FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 257 
the bay from Auckland, near Northcote, one of its suburbs. The 
region is very hilly. An exceedingly profuse growth of vegetation 
excludes sunlight in many places, and in such shaded situations 
the ground is continually moist. Tree ferns and bracken grow 
luxuriantly; conifers and hardwoods are common; here we saw 
some fine examples of the famous New Zealand kauri trees. In- 
deed, the home of the kauri is a little farther north in the Auck- 
land Provincial District. A beautiful clear stream flows through 
the Gully and offers suitable habitats for various kinds of aquatic 
and semi-aquatic insects and other forms of animal life. 
Onehunga, a suburb of Auckland, forty-five minutes by tram 
from the heart of the city, lies at the head of Manukau Harbor 
en the west coast. North Island at this point is but a mile in 
width. Extensive beaches and mud flats here offer suitable habi- 
tats for many kinds of shore birds. On our return to Auckland 
by tram I was interested in a placard which I saw advertising for 
sale a bit of real estate; it had a distinctly ornithological tone and 
read as follows: ‘‘This lot for sale: See Gosling and Fowler.”’ 
A trip on the government-owned narrow gauge railroad to 
Helensville, thirty-eight miles north of Auckland, proved profit- 
able. The hot sulphur springs located there are attractive to 
those afflicted with rheumatism and kindred ailments. Much of 
the country is low, boggy grazing land. We saw many fine herds 
of dairy cattle, and codperative creameries seem to flourish in the 
region. Birds which are more characteristic of open country are 
found here, such as the New Zealand quail and pipit; it was here 
also that I first encountered the far-famed European skylark 
which has been introduced into the Dominion. 
Previous to our arrival in the Dominion we had made an effort 
to secure a Government permit to collect birds for the Zoological 
Museum at the University of Iowa; however, owing to the un- 
usually rigorous and strictly enforced laws relating to the pro- 
tection and conservation of New Zealand birds, considerable diffi- 
culty was experienced in obtaining official permission to take them. 
After some correspondence with the Minister of Internal Affairs, 
the matter of granting a permit was delegated to the Dominion 
Museum at Wellington through whose offices a perfectly amicable 
and satisfactory arrangement was consummated. While I person- 
ally was never actually given a permit to kill birds, the Dominion 
Museum sent one of its staff, Mr. Harold Hamilton, who was fur- 
nished with such a document, to accompany me wherever I might 
