﻿Birds 
  inhabiting 
  the 
  Chatham 
  Islatids. 
  521 
  

  

  by 
  cross-bred 
  sheep, 
  which 
  are 
  not 
  so 
  delicate 
  in 
  their 
  tastes 
  

   as 
  the 
  merino. 
  It 
  is 
  therefore 
  evident 
  that 
  the 
  clearing- 
  

   a'.vay 
  of 
  the 
  undergrowth 
  of 
  the 
  bush, 
  and 
  the 
  compression 
  

   of 
  the 
  humus 
  and 
  rotten 
  wood 
  by 
  the 
  animals 
  grazing 
  thereon, 
  

   deprive 
  the 
  rats 
  of 
  their 
  places 
  of 
  concealment, 
  causing 
  them 
  

   to 
  leave 
  the 
  bush 
  and 
  to 
  seek 
  food 
  elsewhere. 
  The 
  stimulus 
  

   given 
  to 
  sheep-farming 
  by 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  the 
  frozen 
  

   meat 
  trade 
  has 
  made 
  farmers 
  increase 
  their 
  flocks 
  and 
  use 
  

   every 
  available 
  piece 
  of 
  land 
  for 
  pasturage. 
  As 
  the 
  scrub 
  of 
  

   the 
  bush 
  growing 
  on 
  sloping 
  spurs 
  becomes 
  cleared 
  by 
  sheep, 
  

   there 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  reassuring 
  prospect 
  that 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  sjDecies 
  

   now 
  becoming 
  rare 
  will 
  be 
  re-established 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  years, 
  

   and 
  this 
  apparently 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  causes 
  favouring 
  the 
  slow 
  

   increase 
  of 
  the 
  native 
  honey-eaters 
  and 
  other 
  species 
  inhabit- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  bush 
  in 
  Canterbury. 
  In 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  visits 
  of 
  

   Anthornis 
  mekmura 
  to 
  the 
  blooming 
  acacia 
  trees 
  in 
  spring, 
  

   the 
  birds 
  have 
  of 
  late 
  years 
  attacked 
  the 
  ripening 
  apples 
  on 
  

   the 
  trees 
  in 
  the 
  orchards 
  near 
  the 
  bush, 
  and 
  on 
  that 
  account 
  

   do 
  not 
  get 
  a 
  very 
  good 
  name 
  from 
  their 
  unkindly 
  owners. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  when 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  naturalists 
  is 
  

   drawn 
  towards 
  our 
  remarkable 
  birds, 
  and 
  the 
  apparently 
  

   inevitable 
  fate 
  of 
  many 
  species, 
  any 
  reassuring 
  remarks 
  con- 
  

   cerning 
  any 
  of 
  them 
  will, 
  no 
  doubt, 
  be 
  welcome. 
  But 
  in 
  the 
  

   forests 
  of 
  Westland, 
  where 
  rats 
  are 
  numerous 
  and 
  weasels 
  

   and 
  stoats 
  are 
  increasing, 
  there 
  is 
  at 
  present 
  little 
  hojie 
  of 
  

   saving 
  them 
  from 
  extinction. 
  It 
  is 
  truly 
  a 
  melancholy 
  pros- 
  

   pect 
  to 
  know 
  that 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  most 
  

   remarkable 
  avifauna 
  ever 
  evolved 
  in 
  any 
  zoological 
  region 
  

   are 
  rapidly 
  vanishing 
  from 
  the 
  earth, 
  and 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  no 
  

   apparent 
  means 
  available 
  to 
  counteract 
  the 
  catastrophe. 
  

  

  XL 
  VII. 
  — 
  A 
  List 
  of 
  the 
  Birds 
  inhabiting 
  the 
  Chatham 
  Islands. 
  

   By 
  H. 
  O. 
  Forbes, 
  F.R.G.S., 
  M.B.O.U. 
  

  

  (Plates 
  XIV., 
  XV.) 
  

  

  The 
  Chatham 
  Islands, 
  which 
  form 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  New- 
  

   Zealand 
  region, 
  lie 
  in 
  about 
  S. 
  lat. 
  44° 
  and 
  W. 
  long. 
  176'' 
  30', 
  

  

  