﻿574 
  Bulletin 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  ' 
  Annals 
  and 
  Magazine 
  o£ 
  Natural 
  History/ 
  on 
  tlie 
  

   subject 
  of 
  Apteryx 
  haasti, 
  I 
  have 
  gone 
  exhaustively 
  into 
  the 
  

   history 
  of 
  the 
  genus 
  Apteryx, 
  and 
  I 
  hope 
  soon 
  to 
  publish 
  a 
  

   complete 
  Monograph 
  on 
  the 
  subject. 
  

  

  '' 
  Possessing, 
  however, 
  a 
  large 
  series 
  of 
  skins, 
  and 
  examples 
  

   of 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  five 
  species 
  in 
  a 
  living 
  state, 
  I 
  thought 
  it 
  

   would 
  be 
  interesting 
  to 
  the 
  Club 
  to 
  exhibit 
  this 
  series 
  of 
  

   skins, 
  along 
  with 
  the 
  living 
  specimens, 
  and 
  I 
  add 
  a 
  few 
  re- 
  

   marks 
  on 
  the 
  geographical 
  distribution 
  and 
  synonymy 
  of 
  this 
  

   very 
  strange 
  family 
  of 
  birds. 
  

  

  " 
  Hitherto 
  five 
  species 
  of 
  Apteryx 
  have 
  been 
  described 
  and 
  

   accepted, 
  viz. 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  ''Apteryx 
  australis, 
  Shaw. 
  

   A. 
  mantelli, 
  Bartlett 
  (syn. 
  A. 
  bulleri, 
  Sharpe). 
  

   A. 
  maxinms, 
  Verreanx. 
  

   A. 
  oweni, 
  Gould. 
  

   A. 
  haasti, 
  Potts. 
  

  

  " 
  On 
  these 
  five 
  species 
  there 
  have 
  been 
  many 
  discussions, 
  

   especially 
  with 
  regard 
  to 
  A. 
  mantelli, 
  A. 
  haasti, 
  and 
  A. 
  

   maxinius. 
  

  

  '^As 
  regards 
  A. 
  mantelli, 
  I 
  can 
  only 
  point 
  out 
  that 
  Dr. 
  Otto 
  

   Finsch 
  maintained 
  that 
  Mr. 
  Bartlett's 
  diagnosis 
  was 
  founded 
  

   on 
  a 
  false 
  basis, 
  and 
  he, 
  moreover, 
  believed 
  that 
  the 
  North- 
  

   Island 
  Apteryx 
  was 
  barely 
  worthy 
  of 
  subspecific 
  rank. 
  Sir 
  

   Walter 
  BuUer, 
  however, 
  and 
  all 
  other 
  ornithologists 
  who 
  

   have 
  expressed 
  any 
  opinion 
  on 
  the 
  subject, 
  maintain, 
  and 
  I 
  

   am 
  convinced 
  rightly, 
  that 
  the 
  North-Island 
  bird 
  is 
  distinct 
  

   from 
  A. 
  australis. 
  But 
  Sir 
  Walter 
  Buller 
  unfortunately 
  

   misled 
  Dr. 
  Sharpe 
  into 
  re-naming 
  the 
  North-Island 
  bird 
  by 
  

   omitting 
  to 
  state 
  that, 
  however 
  faint 
  were 
  the 
  characters 
  

   which 
  Bartlett 
  used 
  to 
  diagnose 
  his 
  species_, 
  he 
  most 
  em- 
  

   phatically 
  stated 
  (P. 
  Z. 
  S. 
  1850, 
  p. 
  276) 
  that 
  all 
  the 
  

   specimens 
  of 
  his 
  A. 
  mantelli 
  came 
  from 
  the 
  North 
  Island. 
  

   This 
  fact, 
  I 
  think, 
  establishes 
  without 
  a 
  doubt 
  the 
  priority 
  of 
  

   Mr. 
  Bartlett's 
  name 
  of 
  Apteryx 
  mantelli. 
  

  

  " 
  By 
  many 
  people 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  maintained 
  that 
  Apteryx 
  

   haasti 
  is 
  a 
  natural 
  hybrid 
  between 
  A. 
  australis 
  oxidi 
  A. 
  oweni. 
  

  

  