548 Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant on Birds 



4. Ocydromus australis (Sparrm.). 



Ocydromus australis Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiii. 

 p. 65 (1894). 



a, b. Adult (in spirits) and immature. Geraldine Dist., 

 Canterbury, South Island, N.Z., July 1901. 



The immature specimen of the South-Island Wood-hen 

 has the iris brown, and the bill brown, reddish on the 

 culmen. 



Mr. Richard Henry, of Resolution Island, in continuation 

 of his notes on this species published in the ' Transactions of 

 the New Zealand Institute/ vol. xxx. pp. 279-288 (1897), 

 writes : — 



"All the young Wekas are wanderers and trespassers for 

 perhaps a year after they are turned away from home, and 

 during this time are hunted and chased by every old Weka 

 that sees them, but especially by their own fathers and 

 mothers. Fortunately the youngsters are generally the best 

 runners, so that they can get out of danger, but they are 

 severely tested to prove their ability to obtain and defend 

 a home before they settle down and get married. There 

 appears to be no fighting for wives, as is the case with most 

 other creatures. Females seem to be plentiful and fight 

 among themselves ; and the fight between the males is 

 distinctly for the exclusive right to their feeding-grounds. 



" I have now had six or seven years' experience of them, 

 and those living near the house are tamer than ordinary fowls. 

 One pair has been with me for five years, and during that 

 time I never saw them ten yards outside of their boundary. 



11 The domains of two other pairs meet on a grass plot near 

 the house, and on rare occasions the whole six of them may 

 be seen within ten yards of each other, all on their own 

 ground and respecting each other's rights. 



"If the female dies or is taken by a hawk the male soon 

 takes another mate, but if the male dies his place is taken 

 by another male and his wife. 



" The eggs take nearly a month to hatch, and for some 

 time previously the birds are very busy about the nest, so 

 that it may be 40 days before they bring the weakly little 



