PEE FACE. 



The Catalogue of tlic Birds of New Zealand piiljlislied by this depart- 

 ment in September, 1871/" liaving been long out of print, and there 

 being a general demand for something to take its place, Dr. Buller 

 has prepared the following Manual for the use of students in the 

 colony, in anticipation of a more comprehensive work on the subject 

 which he has in progress. As a matter of convenience, the author 

 has consented to adopt the classification, as well as the descriptive 

 portion,! of the above-named Catalogue, introducing only such cor- 

 rections in the text as appeared to be absolutely necessary, and 

 altering the nomenclature in accordance v\dth his own published views 

 on various disputed points. At the same time all doubtful forms 

 have been expungocl, Vthiie the newly discovered species have been 

 added, bringing the total numljer up to 176; and brief sketches of 

 life-history have been incorporated, drawn almost entirely from the 

 author's classical " History of the Birds of New Zealand," a work of 

 such merit that, although it has only been published for eight years, 

 it is now considered a book of rare value. The accompanying plates 

 are reductions, by a new application of photo-lithography, from the 



* Catalogue of the Birds of New Zealand, witli Diagnoses of the Species. By F. W. 

 Hutton, F.G.S., Assistant Geologist. Wellington, 18V 1. 



t All measures are in inches and decimal parts of an inch. L. means the length from 

 the tip of the bill to the end of the tail ; B. means the length of the bill, from the tip to 

 the gape ; W. means the length of the wing, from the flexure, or carpal joint, to the point 

 (in tlie Penguins the whole length of tlie wing) ; T. means the length of the tarsus, or 

 Jower part of the leg. 



