92 Transactions. 



establish themselves, as 1 did. not meet with either. The latter, recorded 

 as plentiful on Macauley Island in 1887 by the same author, was not seen 

 by me on that island. 



The preceding notes fairly rLpvesent the knowledge of the Kermadfc 

 avifauna as obtained by the members of our party in 1908. 



A word may be here put forward regarding the nomenclature of the 

 spocies of Puffinus used by Oliver (pp. 219-20) in his comparisons. North 

 has already corrected that utilized by Hull, i.pon which Oliver based his 

 article, which corrections, however, have been incoi'porated by Oliver. At 

 the present time it seems inexpedient to include P. griseus in the Norfolk 

 Island list, the bird so identified being probably P. carneipes subsp. ? A 

 further note will, however, be shortly contributed clearing up this article, 

 as material for critical comparison will soon be available. 



Art. XIV. — Farther Notes on the Birds of the Kermadec Islands. 

 By W. R. B. Oliver. 



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



The report by Tom Iredale appearing in this volume (p. 78) on the birds 

 observed in the Kermadec Islands in 1908 calls for some additional notes, 

 especially with regard to those species concerning which further information 

 1 as been obtained or skins procured by Messrs. Roy and King Bell since 

 the return of our expedition. 



In concluding that Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands have received the 

 basal elements in their avifaunas by. way of New Caledonia, Iredale is in 

 complete accordance with the views I have already given in these Trans- 

 actions (vol. 44, p. 214, 1912), but he differs in considering the avifaunas 

 more closely related to that of New Caledonia than to that of New 

 Zealand. 



Porzana plumbea. 



A number of nests were found by Messrs. Roy and King Bell in the 

 swamp in Denham Bay, Sunday Island. From R. Bell's diary I summarize 

 the particulars as follows : From the 10th November to the 3rd December, 

 1909, five nests of three eggs each, one nest of four eggs ; from the 15th 

 November, 1910, to the 3rd January, 1911, four nests of two eggs each, 

 four nests of three eggs each, one nest of four eggs. In addition to these, 

 a nest with one egg was found on the 2nd November, 1909, but was shortly 

 afterwards destroy* d, apparently by rats. In the Auckland Museum there 

 are Several skins of this species obtained on Sunday Island. 



Anas superciliosa. 



Nests of the grey duck were found by K. Bell in the crater of Sunday 

 Island in 1910. One, found on the 1st October, contained six eggs ; another, 

 found on the 22nd October, contained seven eggs. 



