39i Capt. F. W. Ilutton on some 



tlic mainland. The egg of one of the species is polished 

 white, oval : length '95 in., breadth '75. Nestor meridionalis is 

 common, and feeds much on honey at certain seasons of the year. 



Charadriid^: — Charadrius ohscurus is common on the coast, 

 but never goes inland. It turns up the seaweed and catches 

 the sandhoppers underneath. AnarhyncJius fruntulis is occa- 

 sionally shot ; when young, it is greyish-brown on the back, and 

 white below, with a greyish-brown band on the throat. The bill 

 is always bent the same way. Dr. Finsch must surely be wrong 

 in calling this bird a Hcematopus. Thinornis novce-zelandice is 

 found at the Great Barrier Island, and on the edges of Lake 

 Rotorua. Irides dark ; bill oi-ange, with a black tip ; a thin 

 line of orange-coloured flesh round the eye ; legs and feet flesh- 

 colour, nails black. 



Ardeid^ : — Ardea nova'-hollandue has been shot in the Ma- 

 nukan Harbour"^. 



ScoLOPACiDiE : — Notwithstanding Dr. Finsch^s strongly pro- 

 nounced opinion, I am inclined to doubt the specific identity of 

 Himantopus novce-zelandice and H. melas. The former is a 

 common bird in the southern parts of this province, while the 

 latter is very rare. At the hot lake of Iloto-mahana H. novce- 

 zelandice (erroneously called Oyster-catcher, Haematopus picatus, 

 by Dr. Hochstetter) abounds, and remains there all the year 

 round, while the natives assured me that H. melas was only oc- 

 casionally seen, and that it came from the sea. Because H. 

 novce-zelandidE when young may have more black feathers on it 

 than when old, it does not therefore follow that H. melas is the 

 young of H. novce-zelandice ; and it certainly is not the male, or 

 the natives would have seen them paired at Roto-mahana. H. 

 melas appears to be a smaller bird, but with a larger bill. 



RallidjE : — Ortygometra affinis: — Irides red; bill, legs, and 

 feet brownish-green, the bill being the lightest. 0. tabuensis : 

 — Irides brick-red ; legs and feet pale red ; bill black ; flesh round 

 the eye brick-red. Common in the Waikato swamps, but not 

 easily seen. Porphyrio melanonotus : — Egg yellowish-white or 

 buff with reddish spots, principally on the larger end : length 

 2"1 in., breadth 1-5 in. llallus assimilis: — Egg pinkish- white 

 * [ Vide antea, p. 135. — Ed.] 



