The Zoologist— Decembkr, 1874. 4261 



double. His size is large for a parrot, superior to that of owls in general, 

 and almost equal to that of an eagle owl : the position in which I have seen 

 him is rather horizontal ; therefore he has Uttle resemblance to Harrison 

 Weir's well-known figure in Wood. The eye is the centre of what has been 

 called a radiating disk, the feathers of which look stiff and bristle-like, and 

 not at all like the feathers of the body and wings, which have a remarkably 

 soft appearance ; the tail seems to have been injured by confinement, and is 

 not in good condition ; but then, as to his colour, the late William Hunt, 

 unrivalled as a painter of mossy backgrounds to his exquisite fruit and 

 flower-pieces, never represented anything so beautifully mimetic as the 

 kakapo : the imitation of moss is perfect, and of course serves to conceal 

 him in his native haunts. I have not heard of his flying, indeed I could 

 readily agree with Mr. BuUer that he is totally unable to fly (S. S. 3085). 

 Mr. BuUer says, " All those who have studied the bird in its natural state 

 agree on this point, that the wings, although sufficiently large and strong, 

 are perfectly useless for purposes of flight, and that the bird merely spreads 

 them to break the force of its fall in descending from a higher point to a 

 lower when suddenly sui-prised ; in some instances even the use of them is 

 neglected, the bird falling to the ground like a stone." T cannot find that 

 either Mr. Buller or Mr. Potts, our two highest authorities on the birds of 

 New Zealand, ever speak of having observed the bird in a wild state. When 

 disturbed and compelled to evacuate his hutch for a moment, he runs back 

 again with a shuffling and rapid motion, and immediately regains the site 

 from which he was removed; this running is in a horizontal position, as 

 though he were threading one of those meuses which are described as 

 abounding in his retreats. In a state of nature the kakapo is said to eat a 

 large quantity of moss, and Mr. Potts says that it feeds also on the tender 

 shoots of Schefflera digitata, and on the young fronds of ferns, especially 

 Asplenium bulbiferum, and speaks of masses of chewed fibre from which 

 the nourishment has been abstracted occurring in its meuses. If the kakapo 

 really chews its food it is a characteristic of bird-life quite new to me. At 

 the Zoo he is offered monkey-nuts and maize, interspersed occasionally with 

 other dainties ; but we may yet hope to learn something more of his food, as 

 also of his ways and liis manners. — Edward Newman. 



Didunculus strigirostris. — This rare bird, a native of the Samoan Islands, 

 continues in apparent good health, but I believe is only deposited in the 

 care of the Society at present : it would be a valuable acquisition to the 

 collection if the Council of the Zoological Society are able to obtain it by 

 gift or purchase. — Edward Newman. 



Greater Shearwater on the Coruish Coast. — We have these birds with 

 us again this autumn, but I have not observed any for some years previously 

 on our coasts. Two I have just examined are in the same state of plumage 

 as they mostly appear in, viz. light ash-coloured brown above, with lighter 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. IX. 3 N 



