250 Mr. J. C. M'Lean— Ornithological ■ 



Mr. Hoist describes the irides as light yellow ; the bill as 

 dusky grey, paler at the base of the under mandible and at 

 the tip of both mandibles; and the legs and feet as dark 

 grey, with nearly white lines between the scales. The birds 

 measured 20 inches from the tip of the bill to the tip of 

 the tail before they were skinned, and 30 inches in expanse 

 of wing. Both examples are in splendid plumage, with the 

 forehead, crown, crest, and malar stripes scarlet-crimson ; 

 and the one shot on the 21st of October is moulting the 

 first primary of each wing. 



167. NiNOX SCUTULATA. 



A female Brown Owlet does not differ from examples 

 from Japan. It is a young bird, with its quills still in the 

 pen, and was killed on the 7th of August. 



168. ScOPS SEMITORQUES. 



A female feather-toed Scops Owl, shot on the 14th of 

 July, was accompanied by two young birds able to fly. The 

 irides are described as orange-yellow, and the bill as greenish 

 yellow, dusky at the tip of the upper mandible and the base 

 of the under mandible. 



191. ACCIPITER NISUS. 



A pair of Sparrow-Hawks appear to be identical with 

 examples from Japan. 



348. SCOLOPAX MEGALA. 



A female example of Swinhoe^s Snipe, shot on the 11th of 

 August, was probably passing through the Straits on migra- 

 tion. 



XVIII. — Ornithological Notes from New Zealand. 

 By J. C. McLean. 



After reading Sir Walter Buller's new edition of the 

 ' History of the Birds of New Zealand,' I feel prompted to 

 write the following short notes, which may be of interest. 

 The news that Miro australis and Clitonyx albicapillu, 



