Hutton. — Our Migratory Birds. 255 



insufficient evidence, and to be in themselves extremely im- 

 probable. It is observed that the cuckoos appear annually in 

 certain districts and again disappear, but their course does not 

 seem to have been traced ; still less have they been actually 

 seen arriving or departing across the ocean. In a country 

 which has still such wide tracts of unsettled land it is very 

 possible that the birds in question may only move from one 

 part of the islands to another."* As this opinion has never 

 been recalled, or even modified, it seems desirable to set out 

 more fully than has yet been done the evidence for the 

 regular migration of birds to and from New Zealand, as it is 

 a question of considerable importance. 



But first let me enumerate some cases of stragglers- 

 which have managed to cross the Tasman Sea and reach New 

 Zealand. Of the shore-birds, or waders, we have the red- 

 capped dotterel (A. ruficapilla) , the Australian curlew (Nume- 

 nius cyanopus), the little whimbrel {Mesoscolopax mimitus), 

 the grey sandpiper (Heteractitis brevipes), and the greenshank 

 {Glottis nebularius) , a specimen of which has been for many 

 years in the Otago Museum. f There is also the Australian 

 snipe (Gallinago australis) and the grey phalarope {Grymo- 

 philns fulicarius). Of swimming-birds we have only two 

 reported cases of the tree-duck (Dendrocygna eytoni) and one 

 of the Australian darter (Plotus novm-hollandice). 



Of truly land-birds there are the Australian kestrel (C. 

 cenchroides), the yellow wattle-bird (Acanthocara caruncu- 

 lata), the tree-martin (Petrochelidon nigricans), the Australian 

 roller (Eurystomus pacificus), and the white-backed swift 

 (Micropics pacificus). Possibly there may be a few others, 

 but their cases are not fully proved. 



That stragglers of swimming-birds are so few is not sur- 

 prising, for they can alight on the sea, and, after resting, can 

 rise again and regain the land from which they were blown. 

 Such is not the case with birds whose feet are not webbed ; 

 they must fly on or be drowned. Possibly some of the perch- 

 mg-birds may rest for a time on steamers or sailing-vessels, 

 but this w T ould not be possible for the wading-birds. The 

 kestrel and the swift have been seen only once ; but the tree- 

 martin and the roller have been shot several times in New 

 Zealand. 



None of these birds have been seen to arrive across the 

 ocean, and we know them to be stragglers only because they 

 are very rare with us but common in Australia. None of 

 them have been known to breed here, and they are often 

 single birds ; from which it follows that they have not been 



* " Geographical Distribution of Animals," vol. i., p. 452. 

 t It was bought by me in the market in 1874. 



