156 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST'S CALENDAR. 



some thirty years ago, and they are now most abundant in 

 the lakes and lagoons of the whole provincial district away 

 down to Stewart Island in the south and Te Anau in the 

 west. It is very common on a moonlight night to hear 

 these birds calling to each other as they fly rapidly over- 

 head on their journeys from water to water, and occasion- 

 ally one can see them as they cross in front of the moon or 

 between the observer and some bright part of the sky. 



The history of acclimatisation in New Zealand has yet to 

 be written, but it must be from a scientific, not from a mere 

 popular point of view. 



