1362 



A USTR. I LA SI A ILL US TRA TED. 



results of the expedition organized by Dr. von Haast, in the year 1866, for the purpose 

 of collecting specimen skeletons of this gigantic bird. The searchers found Moa bones 

 sufficient to fill a large wain. This scientific enterprise also dissipated the idea, until 

 then almost universally entertained, that the Moa might still be found alive in the well-nigh 

 impenetrable mountain ranges in the south-western portions of the province of Otago. 

 In the years 1887 and 1888, Herr Reischek, the Austrian scientist, spent several months 

 in the same wild region, and was successful in making two additions to the ornithological 

 knowledge of Australasia. 



Besides the Moa, another remarkable New Zealand bird is the Kakapo, or owl- 

 parrot (Striii'jops habroptilus), remarkable for its owl-like face, its burrowing and climbing 

 habits, and its total inability to fly, though in possession of fairly well-developed wings. 

 There is also a peculiar large rail (Notornis Mantclli}, allied to the Australian and 

 New Zealand Tribonyx, also incapable of flight. 



The only reptiles, with the exception of two sea-snakes, are twelve species of lizards, 

 mostly of genera found also in Australia ; but with one very remarkable form Hattcria 

 possessing certain special characteristics that distinguish it from all other families of lizards. 

 The only amphibian is the single species of frog. On the whole, the New Zealand fauna is 

 more nearly allied to that of Australia than to that of any other region ; but it wants 

 many of the most characteristic Australian forms the marsupials, the monotrcmes, the 

 cassowaries and emus, the peculiar reptiles and fishes ; it has some alliances with the 

 fauna of South America, and it has also some very special features of its own. 





