BuLLER. — On New Zealand Birds. 37 



to me that, after the manner of the Zoological Society of 

 London, which has been so eminently successful, the best 

 mode of bringing observations of the kind before such a society 

 as this is to exhibit the specimens, wherever practicable, and 

 to make brief remarks thereon by way of explanation or 

 suggestion. 



Adopting this plan, I shall this evening place before you 

 some very interesting birds which have recently come into my 

 possession ; and I propose to continue doing this from time 

 to time, as fresh material is forthcoming. By this means 

 facts and observations of a valuable kind may often be elicited 

 during the customary discussion that follows the reading of 

 a paper at these meetings. 



Miro traversi, Buller. 



I exhibit, first, a pair of the so-called Chatham Island 

 Eobin, obtained at the Snares, where it is said to be compara- 

 tively numerous. Now, it is a ver}^ curious circumstance that 

 this bird is not found on the Auckland Islands, nor on Anti- 

 podes Island, nor on Campbell Island, nor on the Bounty 

 Islands. It occurs on the Chatham Islands, and on Pitt's 

 Island, adjacent thereto ; but it has never been met with in 

 New Zealand. The set of the sea-current is from the Snares 

 to the Chatham Islands, as we have lately been reminded by 

 the loss of the barque " Assaj'e," which is supposed to have 

 been driven upon the Snares, whilst a portion of her wreckage 

 has been washed up, two mouths later, on the Chathams. 

 This bn-d possesses very indifferent powers of flight, and its 

 distribution between places so far apart must have been ac- 

 complish 3d by the accidental floatage of a great mass of 

 timber-growth or island debris of some sort. 



Sphenceacus fulvus. Gray. 



The pair now exhibited was obtained on the Snares, where, 

 according to the observations of Mr. Eeischek, this bird in- 

 habits trees, instead of swamp-vegetation or fern -beds, as 

 S. inuictatus does in New Zealand. It is ver}- like the last- 

 named species in appearance ; but on comparing them it 

 will be seen that S. fulvus, apart from its browner or less 

 spotted character, has the tail-feathers full and webbed instead 

 of being narrow, with disunited barbs, as in *S'. punctatus. 



Exactly similar specimens have been obtained in the South 

 Island, and writing of these I have said (Birds of N.Z., ii., 

 p. 61): "Wliilst, however, keeping the form distinct for 

 the present, I am far from being satisfied that it can be 

 separated from S. punctatus. I am more inclined to regard it 

 as a somewhat larger local race, with a corresponding modifi- 

 cation of plumage. But for the fact that the latter species is 



