinereus, i. 161. stolidus, i. 162 ; ii. 99. Antarctic Petrel, i. 108. antarctica, Megalestris, i. 137, 169, 170, 171. , Sterna, i. 158. , Thalassceca, i. 108, 157. antarcticus, Stercorarius, i. 169. Antipodes-Island Parrakeet, ii. 81. antipodum, Megadyptes, xxxix. i^nthornis melanocephala, xxiii ; ii. 143. melanura, xxiii, xxiv, xxxix ; ii. 120, 138, 139. Anthus auchlandicus, xxiii ; ii. 153, 154. novce-zealandice, xl ; ii. 151, 153. chathamiensis , ii. 152. novce-zealandice, ii. 152. reischeki, ii. 152. steindachneri, ii. 154. Aphanapteryx, xxiii ; i. 44. Aipbeno&ytes patagonica, xxxix ; i. 78, 87 ; ii. 18. Apteryx, xvii, xxxi ; i. 44. australis, xiii, xiv ; i. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 17,20, 21, 30. australis, i. 3. bulleri, i. 17. mantelli, i. 3. bulleri, xiii, xiv; i. 2, 12, 17, 18. haasti, xiii, xiv, xlii; i. 1, 3, 11, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 56. laivryi, xiii, xiv; i. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 17, 19, 20, 23, 25, 26. Apteryx laivryi, Foot of, i. 9. Head of, i. 10. mantelli, xiv, xliii ; i. 2, 3, 8, 11, 12, 17, 21, 26, 30. maximus, i. 1, 27. occidentalis , xiii, xiv, xviii ; i. 6, 17, 21, 23, 24. oiveni, xiii, xiv, xliii ; i. 3, 11, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30. Feeding, i. 22. oweni, i. 3. occidentalis, i. 3. Aptornis, i. 44, 58. aguila, Fregata, ii. 50, 52. — — -, Tachypetes, ii. 51, 52. Ardea alba, i. 194, 195. cinerea, i. 186, 193. egretta, i. 194. novce-hollandice, i. 196. pusilla, i. 197. sacra, i. 198. syrmatophora, i. 194. timoriensis, i. 194. Ardetta maculata, i. 197. pusilla, i. 197. Arenaria interpres, i. 171. ariel, Fregata, ii. 52. , Prion, i. 124, 126. assimilis, Pumnus, i. 100. Athene albifacies, ii. 62. Atlantosaurus, xxvi. atra, Fulica, i. 75. atratus, Eudyptes, xxxix. atriceps, Phalacrocorax, ii. 40. aucklandica, Gallinago, xxv ; i. 188, 189, 190 ; ii. 21. , Nesonetta, xxiv ; ii. 12, 14, 21. auchlandicus, Anthus, xxiii; ii. 153, 154. , Cyanorhamphus, xxiii ; ii. 85. Auckland-Island Duck, ii. 14. Merganser, ii. 21. Parrakeet, ii. 86. Pipit, ii. 153. Eail, i. 42. Shag, ii. 28. Shore-Plover, i. 176. Snipe, i. 188. Auk, Great, xxviii. auriceps, Cyanorhamphus, xl, xli, -, Platycercus, ii. 88. Vol. ii.— 22 UH'mM^mmtm ,*.-«t,-c hWWm'tJfr: 170 Australian Coot, i. 75. Cuckoo, ii. 102. ■ Curlew, i. 180. Darter, ii. 46. Gannet, ii. 46. Gull, i. 165. Honey-eater, ii. 148. Masked Plover, i. 173. Pelican, ii. 53. Pratincole, i. 192. Quail, i. 35. Roller, ii. 96. Shrike, ii. 128. Snipe, i. 191. Swift, ii. 95. Teal, ii. 10. Tree-Swallow, ii. 113. Whimbrel, i, 181. australis, Apteryx, xiii, xiv ; i. 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11, 17, 20, 21, 30. australis, Apteryx, i. 3. , Aythya, ii. 16. bulleri, Apteryx, i. 17. , Diprotodon, xxvi. , Eurystomus, ii. 96. , Fulica, i. 75. , Gallinago, i. 186, 191. mantelli, Apteryx, i. 3. , Merganser, i. 121 ; ii. 21. , Mergus, xxiv ; ii. 22. , Miro, xviii ; ii. 122, 123, 124, 129. , Nesierax, ii. 58, 59. , Nyroca, ii. 16. , Ocydromus, xxx ; i. 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62 ; ii. 120. , Eallus, i. 61. , Synoecus, i. 35. Avocet, Red-necked, xxi ; i. 180. Aythya australis, ii. 16. axillaris, CEstrelata, i. 119, 125. Banded Dottrel, i. 175. Rail, xxix ; i. 43. Banks' Dove Petrel, i. 124. banksi, Prion, i. 124. Bell-bird, xxiii, xxiv, xxxii, xxxvii ; ii. 140. , Chatham-Island, ii. 143. , Olive-green, xx. , Yellow, xli. bellus, Porphyrio, i. 64. berardi, Pelecanoides, i. 126. bethunei, Sterna, i. 159. Bethune's Tern, i. 159. bicinctus, Charadrius, i. 175. , Octhodromus, i. 175. Bird Life, Vanishing forms of, xxvii. Bittern, xliii. , Black-backed, i. 199. - — , Little, i. 197. Black-backed Bittern, i. 199. Black-bellied Storm-Petrel, i. 99. Black-eyebrowed Albatros, i. 146. Black Fantail, xviii ; ii. 127. Black-fronted Tern, i. 158. Black Noddy, i. 163. Oyster-catcher, i. 172. Penguin, xxxix. Petrel, i. 109. Robin, xxiii., xxiv. Shag, ii. 41. Stilt, i. 179. Wood-hen, i. 60. Blue Penguin, i. 96. Petrel, i. 122. Blue-wattled Crow, xviii, xxxviii : ii. 166. Bonaparte's Shearwater, i. 104. boobook, Ninox, ii. 61, 66. Botaurus pazciloptilus , i. 199. Bowdleria caudata, xxiv ; ii. 132. fulva, ii. 131, 133. punctata, xxiv ; ii. 131, 132. rufescens, xxiii, xxiv ; ii. 133. brachypterus, Ocydromus, i. 57, 60, 61, 62. brachypus, Rallus, i. 42. , Hypotaenidia, i. 42. brasiliensis, Mergus, ii. 22. brevicaudus, Nectris, i. 103. brevirostris, Phalacrocorax, ii. 39, 41, 42, 43. , Prion, i. 125. Broad-billed Dove Petrel, i. 123. Bronze Cuckoo, ii. 101. Bronze-winged Cuckoo, xx. Brown Duck, xliv ; ii. 11. — — Gannet, ii. 50. Wood-hen, i. 52. Brownish>black Kiwi, i. 2. Bruchigavi a /&meso?M, i. 165. Buff Wood-hen, i. 60. bulleri, Apteryx, xiii, xiv ; i. 2, 12, 17, 18. , Diomedea, xxiv ; i. 148, 149, 151, 152, 154. , Larus, i. 164. , Miro, ii. 123, 124. , Puffinus, i. 101, 157. Buller's Albatros, i. 149. Gull, i. 164. Kiwi, i. 17. Shearwater, i. 101. Bush-Hawk, ii. 59. Bush-Warbler, xxiii ; ii. 119. Bush-Wren, xx, xxii ; ii. 104. Cabalus, xxiii. dieffenbachi, i. 44, 45. modesties, i. 45. ccerulea, Halobaena, i. 122. ccerulescens, Zosterops, ii. 101, 130, 149. caledonicus, Nycticorax, i. 197. Californian Quail, xxix. Campbell-Island Shag, ii. 39. campbelli, Phalacrocorax, ii. 39, 40. canutus, Tringa, i. 187. Cape Hen, i. 170. eapensis, Daption, i. 121, 122. , Phalacrocorax, ii. 24. , Sula, ii. 48. carbo, Phalacrocorax, ii. 22. carneipes, Puffinus, xxv ; i. 103, 105. Carphibis spinicollis, i. 58. Carpophaga chathamensis, i. 41. ■ — — chathamica, i. 41. novce-zealandice, i. 36 ; ii. 120. carunculata, Acanthochaara, ii. 148. , Creadion, xviii ; ii. 161, 163. , Phalacrocorax, ii. 