2l8 Prom Magazines, &c. [ 2nf April 



New Zealand Birds. — The record by Mr. W. K. Ogilvie- 

 Grant of the birds obtained by Lord Ranfurly on two trips to 

 the islands south of New Zealand makes interesting reading in 

 The Ibis for October. Seven species of Penguins, twenty-three 

 of Petrels and Albatrosses, and fifteen of Cormorants are 

 enumerated. Six specimens of the rare Southern Merganser 

 {M. australis) were taken on the Auckland Islands. The 

 White-eye {Zost crops ccerulescens) was found on most of the 

 islands. Some birds from the mainland of New Zealand are 

 described in the same paper, among them a Hudsonian Godwit 

 {Liiiiosa Jiudsonicd), which the late Capt. Hutton forwarded to 

 the British Museum, at Lord Ranfurly's request. It was shot at 

 Lake Ellesmere, Canterbury, on the 4th of March, 1902, and is 

 stated to be the first example of this species recorded from New 

 Zealand, its range being restricted to the New World, where it 

 extends from Arctic America to the Falkland Islands. There 

 are also incorporated in the paper some excellent field notes by 

 Mr. R. Henry (of Resolution Island) on the Roa {Apteryx 

 australis), Weka {Ocydromus australis), Quail-tlawk {Harpa 

 novcE-sealandics), Kaka {Nestor meridionalis), Kakapo {Stringops 

 habroptilus), and South Island Tit {Petra:ca niacrocepJiala). 



In the annual report of the horticultural and viticultural expert 

 {Journal of Agriculture, W.A., vol. xii., part vi., December, '05, 

 p. 544) some mention is made of fruit-eating birds. It is recorded 

 that during the past year they did little or no damage. The author 

 says : — " As a matter of fact, we have few fruit-eating birds in 

 Western Australia, and, apart from Silver-eyes, ' Greenies,' 

 Wattle-Birds, and Spiny-cheeked Honey-eaters, which only appear 

 in any number amongst the fruit crop every few years, we are 

 singularly free from such frugivorous birds as Parrots, Parrakeets, 

 Minahs, Leatherheads, and those introduced pests the Sparrow 

 and the Starling, which levy an ever-increasing tax on the orchards 

 and vineyards of the eastern States." The report goes on to say : — 

 " Concurrently with the notable absence of the Silver- eyes and 

 ' Greenies,' the woolly-aphis pest has been more in evidence than it 

 has for years past. A systematic examination of the crops of fruit- 

 eating birds right through the seasons of the year, conducted on 

 species killed in as many districts as can be arranged, would throw 

 some light on the quality and the source of supply of the food of 

 these birds. A better understanding of their dietary would enable 

 us to understand how far we can go in encouraging the destruction 

 of these birds before the balance of nature is seriously disturbed." 

 * * * 



Nesting of Australian Finches in England. — In The 

 Avicidtural Magazine for December Mrs. Howard Williams 

 records the breeding of the White-breasted or Pectoral Finch 

 {Muniapectoralis) in her aviaries. A brood of seven was hatched in 



