Buller. — Notes on New Zealand Birds. 61 



The distinguishing features in this bird are the lobed mask 

 of pale sulphur-yellow, and the sharp spur, more than half an 

 inch in length, at the bend of the wing. 



Mr. C. A. Barton, writing to me from Hokitika, describes 

 what is certainly either Lobivancllus lobatus or L. personatus, 

 of Australia, as occurring there. He says, " Can you inform 

 me if there is in Australia a spur-winged wader about the 

 size of an Oyster-catcher ? Several times lately I have observed 

 a rara avis in the sandbanks of the Hokitika Elver, that, from 

 what I have been able to observe through a field-glass, would 

 be classed between the Dottrels and Oyster-catchers ; but I 

 am nearly sure that it has well-developed spurs (say half an 

 inch long) on the wings, and a flap-wattle (pale-yellow) cover- 

 ing the sides of the face and extending back to and close round 

 the eyes. And the bill, I think, is soft or rather weak, and 

 about half as long again as the head." I refer this bird to 

 L. lobatus, because the one obtained at Kai-iwi was of that 

 species. 



Pelecarms conspicillatus, Temm. (The Australian Pelican.) 



I have in my possession the head and neck of an Austra- 

 lian 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 them, the Maoris brought the head and 

 neck to Wanganui (in the flesh) for identification, but unfor- 

 tunately left the body, which was soon devoured by the 

 pigs. 



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 abund- 

 ance in South Port Eiver. Owing to the advance of colonisa- 

 tion 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." 



Puffirms cameipes, Gould. (The Flesh-footed Shearwater.) 

 By the kindness of Mr. Eeeves, the lighthouse-keeper on 

 Mokohinou Island (in the Hauraki Gulf), I have obtained a pair 

 of these birds in spirit. The species appears to have a strictly 

 northern range, for I have never heard of a specimen further 

 south than the Bay of Plenty, where there is a breeding 

 colony of them, although in a very inaccessible place on the 

 Island of Karewa. 