25, 26, 27, 29,30,31, 36,37, 38. Casarca rutila, ii. 3. — — variegata, ii. 2. caspia, Heroprogne, i. 157. , Sterna, i. 157, 159. Caspian Tern, i. 157. castanea, Anas, ii. 11. castaneum, Nettium, ii. 10, 11. Casuarinus, i. 14. Catarrhactes chrysocome, i. 84, 85, 87, 88. chrysolophus, i. 94. pachyrhynchus, xxxix ; i. 87, 88, 89, 90, 95. , Colony of, i. 87. — , Heads of, i. 89. schlegli, xxxix ; i. 78, 83, 86, 87, 90, 94. sclateri, i. 78, 85, 87, 88, 89. vittatus, i. 95. caudacuta, Choetura, ii. 95. caudata, Bowdleria, xxiv ; ii. 132. cauta, Diomedea, i. 150, 151, 153. , Sphenoeacus, ii. 132. cautus, Thalassogeron, i. 151, 153. cenchroides, Cerchneis, ii. 60. Cerchneis cenchroides, ii. 60. Certhiparus albicillus, ii. 136. novce-zealandice, ii. 136. ochrocephalus, ii. 136. cervicalis, CEstrelata, i. 114. Chalcococcyx lucidus, ii. 101. chalconotus, Phalacrocorax, ii. 22, 30, 32, 33. Charadrius bicinctus, i. 175. dominicus, i. 174. fulvus, i. 174. obscurus, i. 175. ruficapillus, i. 175. Chatham-Island Bell-bird, ii. 143. Fern-bird, ii. 133. Parrakeet, ii. 89. Pigeon, i. 41. Robin, ii. 125. Shag, ii. 36. Snipe, i. 188. Warbler, ii. 119. chathamensis, Hemiphaga, xxiii ; i. 41. , Porphyrio, i. 64. chathamica, Carpophaga, i. 41. Chionis, i. 169. ■ . chionoptera, Diomedea, i. 151, 152. chloris, Acanthidositta, ii. 102, 103 104. , Halcyon, ii. 98. chloropus, Gallinula, i. 46. chlororhyncha, Diomedea, i. 154. , Puffinus, i. 103, 104, 105. , Thalassogeron, i. 149, 151, 154. chlorotis, Anas, ii. 11, 13. , Elasmonetta, xxiv, xliv ; ii. 11, 12, 13. Chcetura caudacuta, ii. 95. Chrysococcyx lucidus, ii. 101. chrysocome, Catarrhactes, i. 84, 85, 87, 88. cincta, Pogonornis, xxxii ; ii. 137. cinerea, Ardea, i. 186, 193. ■ , Glaucopis, xviii, xxxviii ; ii. 164. , Procelsterna, i. 161. , Sterna, i. 161. cinereus, Adamastor, i. 106. , Anous, i. 161. , Creadion, xviii; ii. 161, 163, 165. , Priofinus, i. 106, 107, 108, 116, 137, 148, 156. Circus gouldi, ii. 54, 57, 63, 103. wolfi, ii. 57. cirrhatus, Phalacrocorax, ii. 26. citrina, Acanthidositta, ii. 103. Clitonyx, ii. 136, 137. albicapilla, xviii, xxxiv ; ii. 128, 130. ochrocephala, xviii ; ii. 100, 130. clypeata, Spatula, ii. 15. Cnemiornis, i. 44. colensoi, Phalacrocorax, ii. 28, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40. Colenso's Coot, xxii ; i. 75. Common Heron, i. 193. Noddy, i. 162. Compsothlypis americana, ii. 148. conspicillatus, Majaqueus, i. 110, , Pelecanus, i. 186 ; ii. 53. cooki, Cyanorhamphus, ii. 85. , GEstrelata, xl ; i. 113, 118, 119. Cook's Petrel, i. 118. Coot, Australian, i. 75. , Colenso's, xxii ; i. 75. comicoides, Thalassogeron, i. 151. Coturnix novm-zealandice, i. 34, 35. pectoralis, xxx. Crake, Swamp, i. 33. crassirostris, Turnagra, xviii, xxxviii; ii. 134, 135. crassus, Dinornis, xv; i. 14. Creadion carunculatus, xviii ; ii. 161, 163. cinereus, xviii ; ii. 161, 163, 165. Creeper, New Zealand, ii. 136. crepidatus, Stercorarius, i. 171. Crested Shag, ii. 37. Crex crex, ii. 134. 171 cristata, Lophgethyia, i. 76. cristatus, Podiceps, i. 76. Crow, Blue-wattled, xviii, xxxviii ; ii. 166. , Orange-wattled, xxxviii ; ii. 164. , Yellow-wattled, xviii. Crymophilus fulicarius, i. 191. Cuckoo, Australian, ii. 102. , Bronze, ii. 10] . , Bronze-winged, xx. , Long-tailed, xxi ; ii. 98. , Shining, ii. 101. Cuculus intermedius, ii. 102. saturatus, ii. 102. culminata, Diomedea, i. 106, 144, 149, 154. culminatus, Thalassogeron, i. 149. Curlew, Australian, i. 180. Sandpiper, i. 187. cyanops, Dysporus, ii. 49. , Sula, ii. 49, 51. cyanopus, Numenius, i. 180, 186. Cyanorhamphus alpinus, ii. 89. aucklandicus, xxiii ; ii. 85. auriceps, xl, xli ; ii. 88, 89. cooki, ii. 85. cya?iurus, xxiv; ii. 85, 87. erythrotis, xxiii, xli ; ii. 81, 86, 87. forbesi, ii. 86, 89. Jiochstetteri, ii. 86, 87. intermedins, ii. 88. malherbei, ii. 88, 89. novce-zealandice, xxiii, xxiv, xli ; ii. 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87. rayneri, ii. 85. roioleyi, ii. 85. unicolor, xxiii, xxiv ; ii. 81, 82, 83, 86. Cypselus pacificus, ii. 95. Dabchick, New Zealand, i. 76. dannefordi, Miro, ii. 125. Daption capensis, i. 121, 122. Darter, Australian, ii. 46. defilippiana, GEstrelata, i. 113. Demiegretta sacra, i. 198. Dendrocygna eytoni, ii. 1. desolatus, Prion, i. 99, 107, 119, 123, 124, 125, 126, 131,144. Diaphorapteryx haivkinsi, i. 44. didiformis, Anomalopteryx, xvii. Didunculus strigirostris, xxxiv. Didus ineptus, xxxi. dieffenbachi, Cabalus, i. 44, 45. , Nesolimnas, xxxi ; i. 44. Dieffenbach's Eail, i. 44. Dinornis, xvi, xxv, xxiii. alius, xvi. Dinornis crassus, xv ; i. 14. elephantopus , xv ; i. 14. excelsus, xvi. giganteus, xvii ; i. 14, 15. maximus, xvi, xvii ; i. 15. — — robustus, i. 14. Dinornis validus, xvi. Diomedea bulleri, xxiv ; i. 148, 149, 151, 152, 154. cauta, i. 150, 151, 153. ■ chionoptera, i. 151, 152. chlororhyncha, i. 154. culminata, i. 106, 144, 149, 154. exulans, xxiv ; i. 99, 106, 121, 128, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 147, 148, 150, 152, 170. fuliginosa, i. 155. var. comicoides, i. 156. layardi, i. 149. melanophrys, xxiv ; i. 107, 142, 146, 147, 148, 152. nigripes, i. 133, 146. regia, xxiv ; i. 99, 131, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 148, 150, 152, 170. salvini, xxiv; i. 148, 149, 150, 151, 154. Nesting on the Bounty Islands, xxv. Diprotodon australis, xxvi. Dodo, xxviii, xxxi. domesticus, Passer, xxxiii. dominicanus, Larus, i. 166, 168, 169 ; ii. 145. dominicus, Charadrius, i. 174. Dottrel, xx. , Banded, i. 175. , New Zealand, i. 175. , Eed-capped, i. 175. Doubtful Petrel, i. 112. Dove Petrel, i. 124. Duck, Auckland-Island, ii. 14. , Brown, xliv ; ii. 11. Decoys in Pember Bay, xlv. Grey, ii. 5. Mountain, xxii ; ii. 17. , Head of, ii. 