^"'iQi-'] M'Lean, Bush-Birds of New Zealand. 235 



Conclusion. 



Including the Bush-Hawk and the Owl, or Morepork, of the 

 twenty-one species of North Island birds which may be called 

 arboreal, sixteen * arc here enumerated as occurring in the 

 Maunga-Haumia busli. But we must exclude the Huia [Hetera- 

 locha acutirosfris) — now an extremely rare bird — as unlikely to 

 occur, for its range does not extend so far north. Of the five 

 remaining species, the Red-fronted Parrakeet (C novcc-zealandice) 

 was possibly overlooked, and the Long-tailed Cuckoo {Eudynamis 

 taitensis) had probably not arrived when I left, for the paity of 

 surveyors who " cut up " the 2,000 acres of adjoining bush met 

 with it in November and December of igo6, and Mr. H. D. Evans 

 saw it there on many occasions. While there is some evidence 

 of the presence of Creadion canmculatus and Turnagra tanagra in 

 the East Coast district, the Saddleback was not identified and the 

 Thrush was not observed by the writer. That the Stitch-Bird 

 {Pogonornis cincta) now exists in any of this country, or even on 

 the mainland, is very improbable. With the exception of Miro 

 aiistralis, all the species observed in igo6 were met with in the 

 following year. 



Round the edges of the bush of the southern parts the fol- 

 lowing native species were also observed ; but, as they are not 

 bush-birds, we will, after enumerating them, leave them for the 

 present. An odd Harrier {Circus goiildi) frequented the older 

 country, and, as previously mentioned, occasionally visited the 

 burns. A party of Kingfishers [Halcyon vagans) — two adults and 

 three birds of the year — spent the autumn and winter about the 

 slip valley, and the old birds were busy preparing their nesting- 

 hole in a rotten tree in the spring. A pair of Pipits [Anthns novcB- 

 zealandice) frequented the grassy open immediately below the 

 white slip, and others were noticed on the older country. The 

 call of the Weka {Ocydromus greyi) was once or twice heard in 

 the slip scrub. It is now a raie bird in the district. A Grey 

 Duck or two [Anas superciliosa) was occasionally seen in the 

 creek, and in iqo6 a pair of the Mountain-Duck {Hymenolcermis 

 malacorhynchus) — a bird of the mountain streams — was observed 

 in the Mangamaia. Curiously, too, the White-throated Cor- 

 morants (Phalacrocorax hrevirostris) were seen taking a short cut 

 through the saddle, and high over this bush, on their way from the 

 Waipaoa River to the inland Motu streams. But fancy a sea-bird 

 in the bush ! One of the Petrels may be heard, during summer 

 evenings, as it flies, with sharp call and high in the air above 

 the bush, to its breeding quarters in the bush-topped hills beyond. 



The open country of this district holds but few of our New 

 Zealand species, but is overrun by aliens — some good, many 

 doubtful. All have their failings, but no truly native bush-bird 



* In The Ibis it lias been put at fifteen ; but it is thought advisable, in 

 this article, to include Harpa noves-zealandics as a tree-frequenting species. — 

 J. C. M'L. 



