INTERESTING PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE AVIFAUNA 349 



The existence of an albino kiwi has been recorded. A specimen 

 of this rare and beautiful bird was found in the bush near 

 IMartin's Bay, on the west coast of Otago. The plumage was 

 white, but the extremities of the feathers were more or less 

 stained with a yellowish tint. The bristly integument at the base 

 of the mandibles was also yellowish, and there was a narrow 

 yellowish stain round the eye, while the irides were brown and the 

 feathers soft to the touch. Other specimens have been obtained 

 near Greymouth. 



INTERESTING PROBLEMS CONNECTED WITH NEW 

 ZEALAND'S AVIFAUNA. 



The avifauna of New Zealand, although very limited in 

 numbers, contains so many peculiar species that it has always 

 been an object of much interest to ornithologists. 



Of the non-migratory land birds there are only one hundred 

 and four species, belonging to sixty genera, and to twenty-four 

 different families. Of these, eighty-three species, 80 per cent., 

 and twenty-eight genera, 47 per cent., are found nowhere else; 

 while there are no fewer than five families — Tumagridse, 

 XenecidfB, Nestoridfe, StringopidtP, and ApterygidiB — which 

 exclusively belong to New Zealand. 



This shows that there was long isolation from the rest of the 

 world, during which time the species that originally came to 

 New Zealand have been much modified, while in some cases 

 their relatives, which were left behind in the old habitations, 

 are now extinct. 



Where were those ancient habitations"? 



By Dr. P. L. Sclater and Dr. A. R. Wallace, New Zealand is 

 considered to be a sub-division of the Australian Region. But 

 nearly one-half of the genera of land birds show no connection 

 with Australia ; and the only birds that show a distinctly 

 Australian facies are the warblers, the tits, and the creepers, the 

 three genera of honey-suckers (Meliphagidfe), and perhaps, the 

 parrakeets. There is therefore, much to be said in favour of the 



