Welli7igton Philosophical Society. 663 



Mr. Tanner said the information given was nearly all hearsay, and not 

 of much value. He thought there might be a difference in date of extinc- 

 tion in the North and South Islands. No great period could have elapsed 

 since the moa was seen, as was proved by the finding of ring-bones of the 

 neck, which were very tender and would not keep long. 



Mr. Lambert bad found bones in many localities, and had heard 

 stories of parties seeing the moa at the present day, but the stories always 

 turned out to be untrue. 



Mr. Drew said he had found numbers of neck-bones and egg-shells of 

 the moa in the drifting sand. The natives said they had seen and eaten 

 the moa, but they were not to be relied on, nor, indeed, were the Euro- 

 pean stories to be believed. He thought the bones in the South seemed 

 older than those in the North. There was really nothing new in Mr. 

 Field's paper. He exhibited two pieces of carved bones found at the 

 Wellington Heads, supposed to be human, but he thought them moa- 

 bones. 



Mr. Maskell exhibited a plant of Cineraria, the leaves of 

 which were much damaged by a leaf-mining larva. He stated 

 that the grub was just now very prevalent in Wellington, on 

 many plants, probably chiefly on Cineraria and sow-thistle. 

 It was evidently dipterous, and he had hatched out a large 

 number of the full-grown flies. These appeared to belong to 

 a dipterous group, the " Phytomyzidge," and the insect was 

 clearly allied to the fly which in England infests celery and 

 turnips and peas. He was sending specimens Home to Mr. 

 C. Whitehead, Adviser to the Department of Agriculture in 

 England, to ascertain the true affinities. The pest, as far as 

 he knew, had not been observed in New Zealand until 1892, 

 and threatened to become rather troublesome ; but at a future 

 time he might give further information. 



[While this volume is in the press (March, 1894) a letter 

 has come from Mr. Whitehead, who identifies the insect as 

 Phytomyza affinis, Fallen. He says, " This insect is very 

 troublesome in England to many plants, mainly of the Coin- 

 positcB. It is found in enormous quantities on chrysanthe- 

 mums and on allied plants. I cannot find any note of the 

 insect attacking turnips or other Crucifercs. It would be very 

 serious if it did ; but I should be inclined to think it would not 

 attack such coarse heavy leaves as those of turnips." In this 

 colony the fly attacks, up to the present, Cineraria, sow- 

 thistle, artichoke, chrysanthemum, groundsel, and a number 

 of other plants. Mr. Whitehead goes on to say, " I do not 

 think arsenical washes would be effectual in preventing egg- 

 laying. Spraying with paraffin or carbolic acid would be far 

 more likely to keep the fly from depositing eggs."] 



