124 Tramactions. -Zuoloinj, 



Esk arid its tributaries, the fern-covered hills near the Mohaka, 

 and the bush at Pohue, with the smaller patches of bush still 

 remaining in many places at the heads of valleys ; all these 

 combine to furnish a very fair proportion of genera and species. 

 The beautiful bay itself is visited in stormy weather by a 

 number of oceanic species, many of which still remain unre- 

 corded. Much remains to be done in ascertaining the local 

 distribution of our New Zealand birds, aud, as a contribution to 

 this end, it is hoped that this list may be of service. 



1. Hieracidea nov;£-zealandle, Lath. — Quail Hawk. 



This beautiful little hawk is not at all common in the dis- 

 trict. I have only seen it four times in six years. It is curious 

 to find this bird so scarce, as it is rarely destroyed by man, and 

 can scarcely have any natural enemies. 



3. Circus gouldi, Bonap. — Harrier. 



Now this species has been persecuted and destroyed in con- 

 siderable numbers for many years past, by gun and trap, in the 

 interests of imported game birds ; and yet it is almost ubiquitous, 

 and may be seen from sun-rise to sun-set sweeping in wide 

 circles over the hills. The reward offered by the Acclimatization 

 Society for their destruction caused the death of a very large 

 number, their carrion-loving propensities bringing them to an 

 ignominious fate in the rat-trap. The damage done to the game 

 birds by hawks is, I am inclined to think, very small compared 

 with the ravages of the cats which infest the country, and, to a 

 lesser extent, by the weka (Ocydrdmus), That the hawk varies 

 its diet by occasionally devouring eels I can affirm, having, as I 

 found by reference to my notes, twice surprised hawks feeding on 

 them in the bed of a shallow creek. 



5. Athene nov;e-zealandle, Gml. — Morepork. 



8. Halcyon vagans, Less. — Kingfisher. 



Builds, or rather makes its nesting-place, in sandy cliffs at 

 the edge of the Petane river-bed. Last season there were five 

 nests made in the face of a bank, the holes reminding one of the 

 sand martins in England. The holes were about five feet from 

 the base of the cliff, and penetrated to a depth of three feet, and 

 contained on an average five eggs each. I am informed by a 

 person who took some of the eggs, that there was a considerable 

 range of variation in both size and shape. 



During the breeding season we do not see much of these 

 birds, but when the young brood are fledged — and especially il 

 the weather be wet aud the ground soft — they become one of the 

 most obtrusive of our feathered friends. On several occasions I 

 have seen kingfishers in the act of killing and eating mice, and 

 instances have been reported of their killing small partly-fledged 

 birds, 



