TEANSACTIONS 



OP THE 



NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE, 



1898. 



I. — ZOOLOGY. 



Art. I. — On the Ornithology of Neto Zealand. 



By Sir Walter L. Buller, K.C.M.G., D.Sc, F.E.S. 



[Read before tJie Wellington Philosophical Society, 22nd November, 1898.] 



Plate I. 



Undoubtedly the most important ornithological event of the 

 year in New Zealand has been the capture of another speci- 

 men — only the fom^th during more than half a century — of 

 the Takahe (Notornis hochstetteri) . On hearing that this 

 valuable bird had been sent in the flesh to the Otago Museum, 

 I telegraphed to that institution for further information, and 

 immediately received the following reply from Professor 

 Benham : "Every particle of Notornis preserved; young 

 female in perfect condition, but coracoids injured." A few 

 days later I received a letter from Mr. George Fenwick, the 

 editor of the Otago Daily Times, containing further particulars. 

 He says : — 



"I have been very much interested in the recent capture 

 of a Takahe by young Eoss — brother of the Te Anau-Milford 

 guide — and had an opportunity this morning of inspecting it. 

 It is a fine specimen, and realises the impression of the bird 

 gathered from the striking illustration in your book. The two 

 specimens in the South Kensington Museum are disappointing 

 — one of them particularly so. The better one of the two 

 <iannot compare with the specimen just captured, the plumage 



