78 Transactions. 



ground-colour ; some grey scales forming obscure interneural lines beneath 

 apical half of costa : cilia grey, with an obscure darker line. Hindwings 

 fuscous : cilia yellowish-white, with a fuscous basal line. 



Not far removed from H. siraea, but the central pale streak is quite 

 different and the termen is more oblique. 



Discovered by Messrs. G. Howes and A. Hamilton at Obelisk, Old Man 

 Range, Central Otago. Taken on the 2nd February. 



Oecophoridae. 

 Izatha mira sp. nov. 



^. 21 mm. Head and thorax black sprinkled with whitish. Palpi, 

 second joint black sprinkled with white, terminal joint white with black 

 median band. Antennae fuscous, obscurely annulated with darker. Abdo- 

 men dark fuscous, margins of segments marked with ochreous-white. Fore- 

 wings moderate, costa strongly arched, apex obtuse, termen straight, hardly 

 oblique ; black, densely sprmUed with pale hluish-white ; markings black, 

 rather obscure ; a narrow basal patch extending a short distance on dorsum ; 

 an irregular fascia near base, outwardly strongly oblique to fold ; a thick 

 irregular fascia from costa at \ almost to dorsum at | ; a similar obscure 

 fascia at f, touching dorsum; a series of oljscure spots from costa at 

 f round termen to tornus : cilia fuscous, with occasional white scales. 

 Hindwings dark fuscous, fading to grey anteriorly : cilia fuscous, with 

 darker basal line. 



Though superficially appearing to be abundantly distinct, the markings 

 show this species to be near to /. picarella. The beautiful bluish tint of the 

 forewings makes it one of the most handsome members of the genus. 



I obtained one example on The Hump in December. Taken in forest at 

 3,000 ft. 



Art. XIII. — Concerning the Kermadec Islands Avifauna. 



By Tom Iredale. 



Communicated by W. R. B. Oliver. / 



[Read before the Auckland Institute, 11th December, 1912.] ' 



In these Transactions the birds of the Kermadec Islands have beei 

 previously catalogued,' and it is in this place that almost all the notes 

 regarding this avifauna have appeared. 



Almost three years ago I drew up a list of the birds met with on the 

 Kermadec Islands during the year 1908, but fortunately it was not pub- 

 lished at that time, owing to my discovery that the nomenclature needei 

 revision. I therein followed the nomination used in the " Supplement to 

 the Birds of New Zealand," by Sir Walter BuUer, just previously published. 

 That nomenclature was at fault, inasmuch as the rules adopted by the 

 International Congresses of Zoology were not adhered to, and consequently 

 it was imperative that revision should be attempted. 



In the Emu, April, 1910, will be found a paper wherein the habits of 

 the birds as observed by myself are recorded, and it is not necessary to 

 rewrite these here, as most of the information there given has already 

 appeared in these Transactions. I 



