2802 The Zoologist — October, 1871. 



when the strange-voiced tui is silent, the kaka is perhaps more 

 noisy than usual ; its call is heard at the earliest dawn ; even in the 

 night it is not always silent. 



When matched the pair may be observed constantly together ; if 

 one moves from a tree its attentive partner quickly follows. The 

 nesting-place has to be prepared : for this purpose a tree is usually 

 selected, the heart of which is completely decayed ; it must have a 

 convenient hole leading from the outside to the bottom of the 

 hollow ; the interior requires some preparation perhaps, or the 

 entrance has to be smoothed or enlarged : the pair may be 

 frequently observed busy for the comfort and safety of their pro- 

 spective offspring; sometimes a certain degree of fastidiousness is 

 disclosed in making these preparations. 



(To be continued.) 



New Species of Tapir at the Zoological Gardens. — One of the most 

 interesting additions to the Zoological Gardens is a juvenile tapir, purchased 

 on the 15th of August of the present year: it is very diminutive, very 

 hairy, and of a dark hrown colour, singularly striped and spotted with 

 white : the ears are largo and margined with white. It has been named 

 Tapirus Bairdii, doubtless as a compliment to the illustrious American 

 naturalist. Dr. Baird. — Edward Newman. 



Spider or Mouse? — I kept a bat once, and used to feed it on large 

 moths taken at sugar. Its method ot disposing of them seldom varied ; it 

 settled on my hand, veiled its head with its wings, twitched the moth from 

 my fingers, hung from the curtains, bit off the wings one by one, and, as 

 the fourth fluttered down, rapidly crunched the moth's body. Proof 

 number two : examine the deposits of moths' wings for the excreta of bats. 

 This generally settles the question. As for spiders, they can probably 

 remove wings when necessary; but an examination of their falces is 

 enough, I imagine, to prove that they do not habitually do so. Habitual 

 use is always correlated with adaptation. — W. F. Howlett ; Christ Church, 

 Oxford. =_^=.^_ 



Arrival of Cold-weather Yisitants in India. — The common and green 

 sandpipei-s {Totanus hjpolcucos and T. ochropus) made their appearance in 

 this neighbourhood on the 1st of August : the former are now to be found 

 in the puddles on the roadsides, and are very tame. I can easily under- 

 stand why this species should return so early, as they were the first of all 

 the Totani to leave the plains of India (Zool. S. S. 2677), and ray friend 

 Mr. Brookes, of Etawah, found them breeding in Cashmere during his 

 recent ornithological excursion into that country. But the case is different 



