34 Transactions. — Zoology. 



very elegantly proportioned, and the general appearance is ex- 

 tremely graceful. It is thus described in Gould's "Handbook 

 to the Birds of Australia :" — " Crown of the head and occiput 

 jet-black ; sides of the face, back of the neck, rump, and all the 

 under-surface pure white ; back and scapularies light brownish- 

 grey ; wing-coverts grey ; primaries deep-black ; secondaries 

 white at the base on their inner webs, cinnamon-grey on their 

 outer webs, and largely tipped with black ; tail white at the 

 base, broadly tipped with black, the extreme ends of the feathers 

 being cinnamon -grey, particularly the two centre ones; irides 

 primrose-yellow ; wattles lemon-yellow ; bill lemon-yellow at 

 base, black at the tip ; legs and feet carmine-red ; the scales in 

 front blackish-green." 



The bird was observed in a field at Kai Iwi by Mr. G. Penke, 

 who at once went to the house for a gun ; taking a long shot he 

 fired, and the bird dropped, but when secured appeared quite 

 unhurt, and lived for some time in confinement. Kefusing food 

 almost entirely, it died after a short captivity. It was mounted, 

 and is now in Mr. S. H. Drew's Museum at Wanganui. 



Both sexes possess the spur on the wing, which is a very 

 noticeable feature ; but it is much more developed in the male 

 than the female, and proves a very effective weapon m warfare. 

 The yellow-coloured mask is supposed to be for the protection of 

 the feathers, the bird being very fond of thrusting its beak into 

 mud - and sand in search of small Crustacea, or the larvas of 

 Coleoptera, which form the staple of its food. 



Art. VI. — Brief Description of a new Species of large Decapod 



( Architeuthis longimanus) . 



By T. W. Kikk. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, BOth November, 1887.] 



Plates VII. , VIII., IX. 



It may be remembered that in 1879 I brought under the 

 notice of this Society all the particulars obtainable regarding 

 four gigantic Calamaries, stranded on various parts of the New 

 Zealand coast, together with a detailed account of a very large 

 specimen which was cast ashore at Lyall Bay, Cook Strait, and 

 which I was able to sketch and measure carefully. The beak 

 and pen, or internal skeleton, of this specimen are preserved in 

 the Museum. In June, 1880, rather more than two years after 

 the first specimen was cast ashore at Lyall Bay, another, but 

 of an entirely distinct species, was reported to be lying on the 



