Bullee. — On some Curiosities of Bird-life. Ill 



when New Zealand may be one of the great nations of the 

 earth." 



Without further preface I shall invite your attention to the 

 three very interesting specimens on the table, about each of 

 which I have a few remarks to offer. 



1. Nestor meridionalis, Gmelin. (Kaka.) 



Mr. Gould, in the supplement to his superb work on " Tbe 

 Birds of Australia," figures and describes several species from 

 New Zealand. Among these there is the Prince of Essling's 

 Parrot (Nestor esslingii, De Souance), upon which he remarks 

 as follows : — 



" A single specimen only of this magnificent Parrot has 

 come under my notice ; and this example is perhaps the only 

 one that has yet been sent to Europe. It formerly formed 

 part of the collection of the Prince d'Essling of Paris, but now 

 graces the National Museum of Great Britain. It is in a 

 most perfect state of preservation, and is, without exception, 

 one of the finest species not only of its genus, but of the 

 great family of Parrots. The native country of this bird is- 

 supposed to be New Zealand ; but I, as well as M. de Souance, 

 have failed to learn anything definite on this point. In size it 

 even exceeds the great Kaka (Nestor meridionalis), which it 

 resembles in the form of the beak, while in its general colour- 

 ing it closely assimilates to the Nestor productus ; in some 

 features of its plumage, however, it differs from both. In both 

 those species the tail-feathers are strongly toothed on the 

 under surface with red ; and in the N. esslingii no such marks 

 occur, the toothing on the inner webs of the primaries is not so 

 clear and well defined, and the light-coloured interspaces are 

 much freckled with brown." 



Dr. Finsch, on the other hand, states in his " Monograph 

 of Parrots " that Nestor esslingii is in size and general colour 

 the same as Nestor meridionalis, but " has the breast ash- 

 grey with brown terminal margins, and a broad yellowish- 

 white transverse band straight across the belly." He quotes 

 De Souance to the effect that the red marks on the inner 

 vane of the quills and tail-feathers are precisely as in Nestor 

 meridionalis. 



As far back as 1870 I expressed my belief that this was 

 only an accidental variety of our common Nestor meridionalis ; 

 and a subsequent examination of the specimen in the British 

 Museum, on my first visit to England, confirmed this view. 

 At this time the specimen was exhibited, mounted with others 

 of the same genus, in a plate-glass show-case in one of the 

 main galleries. But Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, the able Curator 

 in charge of the collection of birds, has had them carefully 

 unmounted and reduced to the condition of cabinet skins, as 



