Buller. — Notes on Nciu Zealand Birds. 69 



their youth, regale themselves for a day with the fowls, and 

 then betake themselves to the sea again. 



Anthomis melanura, Sparrm. (The Bell-bird.) 



On the 15th of February 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 800ft., 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 the 

 island, where this songster is still comparatively abundant. 



Mr. Percy Smith, the Surveyor-General, has sent me the 

 following interesting note : — 



"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, 

 une espcce cle Philedon qui nc quittc 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. 



" As Dumont d'Urville and Beechey both visited Manga- 

 rewa in the earlier years of this century, possibly one or both 

 of them have notices of the bird. What a mistake it is that 

 D'Urville's great work cannot be seen in this country !" 



Xenicus longipes, Gmelin. (The Bush Wren.) 



For the first time in the North Island, I saw this bird (at 

 any rate I feel persuaded it was) on the 29th November, but 

 only on the wing, in the wooded hills just beyond the Makuri 

 Gorge. It crossed the road at a moderate height with a very 

 laboured flight, and was immediately lost among the foliage. 



The natives state that formerly the Bush Wren (the 

 Matuhituhi) was numerous here and at a higher elevation on 

 these wooded ranges. 



Acanthidositta chloris, Sparrm. (The Rifleman.) 



This appears to be a late breeder. On the 28th November, 

 in the Puketoi Range, I was sitting on a log skinning a Huia, 

 and the camp was perfectly still. On the ground around were 

 numerous feathers of a Ivaka my Maori attendant had plucked 

 for breakfast. A Rifleman (the male bird) came almost to my 

 feet, and, picking up a feather, flew away with it, and then a 

 second and a third. On the last occasion I followed the bird, 

 and saw it enter a round cavity about the size of a rat's hole, 

 sixteen or eighteen feet up the trunk of a young hinau. The 



