ACCIPITRES. O 



4. Athene albifaeies. Gtay. 



LAUaHING-OWL. LATJGHINa-jACKASS. WhEKATJ. 

 (Plate II.) 

 Brown, spotted with fulvous on the breast, and streaked with the same colour on the 

 back ; tail, barred witii fulvous ; feathers ou the legs, pale rufous-white ; sometimes the 

 greater part of the facial disc is wliite. 

 L., 16; W., 11: B., 1-4; T., 3. 

 Kah. — South Island, and Kaimanawa Eauge in the North Island. 



'^ This bird was originally described by Mr. G. R. Gray, in the 

 'Voyage of the "Erebus" and Terror/'^ under the name oi Athene albi- 

 faeies ; and Dr. Kaup afterwards made it tlie tyjoe of the genus Scelo- 



glaux, of which it still remains the sole representative 



The Kiore maori, which has been exterminated and replaced by the 

 introduced Norway Rat {Mus decumanus), formerly abounded to such 

 an extent in the wooded parts of the country that it constituted the 

 principal animal food of the Maori tribes of that period. It was a 

 ground-feeder, subsisting almost entirely on the fallen mast of the 

 tawa, hinau, towai, and other forest trees ; and it would therefore 

 fall an easy prey to the Sceloglaux . The fact that the extinction of 

 the native Rat has been followed by the almost total disappearance of 

 this singular bird, appears to warrant the conclusion that the one 

 constituted the principal support of the other. Be that as it may, 

 the Laughing-Owl, as it has been termed, in allusion to its cry, is at 

 the present day one of our rarest species." — Buller. 



5. Athene novse-zealandise. Gml. 



MOREPOEK. EUETJ. 



(Plate II.) 



Above, brown, spotted with fulvous ; below, rufous streaked with brown, and spotted 

 witli white on the abdomen ; feathers on the legs, rufous. 

 L., 12; W., 8; B., -9; T., IS. 

 Hah. — Both Islands ; also Chatham Islands. 



" Every New Zealand colonist is familiar with this little Owl, 

 under the name of ' Morepork,^ It is strictly a nocturnal species, 

 retiring by day to the dark recesses of the forest, or hiding in the 

 crevices of the rocks, and coming abroad soon after dusk to hunt for 

 rats, mice, and the various kinds of moths and beetles that fly by 

 night. It is common in all parts of the country, although not so 

 numerous now as it formerly was ; and the familiar cry from which 

 it deriv^es its popular name may often be heard in the more retired 

 parts of our principal towns, as well as in the farmer's country home 

 or in the rustic Maori ' kainga ' : I have even known several 

 instances of its voluntarily taking up its abode in a settler's house, 

 or, more frequently, in the barn, and remaining there a considerable 

 time, 