20. , Home of the, ii. 18. Paradise, ii. 2. Whistling, ii. 1. White-eyed, ii. 16. Ducks, Group of Hybrid, ii. 8. Dusky Eobin, ii. 117. Shearwater, i. 100. Dysporus cyanops, ii. 49. — — serrator, ii. 49. earli, Ocydromus, xix ; i. 28, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 60. Eastern Golden-Plover, i. 174. Great White Heron, i. 194. egretta, Ardea, i. 194. Elasmonetta chlorotis, xxiv, xliv ; ii. 11, 12, 13. elephantopus, Dinornis, xv, i. 14. Eos, ii. 71. erythrotis, Cyanorhamphus, xxiii, xli ; ii. 81, 86, 87. -, Platycercus, ii. 86. esslingi, Nestor, ii. 77, 78, 79. Eudynamis taitensis, ii. 98. >\rVa WM3MMM ^■1 172 Eudyptes antipodicm, i. 94. atratus, xxxix. chrysocome, i. 84. chrysolophus, i. 94. pachyrhy?ichus, i. 85, 86. schlegeli, i. 90, 94. ■ sclateri, i. 88. striatus, i. 86. vittatus, i. 95. Eudyptula albosignata, i. 96. — minor, i. 96. unclina, i. 96. Eurystomus australis, ii. 96. pacificus, ii. 96. excelsus, Dinornis, xvi. exsul, Pelecanoides, i. 127. exulans, Diomedea, xxiv ; i. 99, 106, 121, 128, 129, 131, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 147, 148, 150, 152, 170. eytoni, Dendrocygna, ii. 1. fairchildi, Pezoporus, ii. 81. falcinellus, Plegadis, i. 186, 192. , Tantalus, i. 192. Fantail, Black, xviii ; ii. 127. , Pied, xviii ; ii. 126. featherstoni, Phalacrocorax, ii. 36. Fern-bird, xxiii, xxiv ; ii. 131. , Chatham-Island, ii. 133. , Fulvous, ii. 131. , Snares, ii, 132. ferox, Harpa, ii. 59. Fijian Parrot, ii. 83. finschi, Hsematopus, i. 172. , Ocydromus, xix; i. 57, 60, 61,62. , Phalacrocorax, ii. 43. fisheri, OEstrelata, i. 117. flabellifera, Ehipidura, xviii ; i. 56; ii. 120, 126, 127. flaviventris, Gerygone, ii. 117, 118. , Pseudogerygone, ii. 100, 117, 118, 119. Flesh-footed Shearwater, i. 103. forbesi, Cyanorhamphus, ii. 86, 89. Forster's Shearwater, i. 99. Fregata aquila, ii. 50, 52. ariel, ii. 52. Fregetta melanog aster , i. 99, 156. Frigate-bird, Great, ii. 50. , Small, ii. 52. Frilled Shag, ii. 44. frontalis, Anarhynchus, xxi ; i. 177. , Sterna, i. 158, 159, 160. Fulica atra, i. 75. australis, i. 75. novce-zealandice, i. 75. fulicarius, Crymophilus, i. 191. Phalaropus, i. 191. fuliginosa, Diomedea, i. 155. var. cornicoides, Diomedea, i. 156. , OEstrelata, i. 118. , Phoebetria, i. 99, 137, 151, 152, 155, 170. fuliginosa, Ehipidura, xviii ; i. 5Q; ii. 127. , Sterna, i. 159, 160. Fuligula novce-zealandice, ii. 17, 55. fulva, Bowdleria, ii. 131, 133. Fulvous Fern-bird, ii. 131. fulvus, Charadrius, i. 174. , Sphenoeacus, ii. 131, 132. fusca, Sula, ii. 50. fuscus, Gallirallus, i. 61. , Ocydromus, i. 60, 61. Gallinago auchlandica, xxv ; i. 188, 189, 190; ii. 21. australis, i. 186, 191. liuegeli, xxv ; i. 188, 189, 190. pusilla, xxv; i. 188, 189, 190. tristrami, xxv ; i. 188. Gallinula alba, i. 73. cliloropus, i. 46. nesiotis, i. 46. Gallirallus fuscus, i. 61. Gannet, Australian, ii. 46. , Brown, ii. 50. , Masked, ii. 49. Gannets on their Nesting-ground, ii. 48. Gare-fowl, xxviii. garnoti, Pelecanoides, i. 127, 128. Garrodia nereis, i. 98, 131. gavia, Puffinus, i. 99, 100. Gerygone albofrontata, ii. 119. flaviventris, ii. 117, 118. igata, ii. 118. sylvestris, ii. 119. Giant Petrel, i. 120. gibberifrojis, Anas, ii. 10, 11. , Nettium, ii. 11. gigantea, Ossifraga, xl ; i. 106, 107, 120, 121, 144, 148. giganteus, Dinornis, xvii ; i. 14, 15. gilviventris, Xenicus, xxii; ii. 108, 110. glacialoides, Thalassoeca, i. 108. Glareola grallaria, i. 192. Glaucopis cinerea, xviii, xxxviii ; ii. 164. wilsoni, xviii, xxxviii ; ii. 164, 165, 166. glaucus, Phalacrocorax, ii. 33, 34. Glossy Ibis, i. 192. Glottis nebularius, i. 186. Godwit, xx. , Eed-breasted, i. 185. , Southern, i. 181. Golden-Plover, Eastern, i. 174. Goldfinch, xxxiii. gouldi, Circus, i. 58, 103 ; ii. 54, 57, 63. , Majaqueus, i. 111. , CBstrelata, i. 111. Gould's Dove Petrel, i. 126. Harrier, ii. 54. Gracalus stictocephalus, ii. 41. gracilis, Anas, ii. 11. graculina, Strepera, ii. 146. graculus, Phalacrocorax, ii. 34. grallaria, Glareola, i. 192. Graucalus melanops, ii. 128. Gray's Shag, ii. 33. Great Auk, xxviii. Crested Grebe, i. 76. Frigate-bird, ii. 50. Grebe, Great Crested, i. 76. Greenfinch, xxxiii. Green Parrakeet, xxi, xxiii, xxxiv. Greenshank i. 186. Grey-and- White Ground-Pipit, xx. Grey-backed Storm-Petrel, i. 98. Grey Duck, ii. 5. Grey-faced Petrel, i. 111. Grey-headed Albatros, i. 154. Grey Kiwi, xvii, xviii ; i. 28, 29. Petrel, i. 106. ■ Phalarope, i. 191. Sandpiper, i. 186. ■ Warbler, xxxiii ; ii. 117. greyi, Ocydromus, xix, xxix, xxx ; i. 47, 55, 56, 57, 60. , Stringops, xli ; ii. 90. griseus, Puffinus, i. 102, 104, 105, 108, 148. Ground Owl, xviii. Ground- Parrot, xix, xxxi. Ground-Pipit, xxiii, xl. , Grey-and- White, xx. Ground -Wren, xxxiv. Guara alba, xli. rubra, xli. gularis, GEstrelata, i. 101, 117. , Procellaria, i. 117, 118. Gull, Australian, i. 165. , Buller's, i. 164. , Eed-billed, i. 166. , Southern Black-backed, i. 168. Gygis alba, i. 163. Gymnorhina tibicen, ii. 96. haasti, Apteryx, xiii, xiv, xlii ; i. 1, 3, 11, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 56. Haast's Kiwi, i. 25. habroptilus, Stringops, xix; i. 26; ii. 89, 90. Haematopus finschi, i. 172. longirostris, i. 172, 173. unicolor, i. 6, 172, 179, Haladroma urinatrix, i. 126, 127. Halcyon chloris, ii. 98. julice, ii. 98. Halcyon norfolhiensis, ii. 98. occipitalis, ii. 98. sacer, ii. 97, 98. sacra, ii. 98. sanctus, ii. 98. solomonis, ii. 98. sordidus, ii. 98. tristrami, ii. 98. ■ vagans, ii. 97, 98. Halobaena ccerulea, i. 122. GgfcfHW^^ Harpa, ii. 58. ferox, ii. 59. novce-zealandice, ii. 58. Harpagomis, ii. 62. Harrier, Gould's, ii. 54. harrisi, Phalacrocorax, ii. 14. Hawk, Bush-, ii. 59. , Quail-, ii. 57, 58. , White, ii. 56. hawkinsi, Diaphorapteryx, i. 