ANSERES. 97* 



The female differs in having the phxmage blackish-brown instead of mefaUie green, but 

 glossed with green on tlie head, neck, back, and rump. There is no white on the wings, 

 the coverts being dull-brown, with paler margins ; tail-feathers, yellowish-brown, with 

 paler margins. Feathers of the vertex lengthened, but no appearance of a crest. 



L., 27 ; W., 11 ; B., 3 ; T., 2. 



Hah. — Macquarie Islands. 



There are two specimens of this beautiful bird in the Otago Museum. 



Phaeton. Linn. 



Bill, as long as the head, broad and dilated at the base ; culmen, elevated, and the sides 

 compressed ; lateral margins more or less serrated; wings, long and pointed, with the first 

 quill the longest ; tail, moderate, and graduated, with the two middle feathers lengthened 

 and linear ; tarsi, shorter (han the middle toe, strong, and covered with small scales. 



163. Phaeton rubricauda. Bodd. 



Red-tailed Tropic-bibd. Amoeura. 



Satiny-white, with a delicate rosy blush ; a broad black mark through the eyes ; two 

 lengthened jilumcs in the middle of the tail, bright-red. Bill, coral-red. 



L., 37 ; W., 1375 ; B., 3o ; tail, 19 (the lengthened plumes extending 15). 



Hal. — Temperate and warmer latitudes of the Indian Ocean and South Seas. Occa- 

 sional visitant. 



" This bird is well-known to the Ngapuhi Tribe at the North, 

 under the name o£ Amokura ; and they set a high value on the long 

 red tail-feathersj which they exchange with the southern tribes for 

 greenstone. Almost every year, after the prevalence of easterly 

 gales, some specimens are washed ashore (generally dead) at the 

 North Cape or in Spirits Bay. The Natives of that district go out 

 systematically to hunt for them at these periods. Owing to their 

 rarity, these plumes are more prized than those of the Huia or 

 Kotuku ; and in one instance a valuable slab of pounamu was gr/en by 

 a Hawke Bay chief in exchange for three feathers, one of which is 

 now in possession of the Manawatu Natives." — Buller. 



Plotus. Linn. 



Bill, longer than the head, straight, and very slender, with the sides much compressed 

 to the tip, which is very acute, the lateral margins finely serrated, and the gonys long and 

 slighlly ascending ; wings, long, with the second and third quills equal and longest ; tail, 

 long, and rounded at the end ; tarsi, half the length of middle toe ; feet, webbed. 



164. Plotus novse-hoUandise. Qould. 



Southern Darter. 



Crown, nape, and shoulders, blackish-brown, mottled with white ; back and tail, black ; 

 wing-coverts and scapulars, varied with white ; a line of black down the sides of the neck j 

 under-parts, buffy-white. 



L., 40; W., 14; B., 4-25; T., 2. 



Sab. — South Australia and New South Wales. Only one know^n occurrence in New 

 Zealand.* 



* Trans. N. Z. Inst., Vol. YII., p. 217. 



