GRALL^, 61 



rather melancholy call is not more or less frequently heard. Its 

 thievish propensities render it sometimes very troublesome. I have 

 known it carry off a meerschaum pipe, spoons, pannikins, boxes of 

 matches; and on one occasion, in Alford Forest, it actually stole a 

 watch from a bushman's hut. But the Weka, unlike the Jackdaw, 

 does not appear to care for a secret hiding-place in which to deposit 

 its pilferings, and the stolen watch was fortunately recovered, although 

 only by accident. The loud screaming of this bird is most fre- 

 quently heard at night and before rain. The young I have seen 

 early in October. The nest is found in a variety of situations, such 

 as in a tuft of Celmisia, under a grass tussock, or sometimes in a 

 thicket of young plants on the outskirts of the bush." — Potts. 



87. Ocydromus fuscus. Duhus. 



Black Woodhbn. 



Black, each feather margined with reddish-brown ; throat, sides of the face, and abdo- 

 men, dark grey ; quills, brownish- black, with a few spots of reddish-brown on the inner 

 webs. 



L., 20 ; W., 7-5 ; B., 2-25 ; T., 25. 



Rab. — West Coast of South Island. 



88. Ocydromus brachypterus. Lafresnaye. 



General plumage, a yellowish-buff colour, obscurely marked and spotted with brown ; 

 quills, dark rufous- brown barred with black ; the sides of the body and flanks more or less 

 banded. 



L., 23 ; W., 7-8 ; B., 2-2 ; T., 2-3. 



Hah. — South Island. 



Caealtjs. Hutton. 



Bill, longer than tlie head, moderately slender and slightly curved, compressed in the 

 middle and slightly expanding towards the tip ; nostrils placed in a membranous groove 

 which extends beyond the middle of the bill, openings exposed, oval, near the middle of the 

 groove. Wings, very short, rounded ; quills, soft, the outer webs as soft as the inner, 

 fourth and fifth the longest, first nearly as long as the second ; a short compressed claw at 

 the end of the thumb. Tail, very short and soft, hidden by the coverts. Tarsi, moderate, 

 shorter than the middle toe, flattened in front, and covered with transverse scales ; toes, 

 long and slender, inner nearly as long as the outer ; hind toe, shoi't, very slender, and 

 placed on the inner side of the tarsus ; claws, short, compressed, blunt. 



89. Cabalus modestus. Hutton. 



Olivaccous-brown ; bases of the feathers plumbeous ; feathers of the breast slightly tipped 

 with pale fulvous, those of the abdomen and flanks with two narrow bars of the same 

 colour ; throat, dark grey, each feather slightly tipped with brown ; quills, brown, the first 

 three faintly barred with reddish-fulvous ; irides, dark brown ; legs, dark brown. 



Young. — Covei'ed with brownish-black down. 



L., 4-5 ; W., 2-25 ; B., Go ; T., -87. 



Hab. — Maugare, in the Chatham Island Group. 



''Rallies modestus is a perfectly good species, and belongs to the 

 Ocydromine group of Rallklce. The existence of so small a form of 

 Ocydromus is a very interesting fact." — Prof. Newton. 



"In his latest article on the Birds of New Zealand Dr* Finsch 