44. hectori, Megalapteryx, xv. , Ocydromus, i. 57, 60, 61. , Turnagra, ii. 134. Hemiphaga chathamensis, xxiii ; i. 41. novce-zealandicB, i. 36, 41, 179 ; ii. 145. spadicea, i. 40. Hen, Swamp-, i. 64. Herodias timoriensis, i. 194. Heron, Common, i. 193. — , Eastern Great White, i. 194. , Nankeen Night-, i. 197. — , Reef, i. 198. — , White-fronted, i. 196. Heroprogne caspia, i. 157. Heteractitis incanus, i. 186. Heteralocha acutirostris, xxi, xxxi, xxxvii, xxxviii ; ii. 154. , Malformed and normal bill of, ii. 160. Heteropygia acuminata, i. 187. heugeli, Gallinago, i. 188, 189, 190. Hieracidea, ii. 58. Hihi, ii. 137. Himantopus albicollis, i. 179. leucocephalus, i. 177, 178. melas, xl ; i. 179. novce-zealandice, i. 179. picatus, i. 177, 178, 179. Hirundo nigricans, ii. 113. hochstetteri, Cyanorhamphus, ii. 86, 87. , Notornis, xxii ; i. 66. Honey-eater, Australian, ii. 148. Honge, ii. 166. hicdsonica, Limosa, i. 185, 186. huegeli, Gallinago, xxv ; i. 188, 189, 190. Huia, xxi, xxxi, xxxii, xxxvii, xxxviii ; ii. 154. huttoni, Phalacrocorax, ii. 22, 25, 30, 38. Hutton's Eail, i. 45. Hybrid Ducks, Group of, ii. 8. Hydrochelidon leucoptera, i. 157. Hymenolsemus ?nalacorhynchus, xxii ; ii. 9, 17. Hypotsenidia brachypus, i. 42. macquariensis , xxi v. muelleri, xxiv; i. 42. philippensis, xxiv; i. 43, 44. Hypotriorchis, ii. 58. Ibis, Glossy, i. 192. , Scarlet, xli. 173 Ibis, Straw-necked, i. 58. , White, xli. Ieroglaux, ii. 62. igata, Pseudogerygone, ii. 118. , Gerygone, ii. 118. Ihi, ii. 137. imperialis, Phalacrocorax, ii. 29, 37. incanus, Heteractitis, i. 186. , Totanus, i. 186. incerta, CEstrelata, i. 112. ineptus, Didus, xxxi. insularis, Traversia, ii. 109. , Xenicus, ii. 109, 110, 111. intermedins, Cuculus, ii. 102. , Cyanorhamphus, ii. 88. interpres, Arenaria, i. 171. , Strepsilas, i. 171. 'Isabella, Stiltia, i. 192. Jack-bird, ii. 163. jamesoni, Bruchigavia, i. 165. julia, Halcyon, ii. 98. Kaka Parrot, ii. 69. , Yellow-belted, ii. 77. Kakapo, xix, xx, xxxi, xxxviii, xli ; ii. 89-95. , Home of the, ii. 91. Kakariki, xxi. ^ Kea, xli. Parrot, ii. 75. Keas in Camp, ii. 76. Kereru, i. 39. Kermadec-Islands Parrakeet, ii. 87. Kestrel, Nankeen, ii. 60. Kikimutu, ii. 102. King Penguin, xxxix ; i. 78. Hatching its Egg, i. 81. Kingfisher, New Zealand, ii. 97. Kiwi, xxxi, xxxviii. , Brownish-black, i. 2. , Buller's i. 17. , Grey, xvii, xviii ; i. 28, 29. , Haast's, i. 25. , Little Grey, xiv. • , Mantell's, i. 12. , Owen's, i. 19. — '— Preserve in Papaitonga Lake, xlv. , Red, i. 18. , South-Island, i. 11. , Stewart-Island, i. 1, 2. , West-Coast, i. 23. Kiwis on their Feeding Ground, i. 5. Knot, i. 187. Koheperoa, ii. 98. Kokakos, ii. 137. Koko, ii. 72. Komako ii. 142. Korimako, xxiii ; ii. 129, 138. Kotihe, ii. 137. Kotuku, i. 194. Kotukutuku, i. 194. kuhli, Puffinus, i. 105. lapponica, Limosa, i. 184. Larger Diving Petrel, i. 127. Larus bulleri, i. 164. dominicanus, i. 166, 168, 169 ; ii. 145. marinus, i. 147. novGe-hollandicB, i. 165. scopulinus, i. 164, 165, 166, 167, 169. Following Shoal of Kaha- wai, i. 167. Laughing Owl, ii. 62. laiuryi, Apteryx, xiii, xiv ; i. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 17, 19, 20, 23, 25, 26. layardi, Diomedea, i. ]49. leadbeateri, Caccatua, i. 129. lessoni, CEstrelata, i. 111. leucocapilla, Sterna, i. 163. leucocapillus, Micranous, i. 162. leucocephalus, Himantopus, i. 177, 178. leucophrys, CEstrelata, i. 115, 116. leucoptera, Hydrochelidon, i. 157. , CEstrelata, i. 113. lewini, Rallus, i. 42, 43. Limonites ruficollis, i. 186. Limosa hudsonica, i. 185, 186. lapponica, i. 184. novm-zealandicB, i. 181, ,184. Linnet, xxxiii. Little Bittern, i. 197. Blue Penguin, i. 96. Grey Kiwi, xiv.. ' Noddy, i. 161. > Whimbrel, i. 181. - White Tern, i. 161. lobatus, Lobivanellus, i. 173. Lobivanellus lobatus, i. 173. personatus, i. 173. longipes, Miro, ii. 124. , Petroica, ii. 124. — , Xenicus, xxii ; ii. 103, 106, 107, 108, 110. longir ostris , Haematopus, i. 172, 173. , Numenius, i. 180. Long-tailed Cuckoo, ii. 98. Lophsethyia cristata, i. 76. Lorius, ii. 71. lucidus, Chalcococcyx, ii. 101. , Chrysococcyx, ii. 101. lyalli, Traversia, ii. 110. Macaroni Penguin, i. 94. maccormicki, Megalestris, i. 170. Maccormick's Skua, i. 170. Macquarie-Island Shag, ii. 40. macquariensis, Hypotsenidia, xxiv. , Rallus, i. 43. macrocephala, Myiomoira, ii. 100, 114, 120. , Muscitraea, xviii. , Petroeca, ii. 114. macroptera, CEstrelata, i. 111. maculata, Ardetta, i. 197. Majaqueus, i, 131. cequinoctialis, i. 109. wmm ««■ Majaqueus conspicillatus, i. 110. ■ gouldi,\. 111. parkinsoni, i. 28, 29, 106, 109 137, 148. malacorhynchus, Hymenolsemus, xxii ii. 9, 17. malherbei, Cyanorhamphus, ii. 88 89. mantelli, Apteryx, xiv, xliii ; i. 2, 3 8, 11,12, 17, 21, 26, 30. , Notornis, xxii, xxx ; i. 66, 68 69. Mantell's Kiwi, i. 12 Notornis, i. 66. marina, Pelagodroma, i. 98. marinus, Larus, i. 147. Marsh Bail, i. 63. • Sandpiper, i. 187. Masked Gannet, ii. 49. Matakirea, ii. 56. maxlmus, Apteryx, i. 1, 27. , Dinornis, xvi, xvii ; i. 15. Megadyptes antipodum, xxxix ; i. 86, 87, 88. Megalapteryx, xvii ; i. 14. hectori, xv. Megalestris antarctica, i. 137, 169, 170, 171. maccormicki, i. 170. Megapode, Southern, i. 31. Megapodius, sp. i. 31. pritchardi, i. 31, 174. melanocephala, Anthornis, xxiii; ii. 143. melanog aster, Fregetta, i. 99, 156. melanoleucus, Phalacrocorax, ii. 43, 44, 45. ■ , , Head of, ii. 45. melanonotus, Porphyrio, xviii ; i. 64, 73 ; ii. 120. melanophrys, Diomedea, xxiv ; i. 107, 142, 146, 147, 148, 152. melanops, Graucalus, ii. 128. melanorhynclia, Platalea, i. 193. melanura, Anthornis, xxiii, xxiv, xxxix; ii. 120, 138, 139. melas, Himantopus, xl ; i. 179. Merganser, xxiv. , Auckland-Island, ii. 21. Merganser australis, i. 121 ; ii. 21. Mergus australis, xxiv ; ii. 22. brasiliensis, ii. 22. meridionalis, Nestor, xli ; ii. 69, 71, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 120. var. esslingi, Nestor, ii. 77. Mesopteryx, i. 14. Mesoscoloipa,x mimitus, i. 181, 186. Micranous leucocapillus, i. 162. minor, Eudyptula, i. 96. ■ , Tachypetes, ii. 52. minutns, Mesoscolopax, i. 181, 186. , Numenius, i. 181. Miro albifrons, xviii ; ii. 100, 120, 121, 123, 124. 