454 Prof. F. W. Hutton on a new Species of 



expressing himself in a note {' Schlesiens Wirbeltliier-Pauna/ 

 BreslaUj 1833^ p. 47) : — " Rusticulus (adject.) =rusticus ; rus- 

 ticula avis Plin. Dagegen ist rusticola eine nach Sinn und 

 Etymologie gleich falsche Bildung.^' And Naumann fol- 

 lowed his example. In classical times rusticula was Latin for 

 some kind of Partridge or Grouse, not merely the simple 

 feminine of the adjective; e.g. Pliny (Nat. Hist. x. 54), 

 speaking of the gait of various birds, says, " ambulant aliquffi, 

 ut cornices ; . . . . currunt, ut perdices, rusticulse," &c. It 

 is moreover obvious, upon the face of it, that no such word 

 as rusticola ever existed. We certainly, then, want more 

 evidence than I have hitherto come across to do otherwise 

 than quote the specific name of the Woodcock as Scolojjar 



RUSTICULA. 



XLI. — On a new Species of Rail from Macquarie Island. By 

 F. W. Hutton, Professor of Natural Science in the Otago 

 University. 



The bird of which the following is a description was brought 

 from Macquarie Island last March by a sealing expedition, 

 and was presented to the Otago Museum by Messrs. Elder 

 and Co. It is stated to be common on the south part of 

 the island, but difficult to catch. The specimen, which Avas 

 brought to Dunedin alive, is an adult female. It is a very 

 interesting bird, combining the wings, tail, and general style 

 of plumage of Hypotcenidia with the bill and legs of Ocy- 

 dromus. The sternum approaches that of Hypotcenidia, and 

 is quite different from that of Ocydromus. From Cabalus 

 modestus it differs altogether. Perhaps it approaches Rallus 

 dieffenbachi more than any other species ; but it is a smaller 

 bird, with a longer wing, and the differences in plumage are 

 considerable. If the drawing of the bill of R. dieffenbachi 

 in the ' Transactions of the New -Zealand Institute,^ vol. vi. 

 p. 12, is correct, then our bird cannot be included in the same 

 aenus. 



