Letters, Announcements, ^c. 391 



on horseback, with finally a ten-mile row up and across Lake 

 Te-Anare. This brought me into the midst of the Parrots. 

 The whole ground in the bush, which is covered with thick 

 moss, is honey-combed with their burrows — which emit the 

 strong scent, a sort of greasy essence of Parrot-bouquet. 

 The entrance to each — as in fact is the whole ground — is 

 strewn with their excrement, so as almost to make one be- 

 lieve that a flock of sheep had been grazing there. I had 

 an old Scotch shepherd and his dog with me ; and they both 

 proved very useful. The latter caught the birds very cleverly 

 by the back, and invariably brought them already killed to 

 us with their feathers in perfect order; but some we lost 

 through his killing them in the bush instead of on the open tract 

 of bracken where we were posted, and then feeding on them 

 quietly before Ave could make out his whereabouts. The note 

 of the Stringops is very peculiar, quite unlike that of a bird. I 

 think it is when feeding that they indulge in a series of the most 

 perfect porcine squalls and grunts. It is really as like a young 

 pig as any thing can be. Then their other note, which I think 

 answers more to a call or warning, is a very loud aspirated 

 scream, with a sort of guttural sound mixed in with it, almost 

 impossible to describe. Then, when pursued and caught by 

 the dog, it emits a low harsh sort of croak ; but some were 

 perfectly silent to the last. However, I have not time now 

 to give you a history of these most extraordinary birds, all I 

 will now say is, that my notes hardly agree with Buller's. 



The food I found to consist of the bracken {Pteris aquilina) , 

 both frond-tips and roots, but chiefly the former. I examined 

 six ; and all were crammed with it ; but what surprised me 

 much was to find parts of two moderate-sized lizards in the 

 gizzard of one old male. I think this is quite a new fact in 

 the Stringops life-history. 



But now to other business. In Invercargill I was very for- 

 tunate in procui'ing good things. I got two specimens of a 

 Gallinago there, which I thought interesting enough to send 

 to you. I packed them up and left them in Capt. Hutton's 

 charge at Dunediu, to be forw'arded by first mail. As you will 

 see, the one is from the Snares (S. of Stewart Isle) ; and after 



