266 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
Zealand but all have now become extinct except the apteryx, of 
which only four or five forms are generally recognized. 
8. The former existence of gigantic and flightless moas, of 
which perhaps nine or ten species occurred, is one of the outstand- 
ing features of New Zealand ornithology. ‘‘ About three or four 
hundred years ago a group of large flightless birds, some as much 
as ten to eleven feet high, roamed over the voleanic hills of this 
land. The aborigines of the country pursued these great moas, 
as they were called, destroying them for food and perhaps also 
making use of some other parts of the body. So persistently were 
these giant birds persecuted that to-day not one exists and we 
know of them only through legends and the remains that have 
been found. However, their miniatures, in certain respects, are 
represented in the present fauna of the islands by the vanishing 
kiwi.’” 
A unique and interesting feature in connection with the flight- 
less birds of the Dominion is illustrated by the fact that while the 
subelass Ratitz contains some forty species of modern birds in- 
cluded in five orders, two of these orders, Apteryges and Dinor- 
nithes, contain more than one-half of the species belonging to the 
subelass and are absolutely confined to New Zealand. 
9. There is present a considerable number of introduced forms, 
principally from Europe and Australia, and most of them seem 
to be very successful in maintaining themselves. 
Since a goodly number of birds can not be observed without 
more time and better facilities than I had at my disposal, I shall 
refer only to the commoner and most conspicuous forms on the 
island and adjacent seas and shall confine myself to a, detailed 
account of but one or two collecting trips. 
As the steamer approaches Auckland great numbers of red- 
billed gulls (Larus scopulinus) and black-backed gulls (Larus 
dominicanus) follow the vessel looking for any waste food that 
may be thrown overboard. The water about the wharf and the 
roofs of the wharf-buildings themselves are often thickly dotted 
with these birds, particularly the former species. Occasionally it 
goes inland for some distance, visiting parks and other places 
where food may be had. Such inland visits are said to immediate- 
ly precede a rainy period. 
Immediately upon landing in Auckland I was surprised and 
interested to find an old friend, or enemy, the ubiquituous, saucy, 
2 Stoner, Dayton, The Scientific Monthly, XVII, No. 2, 182, 1923. 
