340 Transactions. — Zoology. 



for £1 apiece; so I have sought dihgently for tliem, but it is 

 very difficult to get any of them now." 



Xenicus insularis, Buller. (Island Wren.) 



There is probably nothing so refreshing to the soul of a 

 naturalist as the discovery of a new species. Quite apart from 

 the satisfaction of being able to impose a specific name which, 

 according to the accepted rules of zoological nomenclature, 

 must be respected for all time, there is an indescribable charm 

 in the mere fact of discovery. It is common to all naturalists 

 in every branch of research, and operates as a spur to the 

 most tedious and difficult investigations. With some specialists 

 the ruling passioli is to append the coveted rniJu to the new 

 species ; but in the case of most naturalists this consideration 

 is, I really think, subservient to a loftier feeling — that love of 

 discovery which is so characteristic of the true man of science. 

 In a country where the fauna and flora have been pretty 

 thoroughly worked, such as New Zealand, the delight ex- 

 perienced at finding an undoubted new species is, of course, 

 proportioned to the rarity of such occurrences. You will 

 readily understand, therefore, how pleased I was at receiving, 

 through the kind offices of Mr. Bethune, the skin of a bird 

 from Stephen Island which was eritirely distinct from any- 

 thing hitherto known. I saw at a glance that it belonged 

 to the small group of New Zealand birds which I have 

 placed in a family by themselves under the name of Xeni- 

 cidcB. Possessing characters in common with Xenicus longipes 

 and X. gilviventris, which inhabit the mainland, it is a 

 very distinct species, apparently restricted in its habitat to 

 Stephen Island, where several specimens have been pro- 

 cured. Being anxious that a coloured figure of so rare and 

 interesting a form should be published in the Ibis, I lost no 

 time in forwarding the specimen to the editor of that maga- 

 zine, together with the following description and diagnosis of 

 the species : — 



" On a Netv Species of Xenicus frovi a Small Wooded 

 Island ojf the Neiu Zealand Coast. 



" Projecting into Cook Strait as a bold and salient point 

 from the eastern shore of Blind Bay, and rising to a height of 

 2,180ft., is D'Urville Island, presenting a broken and jDarti- 

 allv-wooded surface. With a width of from five to six miles, 

 it stretches away seventeen miles to the northward, whilst 

 to the south it is separated from the mainland by a very 

 narrow channel known as the French Pass. Lying two miles 

 to the north-eastward of the northern extremity of D'Urville 

 Island, and rising abruptly from the sea to the height of a 

 thousand feet, is Stephen Island, only about a square mile 



