14 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



Gray) and the short-eared bat (Chalinolobus morio, Gray), 

 which, although often local, are occasionally seen in con- 

 sidercible numbers. Both are less frequent than formerly, 

 owing to the destruction of large areas of forest, and pos- 

 sibly to their food having been diminished by naturalised 

 birds. The so-called Maori rat (Mus maorium, Hutton), 

 and the Maori dog, long since extinct, were introduced by 

 the Maoris, and used for food. For a long time the Maori 

 rat was supposed to have been extirpated by the black 

 rat {Mus rattus, L.), which is especially plentiful in certain 

 parts of the North Island, and the grey rat {Mus dccumanus, 

 L.), which is established throughout the colony. The Maori 

 rat is, however, still to be found on several islets in the North, 

 and appears to be not uncommon in the northern parts of the 

 South Island. The ravages of the grey rat upon native birds 

 have been repeatedly mentioned, but its partiality for the 

 freshwater bivalve Ihiio aucklandicus is not so well known. 

 In tributaries of the Waikato, where this mollusc is abundant, 

 small heaps of its shells may be seen on the banks with the 

 front margins bitten through by the rodent, which, after 

 extracting the animal, has left the empty shell as a mute 

 wntness to his voracity. The mouse {Mus muscnkis, L.) is to 

 be found everywhere, and, when occurring in great abund- 

 ance, often causes the grey rat to abandon the field. In 

 country districts it feeds upon the seeds of sheep-sorrel, wire- 

 weed, and other prostrate plants during the winter season. 

 The injuries effected by the wild cat are too well known to 

 need further mention, and the same may be said of the dog 

 escaped from domestication. 



The domesticated ox and the horse can scarcely be said to 

 have exercised any directly deleterious effects on the native 

 fauna, except, perhaps, upon the earthworm ; but the sheep, 

 by devouring the food of other animals, has been only less 

 injurious than the rabbit, and, like that unwelcome intruder, 

 ranges from sea-level to the limits of perpetual snow. At 

 present no serious damage has been sustained from the hare. 

 The wild pig, however, has been a terrible enemy to young 

 birds, and, in a few localities, the goat has assisted, by de- 

 stroying the shrubs which formed their shelter. 



In addition to the widespread destruction caused by 

 bringing fern- and forest-land under cultivation, the indigenous 

 fauna has suffered severely from naturalised worms, insects, 

 birds, and mammals — partly through the diminution of the 

 food-supply caused by the invaders ; from their superior 

 vigour ; often from their predaceous habits ; and from their 

 rapid increase, which in many cases has enabled them to 

 crowd the native species off the field. With the exception of 

 the sheep, rabbit, cat, and especially of the stoat, ferret, and 



