392 Dr. O. Finscli's Ornithological 



of Mount Cook (in the Southern Al^os) in the South Island, 

 to Parchaka in Taranaki, to Waikato at the frontiers of the 

 " King^s Country/^ and to the '' pot-lakes district " in the 

 North Island. So I had the pleasure of seeing bird-life in 

 various localities — woods, swamps, plains, lakes, and the alpine 

 region — and thus of obtaining a good general idea of the birds 

 of New Zealand. Although I travelled along the whole east 

 coast of New Zealand, I shall not refer in this letter to the 

 marine birds, as I intend to publish the observations made 

 on this subject during my various voyages in the Pacific, 

 Atlantic, and North Polar Seas as a whole. Besides oceanic 

 species, I succeeded in collecting examples of thirty species of 

 birds during my stay in New Zealand, a number which, con- 

 sidering the poverty of birds in general in these islands, may 

 be considered not unsatisfactory. 



As a rule I found bird-life generally poor, both as regards 

 variety of species and in numbers of specimens. During a 

 day^s travel over plains, along rivers, and through swamps, 

 I seldom saw more than a dozen species ; and even the Rato- 

 mahana, famed for its abundance of water-fowl, cannot be 

 compared with what I have seen in the old countries of Europe 

 and Asia, and in the United States. I observed many Ducks 

 [Anas superciliosa and Fuligula novce-zealandice) and Pukekas 

 {Porphi/rio melanotus), but never in such dense flocks as I 

 have seen on our lakes in the corresponding season. Besides 

 these were a few common Shags [Graculus carbo), some Gulls 

 [Larus pomarea), Stilts {Hima7ito2nis leucocephalas) , and the 

 pretty little Grebe of New Zealand [Podiceps gularis) . That 

 was nearly all ; and yet the Ratomahana, with its pleasant 

 still water, is a reserve of the Maoris, who do not allow one 

 to shoot here at all, and during the breeding-season compel 

 travellers to crawl over a hill to the Pink Terrace, instead of 

 going by canoe, in order that the water-fowl may not be dis- 

 turbed. The other lakes I found really poor : on the Te- 

 kapo I saw only two Fuligulce, on the Rotorua a single Carbo, 

 and on Lake Tarawera a few Gulls. The same may be 

 said with regard to the bays and harbours on the coast, where 

 two kinds of Gulls (L. dominicanus and L. novce-hollandia:) 



