376 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Art. XXXV. — An Ornithological Note. 

 Bv E. CouPLAND Haeding. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 16th October, 1895.] 



In the course of searching for material for the bibKography of 

 the moa, now being compiled by my friend Mr. A. Hamilton, 

 of Dunedin, I read and made extracts from two works bearing 

 the imprint of the Historical Publishing Company, Phila- 

 delphia and St. Louis. They are of the well-known class of 

 volumes which are carried by travelling book-agents, and, I 

 believe, have had an extensive sale in this colony. The name 

 of J. W. Buel appears on the title-page of each as author, and 

 the books are profusely illustrated with engravings copied 

 from standard works. One of these volumes is entitled " Sea 

 and Land" (1887); the other, "The Living \¥orld " (1889); 

 and together they cover almost the entire field of natural 

 history. The author, in his preface to " Sea and Land," says 

 that he has made use of more than a thousand books on 

 natural history in preparing the work. 



Li both these books I find references (with familiar wood- 

 cut illustrations) to the moa of New Zealand, and in each the 

 author has curiously confounded the extinct Di nor nis with the 

 living Apteryx. He has also, in the most impartial manner, 

 adopted the views of those who hold that the moa became 

 extinct in prehistoric times, and of those who maintain, on the 

 other hand, that it existed as late as our own times; and sets 

 forth these divergent ideas without the slightest attempt to 

 reconcile them. It is not necessary to read the whole of these 

 passages; but one section in " Sea and Land," headed "A 

 Bird without Wmgs," and illustrated with a sketch of the 

 kiwi, gives so perfect an example, in brief compass, of the 

 writer's method that I quote it in full : — 



"A Bird Without Wings. — A single bone, found in a 

 New Zealand watercourse, was brought to England and sent 

 to Professor Owen. It belonged, he said, to a wingless, tail- 

 less bird, which was at least twelve feet high ! Other men of 

 science thought this to be impossible, and tried to prevent him 

 from making his opinions known. But Professor Owen was 

 right, and a specimen of the Aptcryx (that is, ' wingless ' bird) 

 in due course arrived at the Zoological Gardens in London. 

 This strange creature was nocturnal in its habits, and, if 

 brought out into the light of day, it ran here and there in 

 search of cover. Wingless and tailless it was, standing upon 

 legs like those of an ostrich, and with a long bill that might 



