392 Capt. F. W. Hutton on some 



travellers met with its nest; and it is to be regretted that Dr. 

 Leith Adams, who discovered one of its breeding-haunts in 

 Ladakh, was not enabled to describe the eggs, the young being 

 already hatched when he made the discovery. 



XXVII. — Notes on some of the Birds inhabiting the Province of 

 Auckland, New Zealand. By Capt. F. W. Hutton. 



Falconid^ : — Hieracidea nov(E-zelandice is not uncommon, but 

 rarely seen, as it inhabits the bush. Circus assimilis, on the con- 

 trary, is very numerous. In the old bird the cere and base of 

 the bill are whitish-blue, and the irides sulphur-yellow, while in 

 the young the cere is yellow and the irides hazel. It breeds in 

 swampy places and in cultivated districts, sometimes in corn- 

 fields. The nest is composed of a few pieces of stick rudely put 

 together. Egg ovoid, white, with some spots of pale brown, 

 something like that of a Turkey. Length 1*75 in., greatest 

 breadth 1*4 in, 



ALCEDiNiDiE : — Halcyon vagans is common ; it breeds in 

 holes in the banks of streams, and lays five white eggs : length 

 1*1 in., breadth '9 in. 



MeliphagiDjE : — Prosthemadera nova-zelandicB is common. 

 Irides hazel. Both this bird and Anthornis melanura, beside their 

 loud liquid notes, sing a varied song in a very low tone, as if to 

 themselves. The latter makes a nest, loosely put together, of 

 small twigs, roughly lined with grass and lichens. The eggs are 

 white, more or less spotted with rusty : length *85 in., breadth 

 •65 in. Irides crimson. Legs and feet slate-blue. It is com- 

 mon on the Great and Little Barrier Islands, but becoming very 

 rare on the mainland. Pogonornis cincta is also abundant on 

 the Little Barrier, not uncommon on the Great Barrier, but, I 

 believe, quite extinct on the mainland of this province. Its 

 irides are black. 



Certhiid^: — Acanthisitta chloris is found in the wooded 

 hills of the Great and Little Barrier Islands. It runs up the 

 trunks of the trees like a Tree-Creeper, and picks insects out of 

 the bark. I have also seen Anthornis melanura do the same. 



