Letters, Extracts, Notices, tyc. 463 



the bird into town, placed it on the ornamental waters of the 

 Domain, where I saw it in the afternoon leisurely deporting 

 itself in one of the shallow ponds. The bird (?) is in 

 excellent plumage, and appears to be otherwise in good con- 

 dition. It may be noted that the summer and autumn of 

 1885-86 were exceedingly dry and hot, while the present 

 season is also exceptionally dry and hot, in New Zealand, and 

 the rivers are lower at the present time than they have been 

 for many years. Some of the streams are well stocked with 

 numerous shoals of small fishes as well as mollusks and 

 crustaceans, and the fact of their being easily obtained in the 

 present low state of the rivers may account for the Penguins 

 ascending the rivers in dry seasons to obtain food. After 

 the nesting-season they frequently repair to the estuaries of 

 rivers to feed, but they rarely wander so far from the sea. 

 Sir Walter Buller records the capture (Birds N. Z. 2nd ed. 

 1888, vol. ii. p. 288) of a specimen by the natives half a mile up 

 the Opotiki river (North Island) in 1868, but this is the only 

 case yet recorded of the Penguin wandering any distance 

 from the sea. 



Yours &c, 

 Ashburton, New Zealand, W. W. Smith. 



March 0, 1890. 



Sir, — On the 22nd May a beautiful adult male specimen of 

 the Caspian Plover {/Eyialitis asiatica, Pall.) was shot by a 

 boy named Samuel Bensley on the Denes, Great Yarmouth. 

 There was another one with it at the time, but that escaped. 

 The ground on which they were observed was sand over- 

 grown with grass. The bird, which has since been purchased, 

 I am informed, by Mr. Southwell for the Norwich Museum 

 for the sum of .€10,. has been nicely mounted by Mr. Lowne, 

 naturalist, Yarmouth, in whose shop it is still on view. 



I have compared it with the description of the summer 

 plumage in ' Stray Feathers'' (vol. vii. p. 438), with which it 

 agrees well, except that the crown, nape, wings, and back 

 appear to be in the paler winter plumage. 



