FIJI-NEW ZEALAND EXPEDITION 265 
dance of individuals, New Zealand is far ahead of Fiji so far as 
birds are concerned. About two hundred and thirty forms have 
been recorded from the Dominion and surrounding seas. A rela- 
tively large proportion of these is maritime. 
In all the seas adjacent to New Zealand, petrels, gulls, penguins 
and their allies form a conspicuous part of the avifauna making 
up approximately one-third the total number of species represented. 
2. The affinities of New Zealand birds seem to lie with the 
Antarctic and South American forms. Perhaps former land con- 
nections permitted ready access of birds between what are now 
widely separated land areas. It is a well-known fact that a large 
number of the maritime birds of the Dominion are closely related 
to present-day Antarctic species. May it not be true, also, that 
Malaya has contributed something toward the development of this 
peculiar bird fauna as exhibited by the moas and their descend- 
ants? 
3. A large proportion of the genera in both Carinate and 
Ratite are peculiar to New Zealand. Of the approximately 
seventy genera recognized, thirty are endemic. 
4. The small number of raptorial birds—only a_ half-dozen 
species—is here again brought to one’s attention. During my stay 
in the colony I observed only four or five hawks and but a single 
example of the curious morepork owl (Spiloglaux nove-zealandie). 
5. Woodpeckers (Pici) are lacking and the visitor is rather 
amazed to find that native sparrows (Fringillide) are also en- 
tirely absent. The several representatives of this family which 
do oceur here have all been introduced. 
6. Few species of migratory birds occur in New Zealand. Ex- 
tended migrations are the exception rather than the rule among 
the birds of the Dominion, and most species may be classed as 
permanent residents. One of the most notable of these migrants 
is the godwit (Iimosa nova-zealandiaw) which frequents the coasts 
of North Island. During June and July it breeds in Eastern 
Siberia, then crossing wide expanses of land and sea, arrives in 
New Zealand in November and December, not to leave until the 
following April. The regularity and periodicity of this migratory 
movement is remarkable. 
7. The present existence of the flightless kiwi or apteryx 
(Apteryx sp.) which has been designated as ‘‘the most un-bird- 
like of feathered creatures,’’ is worthy of special mention. At 
one time twenty-three species of flightless birds existed in New 