174 Miro australis, xviii ; ii. 122, 123, 124, 129. bulleri, ii. 123, 124. dannefordi, ii. 125. ■ longipes, ii. 124. ochrotarsus, ii. 106, 124. traversi, xxiii, xxiv; ii. Ill, 125, 132. Moa, xxii. modestus, Cabalus, i. 45. Mohoua, ii. 136. Mohua, ii. 136. mollis, GEstrelata, i. 112, 113, 117. montanus, Nestor, ii. 69. Morepork, xxix; ii. 61. Mottled Petrel, i. 117. Mountain Duck, xxii ; ii. 17. , Head of, ii. 20. , Home of the, ii. 18. Starling, xxxvii. Moutuutu, ii. 102. muelleri, Hypotsenidia, xxiv ; i. 42. , Eallus, i. 42. Muscicapa vittata, ii. 117. Muscitraea albifrons, xxxix. macrocephala, xviii. ■ toitoi, xviii. Mutton-bird, i. 102, 104. Myiomoira macrocephala, ii. 100, 114, 120. toitoi, ii. 114. Nankeen Kestrel, ii. 60. Night-Heron, i. 197. nebularius, Glottis, i. 186. Scolopax, i. 186. Nectris brevicaudus, i. 103. neglecta, CEstrelata, i. 115, 116, 119, 120. nereis, Garrodia, i. 98, 131. , Sterna, i. 158, 161. Nesierax australis, ii. 58, 59. novce-zealandim, ii. 58. nesiotis, Gallinula, i. 46. Nesolimnas, xxiii ; i. 45. dieffenbachi, xxxi ; i. 44. Nesonetta aucklandica, xxiv ; ii. 12, 14, 21. Nestor esslingi, ii. 77, 78, 79. meridionalis, xli ; ii. 69, 71, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 120. var. esslingi, ii. 77. • montanus, ii. 69. norfolcensis, ii. 90. notabilis, ii. 75, 77, 79. oecidentalis , ii. 74. prodnctus, ii. 77, 78, 80. septentrionalis , ii. 74. superbus, ii. 71, 79. Nettium castaneum, ii. 10, 11. gibberifrons , ii. 10. New Zealand Creeper, ii. 136. Dabchick, i. 76. Dottrel, i. 175. Kingfisher, ii. 97. New Zealand Owl, ii. 61. Pigeon, i. 36. Pipit, ii. 151. Quail, xxx ; i. 34. Scaup, ii. 17. Shore-Plover, i. 176. Shoveller, ii. 15. Ngiru-ngiru, ii. 115. Night-Heron, Nankeen, i. 197. nigricans, Hirundo, ii. 113. , Ocydromus, i. 61. , Petrochelidon, ii. 113. nigripennis, Gilstrelata, i. 113. nigripes, Diomedea, i. 133, 146. Ninox albaria, ii. 61. boobook, ii. 61, 66. novce-zealandice, ii. 61. Noddy, Black, i. 163. — Common, i. 162. Little, i. 161. norfolcensis, Nestor, ii. 80. norfolkiensis, Halcyon, ii. 98. Norfolk-Island Parrakeet, ii. 85. North-Island Eobin, ii. 122. , Last-known Eesort of the, ii. 122. Thrush, ii. 134. Tomtit, ii. 114. • Wood-hen, i. 47. notabilis, Nestor, ii. 75, 77, 79. Notophoyx novce-hollandice, i. 196. Notornis, xxii, xxxviii. hochstetteri, xxii ; i. 66. ■ mantelli, xxii, xxx ; i. 66, 68, 69. , Head of, i. 74. , Mantell's, i. 66. novce-hollandice, Ardea, i. 196. •, Larus, i. 165. , Notophoyx, i. 196. , Phalacrocorax, ii. 22, 25. , Plotus, ii. 46. , Recurvirostra, xxi ; i. 180. novce-zealandice, An thus, xl ; ii. 151, 153. , Carpophaga, i. 36 ; ii. 120. , Certhiparus, ii. 136. chathamiensis, Anthus, ii. 152. , Coturnix, i. 34, 35. , Cyanorhamphus, xxiii, xxiv, xli ; ii. 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87. , Fulica, i. 75 ; ii. 17, 55. , Harpa, ii. 58. , Hemiphaga, i. 36, 41, 179 ; ii. 145. , Limosa, i. 181, 184. , Nesierax, ii. 58. , Ninox, ii. 61. • novce-zealandice, Anthus, ii. 152. , Platycercus, ii. 83, 86. ■ — — , Prosthemadera, ii. 72, 120, 144, 145, 146. reischeki, Anthus, ii. 152. , Spiloglaux, ii. 61, 62, 68. : ■ navce-zealandice, Thinornis, xl ; i. 176. Numenius cyanopus, i. 180, 186. longirostris, i. 180. minutus, i. 181. uropygialis, i. 181. variegatus, i. 181, 186. nycthemerus, Phalacrocorax, ii. 39. Nycticorax caledonicus, i. 197. nycticorax, ii. 134. Nyroca aus trails, ii. 16. obscurus, Charadrius, i. 175. , Octhodromus, i. 175. , Puffinus, i. 100. occidentalism Apteryx, xiii, xiv, xviii ; i. 6, 17, 21, 23, 24. , Nestor, ii. 74. occipitalis, Halcyon, ii. 98. oceanicus, Oceanites, i. 97, 99. Oceanites oceanicus, i. 97, 99. wilsoni, i. 97. ochrocephala, Clitonyx, xviii ; ii. 100, 130. ochrocephalus, Certhiparus, ii. 136. ochrotarsus, Miro, ii. 106, 124. , Turchis, ii. 124. Octhodromus bicinctus, i. 175. obscurus, i. 175. Ocydromus, xix, xxiii ; i. 44, 50, 51, 53. australis, xxx ; i. 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60,62; ii. 120. « brachyp terns, i. 57, 60, 61,62. earli, xix ; i. 28, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 60. finschi,x[x; i. 57, 60, 61, 62. fuscus, i, 60, 61. greyi, xix, xxix, xxx ; i. 47, 55, 56, 57, 60. hectori, i. 57, 60, 61. nigricans, i. 61. sylvestris, i. 59, 73. troglodytes, i. 60, 61. (Estrelata affinis, i. 117. axillaris, i. 119, 125. cervicalis, i. 114. ■ coohi, xl ; i. 113, 118, 119. defilippiana, i. 113. fisheri, i. 117. fuliginosa, i. 118. gouldi, i. 111. gularis, i. 101, 117. incerta, i. 112. lessoni, i. 111. leucophrys, i. 115, 116. leucoptera, i. 113. macroptera, i. 111. mollis, i. 112, 113, 117. neglecta, i. 115, 116, 119, 120. nigripennis, i. 113. philUpi, i. 116, 119, 120. Olive-green Bell-bird, xx. onslowi, Phalacrocorax, ii. 31, 37, 40. Onslow's Shag, ii. 37. Orange-fronted Parrakeet, ii. 89. Orange-wattled Crow, xxxviii ; ii. 164. 175 Ortygometra affinis, i. 63. tabuensis, i. 63. Ossifraga gigantea, xl; i. 106, 107, 120, 121, 144, 148. oiveni, Apteryx, xiii, xiv, xliii ; i. 3, 11, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30. oweni, Apteryx, i. 3. Owen's Kiwi, i. 19. Owl, Ground, xviii. , Laughing, ii. 62. , New Zealand, ii. 61. Parrot, ii. 89. , Eufous-faced, xviii ; ii. 65. , White-faced, xviii. , Wood, xiii. Oyster-catcher, i. 6. , Black, i. 172. , Pied, i. 172. pachyrJiijnchus , Catarrhactes, xxxix ; i. 