46 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly Feb. 



venomous serpents is found in islands in both hemispheres, 

 Ireland being another case in point. But venomous sea 

 snakes are found off the coasts of New Zealand, viviparous 

 reptiles which bring forth their young in the water. Perhaps 

 the most remarkable of all the curiosities of the fauna is the 

 presence of the lizard called Sphenodon, inasmuch as this 

 reptile is the only living example of an otherwise extinct 

 order. This rare lizard, somewhat more simple in its struc- 

 ture than the lizards of other orders, has a row of spines 

 along the back, giving it a resemblance to an iguana. It 

 reaches a length of about 30 inches. Moreover, it is the 

 only reptile which shows the commencing spiral arrangement 

 of the cochlea of the ear : in other reptiles, as in the birds, 

 this is a simple cavity. Its nearest relatives are to be found 

 in fossil forms. There are a good many other lizards in 

 New Zealand which belong to existing orders. 



It would be beyond the scope of this brief note to enter 

 into any detail concerning the Invertebrates ; but it may be 

 just mentioned that there are comparatively few butterflies 

 in New Zealand, and only one venomous spider, the native 

 name for which, if the writer recollects rightly, means "the 

 devil." 



To sum up the most obvious features of this island fauna, 

 we see practically an absence of mammals, no land snakes, 

 a curious form of lizard allied to fossil forms, and a large 

 number of birds to be found nowhere else. At the present 

 day most British animals have been introduced, in the case 

 of the rabbit with disastrous results. It is a fauna full of 

 fascinating problems to the naturalist student. 



Winter on the Norfolk Broads. 



By Rev. M. C. H. Bird, M.A., M.B.O.U. 



" The appalling dreariness and windy bleakness during the 

 winter months would be more than I could bear " — thus wrote 

 a lady friend the other day when thankfully refusing to hire a 

 furnished cottage on the edge of Hickling Broad. " Wind- 



