1 80 Transactions, — Zoology. 



1. Mr. H. H. Travers (see " Trans. N.Z. Inst.," v., p. 216, 

 1872), in a paper on the Birds of the Chatham Islands, says : 

 " I obtained a specimen on Mangare with a faint yellow tinge on 

 the head." 



2. Mr. Potts (" Trans. N.Z. Inst.," vi., p. 148, 1873) : " A 

 specimen with yellow plumage." 



3. Dr. Buller ("Birds of N.Z.," p. 61) describes three in- 

 stances : — 



(a) A young bird taken from the nest, " and not fully fledged, 

 had the plumage of the body pale yellow, shaded with green 

 on the upper parts, and the quills and tail-feathers marked with 

 red." 



(b) " Another had numerous light crescentic marks on the 

 wing-coverts." 



(c) The third, captured in the Manawatu, had quite a 

 dazzling combination of colours : "Frontal band, crimson ; vertex, 

 golden yellow ; space round the eyes, and a band encircling the 

 neck, green ; head, shoulders, and lower part of back, red, and the 

 intermediate space variegated with red and green ; quills dusky, 

 obscurely banded with yellow, and margined on the outer web 

 with blue ; wing-coverts greenish yellow, barred and margined 

 with red ; tail feathers green, obscurely barred with yellow in 

 their apical portion ; under-parts green, variegated with crimson 

 and yellow ; an interrupted band of the former colour crossing 

 the breast." 



This specimen was kept in confinement, and during the 

 moulting season was fast losing its distinctive colouring, when it 

 was accidentally killed. 



4. The sixth example is the specimen now before you. The 

 general plumage is of a beautiful canary yellow. A band of 

 dark crimson connects the eyes, passing across the forehead just 

 above the base of the bill. The crimson spot on either side of 

 the uropygium is larger and much more brilliant than in the 

 normal specimen. Quills and tail-feathers yellow, but with 

 patches of blue, green, and dark brown, except the under tail- 

 feathers, which are a rich yellow ; shafts of all feathers white. 

 On raising the feather the underneath downy portions are seen 

 to be pure white, instead of blueish slate, as is usual. Bill, 

 white ; feet, yellow ; legs normal colour. 



This beautiful specimen was captured at Takaka by Mr. 

 Fabian, telegraph lineman, in whose possession it was seen by 

 Dr. Lemon, to whose intercession the Museum is indebted for 

 the donation. 