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 95. pacificus, Oypselus, ii. 95. , Eurystomus, ii. 96. Palaeeudyptes antarcticus, i. 95. Palaeornis torquatus, ii. 88. Palapteryx, xvii, xxiii ; i. 14. Paleospheniscus, i. 95. Paradise Duck, ii. 2. Paraptenodytes, i. 95. parhinsoni, Majaqueus, i. 28, 29, 106, 109, 137, 148. Parrakeet, Antipodes-Island, ii. 81. , Auckland-Island, ii. 86. , Chatham-Islands, ii. 89. , Green, xxi, xxiii, xxxiv. ■ , Kermadec-Islands, ii. 87. , Norfolk-Island, ii. 85. , Orange-fronted, ii. 89. , Eed-fronted, ii. 83. , Eing, ii. 88. , Yellow-fronted, ii. 83. Parrot, Fijian, ii. 83. , Ground, xix., xxxi. , Kaka, ii. 69. , Kea, ii. 75. , Owl-, ii. 89. Parson-bird, ii. 144, 146. parvissima, Strix, ii. 62. Passer domesticus, xxxiii. patagonica, Aptenodytes, xxxix ; i. 78 ; ii. 18. pectoralis, Coturnix, xxx. , Eallus, i. 43. Pelagodroma marina, i. 98. Pelican, Australian, ii. 53. Pelecanoides berardi, i. 126. exsul, i. 127. gamoti, i. 127, 128. urinatrix, i. 122, 126, 127 ; ii. 82. Pelecanus conspicillatus, i. 186 ; ii. 53. Penguin, Black, xxxix. , King, xxxix, xli ; i. 78. — , Macaroni, i. 94. 3 Royal, xxxix. Penguin, SchlegePs, i. 90. , Sclater's, i. 88. , Thick-billed, i. 95. , Tufted, i. 84. , Victoria, i. 86. — — , Yellow-crowned, i. 94. personatus, Lobivanellus, i. 173. Petrel, Antarctic, i. 108. , Banks' Dove, i. 124. , Black, i. 109. , Black-bellied Storm-, i. 99. , Blue, i. 122. , Broad-billed Dove, i. 123. , Cook's, i. 118. , Doubtful, i. 112. , Dove, i. 124. , Giant, i. 120. , Gould's Dove, i. 126. — , Grey, i. 106. , Grey-backed Storm-, i. 98. -, Grey-faced, i. 111. , Larger Diving, i. 127. , Mottled, i. 117. , Phillip's, i. 119. , Pintado, i. 122. , Eothschild's, i. 113. , Salvin's, i. 119. , Schlegel's, i. 115. - , Short-billed Dove, i. 125. , Silvery-grey, i. 108. 2o. , Smaller Diving, i. 126. , Soft-plumaged, i. 112. , Sooty, i. 118. , Stink-pot, i. 109. J ' , Sunday-Island, i. 114, , White- faced Storm-, i. 98. , White-headed, i. 111. -^^- , Wilson's Storm-, i. 97. Petrochelidon nigricans, ii. 113. Petroeca macrocephala, ii. 114. toitoi, ii. 114. vittata, ii. 117. Petroica longipes, ii. 124. Pezoporus fairchildi, ii. 81. Phaethon rubricauda, ii. 53. Phalacrocorax atriceps, ii. 40. brevirostris, ii. 39, 41, 42, 43. campbelli, ii. 39, 40. capensis, ii. 24. carbo, ii. 22. carunculatus, ii. 25, 26, 27, 29,. 30, 31, 36, 37, 38. chalconotus, ii. 22, 30, 32, 33. ■ cirrhatus, ii. 26. colensoi, ii. 28, 29, 30, 38, 39 > 40. featherstoni, ii. 36. finschi, ii. 43. glaucus, ii. 33, 34. graculus, ii. 34. harrisi, ii. 14. huttoni, ii. 22, 25, 30, 38. imperialis, ii. 29, 37. melanoleucus, ii. 43, 44, 45. — , Head of, ii. 45. Phalacrocorax novce-hollandics, ii. 22, 55. ■ nycthemerus, ii. 39. onslowi, ii. 31. 37, 40. punctatus, ii, 35. ranfurlyi, i. 121 ; ii. 30, 40. rothschildi, ii. 28, 38. stewarti, ii. 25, 30, 31, 41. sulcirostris, ii. 41. traversi, ii. 30, 40. varius, ii. 24, 25, 31, 44. verrucosus, ii. 27, 40. Phalarope, Grey, i. 191. Phalaropus fulicarius, i. 191. philippensis, Hypotsenidia, xxiv. ; i. 43, 44. -, Ballus, i. 43. phillipi, CEstrelata, i. 116, 119, 120. Phillip's Petrel, i. 119. Phoebetria fuliginosa, i. 99, 137, 151, 152, 155, 170. picatus, Himantopus, i. 177, 178, 179. Pied Fantail, xviii ; ii. 126. Oyster-catcher, i. 172. Shag, ii. 24. Pigeon, Chatham-Island, i. 41. , New Zealand, i. 36. , Tooth-billed, xxxiv. , White, i. 38. , Wood, xxiii ; i. 36, 38. Pintado Petrel, i. 122. Piopio, ii. 134, 137. Pipit, Auckland-Islands, ii. 153. , Ground-, xxiii, xl. , New Zealand, ii. 151. Platalea melanorhyncha, i. 193. regia, i. 193. Platycercus alpinus, ii. 89. ■ auriceps, ii. 88. erythrotis, ii. 86. novce-zealandice, ii. 83, 86. roioleyi, ii. 83. ■ unicolor, ii. 81. ~Plega>dis falcinellus, i. 186, 192. Plotus novce-hollaudice, ii. 46. Plover, Auckland-Island Shore-, i. 176. , Australian Masked, i. 173. •, Eastern Golden, i. 174. , New Zealand Shore-, i. 176. , Wry-billed, xx, xxi ; i. 177. plumbea, Porzana, i. 33, 63. Podiceps cristatus, i. 76. rufipectus, i. 76. pwciloptilus, Botaurus, i. 199. Pogonornis cincta, xxxii ; ii. 137. Popokatea, ii. 129, 130. Porphyrio bellus, i. 64. • chathamensis , i. 64. melanonotus , xviii ; i. 64, 73 ; ii. 120. samoensis, i. 65. smarag dimes, i. 65. stanleyi, i. 73. 176 Porzana affinis, i. 63. plumbea, i. 33, 63. Pratincole, Australian, i. 192. Priofinus cinereus, i. 106, 107, 108, 116, 137, 148, 156. Prion ariel, i. 124, 126. banhsi, i. 124. brevirostris, i. 125. desolatus, i. 99, 107, 119, 123, 124, 125, 126, 131, 144. vittatus, i. 123, 124. pritchardi, Megapodius, i. 31, 174. Procellaria gularis, i. 117, 118. Procelsterna cinerea, i. 161. productus, Nestor, ii. 77, 78, 80. Prosthemadera novce-zealandice, ii. 72, 120, 144, 145, 146. Pseudogerygone, ii. 136. albofrontata, xxiii ; ii. 119. flaviventris, ii. 100, 117, 118, 119. igata, ii. 118. sylvestris, ii. 118, 119. Ptilotis, xxxii. Puffinus anglorum, i. 105. assimilis, i. 100. bulleri, i. 101, 157. carneipes, xxv ; i. 103, 105. chlororhynchus, i. 103, 104, 105. ■ gavia, i. 99, 100. griseusyi. 