BuLLER. — Oil New Zealand Birds. 89 



flipper, "Qin. ; bill, along the ridge 3-25in., along the edge of 

 lower mandible 3-5in. ; tarsus, l-5iu. ; middle toe and claw, 

 3-7in. 



Adult Female. — Length, 26-5in. ; extent, 21in. ; length of 

 flipper, Sin. ; bill, along the ridge 2-5in., along the edge of 

 lower mandible 2 -Sin. 



The birds having just completed their seasonal moult, their 

 tails have not grown, and therefore no measurements are 

 given. 



In both sexes the feet are of a delicate yellow colour. 

 Irides bright chestnut-red ; the eye flat, as in the other species, 

 having the appearance of a button, the pupil being extremely 

 small. At the angle of the mouth there is a fleshy membrane 

 of a dull pink colour, forming, when the bill is closed, a con- 

 spicuous, slightly tumid, triangular patch. The sexes are 

 alike, bat the male has a more robust bill and a larger amount 

 of golden yellow in the vertex and crest. 



It is very certain that this is not the same species as that 

 referred to E. clirysoloplius, with a query, by Dr. Kidder in his 

 notes on the Birds of Kerguelen Island (Bull. U.S. Nat. 

 Mus., 1875, pp. 45, 46). The measurements he gives point to 

 a much smaller bird, the largest of his specimens being only 

 23-85in. in length, with an extent of 15-5in., and a flipper 

 measuring 6-5in. in length. Besides, the information which 

 he gives of the habits of his Penguin does not fit in with what 

 we know of Eiulyptes chrysoloplius. He writes : "The nests 

 are rather more distinct than those of Pi/goscelis, and most of 

 them were lined with dried grass. Each contained two white 

 eggs, of which one was usually larger than the other ; and both 

 birds were, as a rule, by each nest. Whether one hunts to 

 feed the other or not, I cannot say. A small flock came in 

 from sea while I was present, announcing their arrival by a 

 single shrill whistle, frequently repeated, and answered from 

 the shore. They were wonderfully courageous, erecting their 

 sulphur-coloured plumes and trembling all over with excite- 

 ment on my approach, while they kept up a strident cackling 

 that was almost deafening. Although knocked off their nests 

 and driven over the steep rocks for often 12ft. or 15ft., they 

 would pick themselves up and scramble back again with un- 

 abated courage, threatening, and even biting sharj)ly, to the 



very last The apparent widening of the cheeks, 



caused by the erectile plumes and the position of the feathers 

 below them, looking not unlike ' whiskers ' on a front view, 

 have given rise to the name of ' sea-cats,' occasionally applied 

 to these birds." 



It is abundantly evident from the above extracts that Dr. 

 Kidder was writing of a very different bird from ours and a 

 much smaller one : indeed, he refers to it as a " brave little 



