14 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Rhipidura flabellifera, Gmelin. (Pied Fantail.) 



One has to speak of so many of our species as decreasing, 

 or as having reached the border-land of extinction, that it is 

 quite refreshing to be able to record that the Fantailed Fly- 

 catcher — that pretty little denizen of our woods — is perhaps 

 more plentiful than ever; at any rate, it shows no sign of 

 diminution. Mr. Eobert Mair, writing to me from Whangarei 

 on the 11th September, says, "I saw a pleasing sight a few 

 weeks since. There are generally five or six Fantails flitting 

 about our shrubbery in the evening, catching gnats in the 

 air and diverting one by their fantastic aerial evolutions. But 

 on this particular evening I counted no less than twenty-five 

 of them at one time." 



I never see this little bird, or hear its "laugh," without 

 being reminded of the romantic Maori myth of Maui's 

 disaster, which brought death into the world, when Hine- 

 nuitepo, awakened by the merriment of the Tiwaiwaka, closed 

 her mouth and put an end to Maui's ambitious dream of 

 conquering man's last enemy. The story has been well told 

 by Sir George Grey in his " Polynesian Mythology." 



Graucalus melanops, Latham. (Australian Shrike.) 



To the already recorded instances of the occurrence of 

 this Australian species in New Zealand I have now to add 

 another. Mr. William Townson writes to me that one of 

 these birds was shot near Bradshaw's Creek, at Westport, 

 some years ago, and came into Dr. Gaze's possession. Un- 

 fortunately, it was ultimately destroyed by moths. 



Prosthemadera novae-zealandiae, Gmelin. (The Tui.) 



A remarkable specimen which has come into my possession 

 has the head, neck all round, the whole of the breast, and 

 sides of the body umber-brown, the feathers of the breast 

 having pale shafts ; neck-frill very indistinct, being often 

 reduced to mere shaft-lines of white ; upper surface of body, 

 wings, and tail creamy white, with a broad alar bar of pure 

 white ; thighs, abdomen, and upper and lower tail-coverts 

 pale yellowish- brown ; quills and tail-feathers umber-brown 

 on their inner webs ; neck-bands pure white ; bill and feet 

 horn-coloured. 



A nest of this species (now in the Otago Museum) was 

 found by our party fixed in the branches of a makomako 

 (Aristotelia raccniosa), about 12 ft. from the ground, at the 

 head of Milford Sound. It is of symmetrical shape, and 

 firmly put together, the outworks consisting of twigs and soft 

 tree-moss, then a layer of fern-hair, and inside of this a lining 

 of white feathers. Curiously enough, these are sea-birds' 