102, 104, 105, 108, 148. kuhli, i. 105. obscurus, i. 100. sphenurus, i. 105. tenuirostris, i. 104. zealandicus, i. 101, 157. • Pukeko, xviii. Pukunui, xxii. punctata, Bowdleria, xxiv ; ii. 131, 132. punctatum, Sphenodon, xx ; i. 118. punctatus, Phalacrocorax, ii. 35. Sphenceacus, ii. 120, 131, 132. pusilla, Ardea, i. 197. , Ardetta, i. 197. , Gallinago, xxv; i. 188, 189, 190. Pygoscelis papua, i. 86, 87. Pyrrhulopsis tabuensis, ii. 82, 83. tabuensis var. atrigularis, ii. 82. Quail, Australian, i. 35. , Californian, xxix. , New Zealand, xxx ; i. 34. Quail-Hawk, ii. 57, 58. , Head of, ii. 57. Bail, xxii, xxiii, xxiv, xxx, xxxi. , Auckland-Island, i. 42. , Banded, xxix ; i. 43. , Dieffenbach's, i. 44. , Hutton's, i. 45. — , Marsh, i. 63. -, Swamp, i. 63. Ballus, xxiii. australis, i. 61. Ballus brachypus, i. 42. leivini, i. 42, 43. macquariensis , i. 43. muelleri, i. 42. pectoralis, i. 43. philippensis, i. 43. troglodytes, i. 61. ranfurlyi, Phalacrocorax, i. 121 ; ii. 30, 40. . . Banfurly's Shag, ii. 40. rayneri, Cyanorhamphus, ii. 85. Becurvirostra novce-hollandice, xxi ; i. 180. Bed-breasted Godwit, i. 185. Bed-capped Dottrel, i. 175. Bed-fronted Parrakeet, ii. 83. Bed Kiwi, i. 18. Bed-necked Avocet, xxi ; i. 180. Bed-necked Sandpiper, i. 186. Bed-tailed Tropic Bird, ii. 53. Beef Heron, i. 198. regia, Diomedea, xxiv ; i. 99, 131, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142,. 143, 148, 150, 152, 170. , Platalea, i. 193. Bhipidura flabellifera, xviii ; i. 56 ; ii. 120, 126, 127. — —fuliginosa, xviii ; i. 56 ; ii. 127. Bhynchaspis variegata, ii. 15. rhynchotis, Spatula, ii. 16. Bhyncocephala, i. 118. Bichardson's Skua, i. 171. Bifleman, xx ; ii. 102. , Alpine, ii. 103. — , Snow, ii. 103. Bing Parrakeet, ii. 88. Boa, i. 29. Bobin, xxxii. , Alpine, ii. 123. , Black, xxiii, xxiv. , Chatham-Island, ii. 125. , Dusky, ii. 117. , North-Island, ii. 122. , , Last-known Besort of the, ii. 122. , Snares-Island, ii. 125. , South-Island, ii. 120. , Wood-, xviii. robustus, Dinornis, i. 14. Bock-hopper, i. 84, 86. Bock Wren, xxii ; ii. 108. Boiler, Australian, ii. 96. rossi, Thinornis, i. 176. rothschildi, Phalacrocorax, ii. 28, 38. Bothschild's Petrel, i. 113. Bough-faced Shag, ii. 25. roiuleyi, Cyanorhamphus, ii. 85. , Platycercus, ii. 83. Boyal Albatros, i. 138. , Young of, i. 143. on her Nest, i. 145. Penguin, xxxix. Spoonbill, i. 193. rubra, Guara, xli. wMmmBmmtm^mmmmmmBKS^SBm — -_-- rubricauda, Phaethon, ii. 53. rufescens, Bowdleria, xxiii, xxiv ; ii. 133. ■ , Sphenoeacus, ii. 133. ruficapilla, ^Egialitis, i. 175. ruficapillus, Charadrius, i. 175. ruficollis, Limonites, i. 186. , Trynga,i. 186. rufifacies Sceloglaux, xviii ; ii. 65, 66, 68. rufipectus, Podiceps, i. 76. Rufous-faced Owl, xviii ; ii. 65. rutila, Casarca, ii. 3. sacer, Halcyon, ii. 97, 98. sacra, Ardea, i. 198. • , Demiegretta, i. 198. , Halcyon, ii. 98. Saddle-back, xviii ; ii. 162. salvini, Diomedea, xxiv ; i. 148, 149, 150, 151, 154. , , Nesting on the Bounty Islands, xxv. , Thalassogeron, i. 89, 151, 152, 153. Salvin's Albatros, i. 150. Petrel, i. 119. samoensis, Porphyrio, i. 65. sanctus, Halcyon, ii. 98. Sandpiper, Curlew, i. 187. , Grey, i. 186. , Red-necked, i. 186. , Marsh, i. 187. saturatus, Cuculus, ii. 102. Scarlet Ibis, xli. Scaup, New Zealand, ii. 17 Sceloglaux albifacies, xxviii. ; ii. 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68. ■ rufifacies, xviii ; ii. 65, 66, 68. schlegeli, Catarrhactes, xxxix ; i. 78, 83, 86, 87, 90, 94. Schlegel's Penguin, i. 90. Petrel, i. 115. sclaleri, Catarrhactes, i. 78, 85, 87, 88, 89. Sclater's Penguin, i. 88. nebularius, i. 186. Scolopax subarquatus, i. 187. scopulinus, Larus, i. 164, 165, 166, 167, 169. , , Following Shoal of Kaha- wai, i. 167. Sea Shag, ii. 22. septentrionalis, Nestor, ii. 74. serrator, Dysporus, ii. 49. , Sula, ii. 46. Shag, Auckland- Island, ii. 28 , Black, ii. 41. , Campbell-Island, ii. 39. , Chatham-Island, ii. 36. , Crested, ii. 37. , Frilled, ii. 44. , Gray's, ii. 33. , Macquarie Island, ii. 40. , Onslow's, ii. 37. 177 Shag, Pied, ii. 24. , Ranfurly's, ii. 40. , Rough-faced, ii. 25. , Sea, ii. 22. , Spotted, ii. 35. , Stewart-Island, ii. 30. , White-throated, ii. 42. Shearwater, Allied, i. 100. , Bonaparte's, i. 104. , Buller's i. 101. , Dusky, i. 100. , Flesh-footed, i. 103. , Forster's, i. 99. ■, Wedge-tailed, i. 105. Shining Cuckoo, ii. 101. Shore-Plover, Auckland-Island, i. 176. , New Zealand, i. 176. Short-billed Dove Petrel, i. 125. Shoveller, New Zealand, ii. 15. Shrike, Australian, ii. 128. Shy Albatros, i. 152. Silver-Eye, ii. 149. Silver-Grey Petrel, i. 108. Skua, Maccormick's, i. 170. , Richardson's, i. 171. , Southern, i. 169. Small Frigate-bird, ii. 52. Smaller Diving Petrel, i. 126. smaragdi?ius, Porphyrio, i. 65. Snares Fern-bird, ii. 132. Snares-Island Robin, ii. 125. Snares Snipe, i. 189. Snipe, Auckland-Island, i. 188. , Australian, i. 191. , Chatham-Island, i. 188. , Snares, i. 189. Snow Rifleman, ii. 103. Soft-plumaged Petrel, i. 112. solomonis, Halcyon, ii. 98. Sooty Albatros, i. 155. -Petrel, i. 118. Tern, i. 159. sordidus, Halcyon, ii. 98. Southern Black-backed Gull, i. 168. Godwit, i. 181. Megapode, i. 31. Skua, i. 169. South-Island Kiwi, i. 11. Robin, ii. 120. Thrush, ii. 135. Tomtit, ii. 114. Wood-hen, i. 58. spadicea, Hemiphaga, i. 40. Sparrow, xxxiii, xxxiv, xlii. Spatula clypeata, ii. 15. rhynchotis, ii. 16. variegata, ii. 15. Sphenoeacus fulvus, ii. 131, 132. punctatus, ii. 120, 131, 132. rufescens, ii. 133. sphenurus, Puffinus, i. 105. Spiloglaux novce-zealandice ; ii. 61, 62, 68. Spine-tailed Swift, ii. 95. spinicollis, Carphibis, i. 58. Spoonbill, Royal, i. 193. Spotted Shag, ii. 35. Stanley i, Porphyrio, i. 73. Starling, Mountain, xxxvii. Steindachneri, Anthus, ii. 154. Stephen-Island Wren, ii. 109. Stercorarius antarcticus, i. 169. crepidatus, i. 171. Sterna albistriata, i. 158, 159. antarctica, i. 158. bethunei, i. 159. caspia, i. 157, 159. cinerea, i. 161. frontalis, i. 158, 159, 160. fuliginosa, i. 159, 160. leucocapilla, i. 163. nereis, i. 158, 161. vittata, i. 158, 159. Stewart-Island Kiwi, i. 1, 2. Shag, ii. 30. stewarti, Phalacrocorax, ii. 25, 30, 31, 41. stictoceplialus, Gracalus, ii. 41. Stilt, Black, i. 179. , White-headed, i. 177, 178. -, White-necked, i. 179. Stiltia Isabella, i. 192. Stink-pot Petrel, i. 109. Stitch-bird, xxxii ; ii. 137. stohesi, Xenicus, ii. 107, 108. stolidus, Anous, i. 162 ; ii. 99. Storm-Petrel, Black-bellied, i. 99. , Grey-backed, i. 98. , White-faced, i. 98. , Wilson's, i. 97. • Straw-necked Ibis, i. 58. Strepera gracuhna, ii. 146. Strepsilas interpres, i. 171. stridula, Strix, ii. 66. strigirostris, Didunculus, xxxiv. Stringops greyi, xli ; ii. 90. habroptilus, xix; i. 26 ; ii. 89, 90. Strix parvissima, ii. 62. stridula, ii. 66. subarquatus, Ancylochilus, i. 186, 187. , Scolopax, i. 187. Sula capensis, i. 154 ; ii. 48. cyanops, ii. 49, 51. fiisca, ii. 50. serrator, ii. 46. sula, ii. 50. sulcirostris, Phalacrocorax, ii. 41. Sunday-Island Petrel, i. 114. superbus, Nestor, ii. 71, 79. super ciliosa, Anas, ii. 5, 7, 9. Swallow, Australian Tree-, ii. 113. Swamp Crake, i. 33. Swamp-hen, xviii, xxix ; i. 64. Swamp Rail, i. 63. Swift, Australian, ii. 95. , Spine-tailed, ii. 95. sylvestris, Gerygone, ii. 119. Vol. ii. — 23 wmmmmm *-*^8-*-**»***K, -- 178 3o* sylvestris, Ocydromus, i. 59, 73. , Pseudogerygone, ii. 118, 119. Synoecus australis, i. 35. Syornis, xvi. syrmatophora, Ardea, i. 194. Syrnium aluco, xlii ; ii. 66. tabuensis, Ortygometra, i. 63. , Pyrrhulopsis, ii. 82, 83. var. atrigularis, Pyrrhulopsis, ii. 82. Tachypetes aguila, ii. 51, 52. minor, ii. 52. taitensis, Eudynamis, ii. 98. ■, Urodynamis, xxi ; ii. 98, 99, 101. Takahe, i. 66. tanagra, Turnagra, xviii ; ii. 59 ; 134, 135. Tantalus falcinellus, i. 192. Tataeko, ii. 130. Teal, Australian, ii. 10. , Wood-, ii. 10. tenuirostris, Puffinus, i. 104. Tern, Bethune's,i. 159. , Black-fronted, i. 158 , Caspian, i. 157. , Little White, i. 161. — , Sooty, i. 159. , Southern, i. 158. , White, i. 163. , White-fronted, i. 158. , White-winged Black, i. 157. Thalassceca antarctica, i. 108, 157. glacialoides, i. 108. Thalassogeron cautus, i. 151, 153. chlororhynchus, i. 149, 151, 154. cornicoides, i. 151. culminatus, i. 149. salvini,i. 89, 151, 152, 153. Thick-billed Penguin, i. 95. Thrush, xviii, xxxviii. Thinornis novce-zealandice, xl ; i. 176. rossi, i. 176. Thrush, North-Island, ii. 134. , South-Island, ii. 135. , Thick-billed, xviii, xxxviii. tibicen, Gymnorhina, ii. 96. timoriensis, Ardea, i. 194. , Herodias, i. 194. Titi, i. 104. toitoi, Muscitrsea, xviii. , Myiomoira, ii. 114. , Petroeca, ii. 114. Tomtit, North-Island, ii. 114. , South-Island, ii. 114. , White-breasted, xviii. , Yellow-breasted, xviii. Tooth-billed Pigeon, xxxiv. torquatus, Palaeornis, ii. 88. Totanus incanus, i. 186. traversi, Miro, xxiii, xxiv ; ii. Ill, 125, 132. , Phalacrocorax, ii. 30, 40. Traversia insularis, xxxiv; ii. 109. lyalli, ii. 110. Tree-Swallow, Australian, ii. 113 Trichoglossus, ii. 71. Tringa acuminata, i. 187. canutus, i. 187. tristrami, Galinago, xxv ; i. 188. , Halcyon, ii. 98. troglodytes, Ocydromus, i. 60, 61. — — , Eallus, i. 61. Tropic Bird, Eed-tailed, ii. 53. Trynga ruficollis, i. 186. Tufted Penguin, i. 84. Tui, xxxiii ; ii. 72, 144. Turdus albifrons, ii. 123. ochrotarsus, ii. 124. Turnagra crassirostris , xviii. xxxviii ; ii. 134, 135. hectori, ii. 134. tanagra, xviii ; ii. 59, 134, 135. Turnstone, i. 171. unclina, Eudyptula, i. 96. unicolor, Cyanorhamphus, xxiii. xxxiv ;*ii. 81, 82,83, 86. , Haematopus, i. 6, 172, 179. , Platycercus, ii. 81. Upokotea, ii. 130. urinatrix, Haladroma, i. 126, 127. , Pelecanoides, i. 122, 126, 127 ; ii. 82. Urodynamis taitensis, xxi ; ii. 98, 99, 101. uropygialis, Numenius, i. 181. vagans, Halcyon, ii. 97, 98. validus, Dinornis, xvi. variegata, Casarca, ii. 2. , Ehynchaspis, ii. 15. , Spatula, ii. 15. variegatus, Numenius, i. 181, 186. varius, Phalacrocorax, ii. 24, 25, 31, 44. verrucosus, Phalacrocorax, ii. 27, 40. Victoria Penguin, i. 86. vittata, Muscicapa, ii. 117. , Petroeca, ii. 117. , Sterna, i. 158, 159. vittatus, Prion, i. 123, 124. Wandering Albatros, i. 128. Warbler, Bush, xxiii ; ii. 119. , Chatham-Island, ii. 119. , Grey, xxxiii ; ii. 117. W 7 edge-tailed Shearwater, i. 105. Weka, i. 48. West-Coast Kiwi, i. 23. id ester nensis, Zosterops, ii. 150. Whimbrel, Australian, i. 181. Whimbrel, Little, i. 181. Whio, ii. 19. Whistling Duck, ii. 1. White-breasted Tomtit, xviii. White-eyed Duck, ii. 16. White-faced Owl, xviii. Storm-Petrel, i. 98. White-fronted Heron, i. 196. Tern, i. 158. White Hawk, ii. 56. Whitehead, xviii, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxvii ; ii. 128, 129. White-headed Petrel, i. 111. Stilt, i. 179. White Ibis, xli. White-necked Stilt, i. 179. White Pigeon, i. 38. Tern, i. 163. White-throated Shag, ii. 42. White-winged Black Tern, i. 157. wilsoni, Glaucopis, xviii, xxxviii; ii. 164, 165, 166. , Oceanites, i. 97. Wilson's Storm-Petrel, i. 97. loolfi, Circus, ii. 57. Wood-hen, xix, xxix, xxx, xxxi, xliii. , Black, i. 60. , Brown, i. 52. , Buff, i. 60. , Nest of, i, 62. , North-Island, i. 47. , South-Island, i. 58. Wood-Owl, xlii. Wood-pigeon, xxiii, xxxii ; i. 36, 38. Wood-robin, xviii. Wood-Teal, ii. 10. Wren, Bush-, xx, xxii ; ii. 104. -, Ground, xxxiv .■ , North-Island, ii. 107. , Eock, xxii ; ii. 108. , Stephen-Island, ii. 109. Wry-billed Plover, xx, xxi; i. 177. Xenicus gilviventris, xxii ; ii. 108, 110. insularis, ii. 109, 110, 111. longipes, xxii ; ii. 103, 106, 107, 108, 110. stokesi, ii. 107, 108. Yellow Bell-bird, xli. Yellow-breasted Tomtit, xviii. Yellow-crowned Penguin, i. 94. Yellow-fronted Parrakeet, ii. 88. Yellowhead, xviii ; ii, 130. Yellow-nosed Albatros, i. 154. Yellow T -wattled Crow, xviii. zealandicus, Puffinus, i. 101, 157. Zosterops, xlix ; i. 200; ii. 97. ccerulescens, ii. 101, 130, 149, 150. westernensis, ii. 150. I 6 HHMHMMMBimaBaMiaHl HMMMi JOHN BALE, SONS AND DANIELSSON, LTD., OXFORD HOUSE, 83-91, GREAT TITCHFIELD STREET, LONDON, W. 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