Buller. — On some Curiosities of Bird-life. 135 



opposite direction, melanism, as we are informed, being of 

 frequent occurrence there. Now, in the whole of my expe- 

 rience I have met with only two examples of melanism among 

 New Zealand birds — the subjects being Anthomis melanura 

 and Miro albifrons — and I cannot say that in either case was 

 it very pronounced. Of albinism, however, in this country 

 there are endless examples. In my " Birds of New Zealand " 

 (2nd ed.) I have recorded albinoes, more or less perfect," of 

 thirty-three species (see enumeration on page xlii. of Intro- 

 duction). I have since recorded six more in the pages of our 

 "Transactions" — namely, Mijiomoira toitoi, Halcyon vagans, 

 Puffiiius griseus, Diomedea rcgia, Diomcdea fuliginosa, and 

 Aptcryx haasti ; and I am informed by the Hon. Walter 

 Eothschild that he has received a pure albino of Thinomis 

 novce-zcalandice from the Chatham Islands. 



It is, of course, the pigments in the feathers which produce 

 the colours that we admire so much. Dr. J. S. Kingsley, in 

 an excellent article on the subject, informs us that " a colour- 

 ing matter which is called zoomelanin, and thought to be 

 identical with coriosulphurine, seems to produce all the black 

 and dark hues in birds, while some green colours are due 

 to an admixture of a yellowish pigment called psittacofulvine. 

 A really green pigment has only been found in the touracoes, 

 — hence the name turacoverdin, — and no blue or violet pig- 

 ment has yet been discovered, while red (zooerythrine) is quite 

 common. Another red, turacin, causes the magnificent red on 

 the wings of the Musophagidce. There is no white pigment, 

 but wherever that colour occurs it is due to the countless 

 number of interstices between the molecules of the feather, 

 the substance of the latter being colourless. Many tints — for 

 example, blue, violet, and certain greens — are not due to the 

 pigment, which is black-brown to yellow, but the blue results 

 from a particular surface-structure of the feathers, so that it 

 must disappear if the colour-producing parts be destroyed. 

 Thus, if we hammer carefully the deep-blue feathers of a 

 Macaw, the blue colour immediately disappears, and the 

 injured part looks grey or brownish, according to the underly- 

 ing pigment. Some green parrot-feathers, when treated in a 

 similar way, become yellow, since this is the colour of their 

 pigment." We are told that the gloss of feathers, indepen- 

 dent of the colour itself, is the result of their surface being 

 smooth and polished, while the metallic lustre is due to a 

 transparent sheath which acts like a prism. 



Closely connected with this subject is that of " dichromat- 

 ism." Of this colour-problem the same author says, " We 

 are accustomed to call it dichromatism, but of its true nature 

 and its significance in the animal economy we are quite ig- 

 norant. By this term we designate the peculiarity, in certain 



