21 6 . Transactions. 



L. varium, they were lax and pendulous and long-drawn-out, and the 

 fertile regions of the stem were as little differentiated as is the case in the 

 plant L. BiUardieri var. gracile. It was only the fact that L. varium was 

 abundant over the whole locality and that L. BiUardieri and the variety 

 (jracile were altogether absent which indicated that this particular clumj) 

 of plants belonged to the former species, for in habit of growth they showed 

 the BiUardieri form and in the nature of the strobilus that of gracile. It 

 would seem to follow from this that these three species are best to be 

 distinguished from one another by the particular stations that they 

 normally adopt, rather than by their habit of growth or nature of the 

 fertile region, for the latter characters are very variable. It must be added, 

 however, that the strobilus seems to be more fixed in form in L. BiUardieri 

 than in the other two species. This particular clump of L. varium was 

 further noteworthy by reason of the fact that nearly all the pendulous 

 fertile branches showed rejuvenation at their tips. These new shoots were 

 precisely similar in appearance to young normally - developed plantlets, 

 and presented a marked and sudden contrast to the fertile branches from 

 jwhich they arose. Moreover, close to the base of the new shoots one or 

 more roots were borne, which, in the case of those branches which reached 

 to the ground, had begun to ramify in the soil. It is possible that the large 

 clumps of this ground-growing species owe their spread a great deal to 

 this mode of vegetative propagation. 



I have found, also, L. ramulosmn on the summit of Mount Greenland, 

 at a height of about 3,000 ft., associated in damp peaty places with 

 Cladium teretifolium, very stunted Leptospermum scoparium, and cushions 

 of PhijlJachne clavigera. The Lycopodium was here densely matted, and 

 of a very short, creeping, and much-branched form, the numerous cones 

 being about ^ in. long, and borne on stiffly erect branchlets J in. to |- in. 

 high. In sheltered spots in this locality the plants were, on the contrary, 

 of a more lax and drawn-out form, and bore verv few or no cones. 

 (See Cockayne, 10, p. 17.) 



Akt. XXI. — Notes on the Birds of South-western Otago. 



By ALrRED Philpott. 



[Read before the Otago / nstitute, 10th December, 19 IS ; received by Editor, 27th 

 December, 19 IH ; issued separately, 20th June, 1919.] 



AVhile engaged in entomological field-work I liave had frequent oppor- 

 tunities of observing the habits of our birds, and a series of notes taken 

 during the last six years forms the foundation of the present article. While 

 it is indisputable that many of the native birds are doomed to extinction, 

 it is also true that others are adapting themselves to the changed condi- 

 tions brought about by the settlement of the country and the introduction 

 of other forms of life. Such species as the bell-bird, the grey warbler, and 

 the fantail may be seen daily in plantations within a few minutes' walk 

 of the centre of the town of Invercargill, and it is not unlikely that as time 

 goes on these birds will become quite independent of the native forest. 



In nomenclature I have followed that adopted by Mathews and Iredale 

 in their " Keference List of the Birds of New Zealand," as summarized by 

 Benham in the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute, vol. 46, p. 188. 



