Bullee. — On the Ornithology of New Zealand. 107 



paper which I read before this Society in 1870, describing the 

 conduct of a pair of live birds then in my possession (Trans. 

 N.Z. Inst., vol. hi., pp. 24-29). But I had previously told Sir 

 George Grey all about it, and he, with his usual felicity of 

 expression, told the story at a meeting of the Zoological 

 Society on his return to England. It seems a pity to destroy 

 the pretty sentiment of the case as put by Sir John Lubbock, 

 but science is inexorable, and the truth must be upheld. 

 What I stated in my record of observations was this: "The 

 very different development of the mandibles in the two sexes 

 enabled them to perform separate offices. The male always 

 attacked the more decayed portions of the wood, chiselling out 

 his prey after the manner of some woodpeckers, while the 

 female probed with her long pliant bill the other cells, where 

 the hardness of the surrounding parts resisted the chisel of 

 her mate. Sometimes I observed the male remove the decayed 

 portion without being able to reach the grub, when the female 

 would at once come to his aid, and accomplish, with her long 

 slender bill, what he had failed to do. I noticed, however, 

 that the female always appropriated to her own use the 

 morsels thus obtained." I am sorry that the stern truth 

 detracts from the poetry of Sir John Lubbock's narration. 



Creadion carunculatus, Gmelin. (Saddleback.) 



From Stephen Island, in Cook Strait, I received last 

 year a fresh specimen, which was interesting as being in the 

 full "saddleback" plumage, although a very young bird. It 

 has very small caruncles, and a narrow yellow membrane at 

 the angles of the mouth. The plumage is somewhat duller 

 than in the adult, but the distribution of colours is the same. 

 Such a specimen as this, which is still in my collection, 

 establishes beyond all doubt the validity of Creadion cinereus 

 as a distinct species. 



Miro traversi, Buller. (Black Kobin.) 



The young of this species has the plumage slightly tinged 

 with brown, and the feathers of the underparts have obscure 

 margins. 



Anthus aucklandicus, G. B. Gray. (Auckland^Island Pipit.) 



In the Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxi., p. 388, Mr. Beischek, 

 after consultation with Professor Thomas and Mr. Cheeseman, 

 described a new Ground-lark or Pipit from Antipodes Island, 

 and named it Anthus steindachneri, after the Director of the 

 Imperial Museum at Vienna. I have not seen the type, but 

 the description of the bird given by Mr. Beischek indicates no 

 difference between this bird and Anthus aucklandicus. 



