786 THE BIRDS OF LORD HOVVK AND NORFOLK ISLANDS, 



In my previous paper on "The Birds of Lord Howe and 

 Norfolk Islands," I gave a brief description of a specimen of this 

 bird procured by Messrs. Hedley and McCulloch, of the Austra- 

 lian Museum, and Mr. W. S. Dun, from Mount Govver, Lord 

 Howe Island. I then expressed the opinion that it was a species 

 distinct from Oe. neglecta Schlegel, with which it had been identi- 

 fied by Mr. North. 



I have since procured another adult skin, and a series of eggs, 

 taken on 3rd June, 1910, in the same locality by Mr. Herbert 

 Wilson, who also furnished me with some interesting particulars 

 reeardins the habits of the bird. 



A compai'ison with a skin of Oe. neglecta supplied to me by 

 Mr. W. K. Brook Oliver (one of the Kermadec Island expedition) 

 shows that the difference is very marked indeed. In fact, Oe. 

 montana does not closely resemble any other of the thirty-two 

 known species of the genus. It is one of the largest and most 

 robust, and in its nature differs from the others, which are gentle 

 and timid. 



It is somewliat remarkable that this bird, locally so well known 

 as the " Big Hill Mutton Bird," has not hitherto been described. 

 Although it breeds only on Mount Gower, that mountain is by 

 no means difficult of access to persons of ordinary strength and 

 activity; indeed, several ladies have successfully negotiated the 

 climb to the summit. A pliotograph of the mountain (Plate xxii.)' 

 renders a detailed description unnecessary. It is 2,840 feet in 

 height, and the ocean front consists of a series of precipices, with 

 steep slopes at the foot of each, covered with cliff debris, boulders, 

 and matted cutting-grass. One of these slopes, known as the 

 "Lower Road "(Pl.xxiii.), about 300 feet above sea-level, was tlie 

 locality from which my bird and eggs were taken, but breeding 

 places are found right up to the plateau at the top of the mountain. 



In his account of the expedition to obtain specimens for me, 

 Mr. Wilson states that the locality was very rocky, with a few 

 patches of cutting-grass. The nests examined were all in 

 burrows, some as much as six feet in length, and mostly con- 

 structed where the ground was wet. No nest was found in the 



