The Zoologist— September, 1868. 1355 



Professor Owen, so that when a single specimen was caught, killed 

 and brought to England in 1850, it was at once recognized. The 

 specimen was exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society in 

 1851, and this is assumed to have been the last of its race. 



11. The Nestor Parrot {Nestor productm) died in 1853. This 

 bird lived and died on a small island called Phillip Island, which is 

 about four miles from Norfolk Island, and both are situated to the 

 east of Australia and to the north of New Zealand. Phillip Island is 

 only four miles in length, yet the species of Nestor, and there were 

 several, were confined to this little spot of land. The appearance of 

 these birds was very remarkable, the upper mandible of the beak being 

 twice as long as the lower and sickle-shaped : they were not only 

 ardently sought by naturalists as curiosities for preservation in 

 European museums, but, being remarkably quiet and docile birds, 

 were caught and caged ; and one of the species was taught to speak 

 with great facility. Like most other parrots they ate in confinement 

 all kind of vegetable substances, bread, potatoes, lettuces and cab- 

 bage ; their food in a wild state is not so easily defined : some authors 

 assert they lived on roots, which they dug out of the earth with their 

 long pickaxe-like beaks ; others state that they fed on the honey con- 

 tained in the nectary of a white-flowered Hibiscus, and that the 

 tongue is provided with a horny scoop on the under side near its 

 extremity, for the purpose of extracting the nectar. Mr. Strange, 

 writing to Mr. Gurney on the 7th of December, 1853, announces the 

 destruction of the last Nestor : " I have seen the man who exter- 

 minated the Nestor productus from Phillip Island, he having shot the 

 last of that species: he informs me that they rarely made use of their 

 wings except when closely pressed: their mode of progression was by 

 the upper mandible ; and whenever he went to the island to shoot he 

 invariably found them, all except one, on the ground, and that one 

 used to stand sentry on one of the lower branches of the Araucaria 

 excelsa, and, the instant any person landed, the rest would run to 

 these trees and haul themselves up by the beak, and as a matter of 

 course there remain until they were shot or the intruder had left the 

 island." 



This list might be extended to almost any extent: I have selected 

 the species that are remarkable for their great size, their almost 

 infinite numbers of individuals, or their remarkable figure : all of them 

 were species of note, attracting the attention of the most unobservant. 



