Cheese>l\n. — On Birds of the Kcrmudec Island^. 219 



Avas quite easy to walk within a yard or two of them without 

 clisturbing the flock, which went on feeding as usual. I caught 

 several alive by moving up to them quietly and steadily and 

 then suddenly putting my hat over them before they could fly 

 up; and more were caught by the saUors of the " Stella" in 

 the same way. On Sunday Island they are seldom seen ; but 

 on Meyer Island, a snicill islet a few miles distant, they are 

 numerous, flitting about among the stunted Metrosideros and 

 ngaio which cover the top of the islet. In this locahty they 

 are frequently snared by the members of the Bell family, who 

 use a slender rod with a running noose of twine at the end. 

 According to Mi-. Bell, they generally breed in holes in the 

 cliffs, but" sometimes ih hollow trees. AU my specimens ai-e 

 slightly larger than New Zealand ones, but I cannot see any 



other difference. 



■ 



7. LoxG-TALLED CucKOO {Eudynamis taitensis, SpaiTm.). 

 This species I did not see, but Mr. BeU showed me the tail 



of a specimen shot not long before the time of my visit. Ac- 

 cording to him, it is a permanent resident, although by no 

 means common. Miss Bell, who is famiUar with the bii'ds of 

 the island, and who is a good observer, teUs me that she has 

 repeatedly seen the old birds feeding the young, and she con- 

 siders that they build their own nest and bring up the young 

 themselves. 



8. Shining Cuckoo i^Chri/sococcyx lucid us. Gml.). 



This also I insert on the authority of Mr. Bell, who assures 

 me that occasionally a few visit the island, but never remain 

 more than a few days. 



9. i^iGEOx {Carp02diaga uom-zeahmdia, Gml.?). 



The earher settlei-s on Sunday Island found a large fruit- 

 pigeon very abundant on their first arrival ; but its numbers 

 were gradually thinned, and it was finally exterminated, partly 

 by the settlers themselves and partly by the wild cats intro- 

 duced by them. A ^Mr. Johnson, who resided on the island 

 about fifteen years ago. states that it exactly resembled the 

 New Zealand' species in size and colour, and he has no- 

 hesitation in considering it to be the same. 



10. Megatodius sp. (?). 



The same Mr. Johnson states that when he lived on Sunday 

 Island, which was prior to the eruption of 1S7G, a bird in- 

 habited the floor of the large crater which made mounds of 

 sand and decaved leaves 2ft. or 3it. high, laying its eggs in the 

 mounds. He was in the habit of visiting "the mounds for the 

 sake of the esgs and voung birds, and has frequently taken 



