20 THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 
BIRDS OF NEW ZEALAND. 
A paper on some of the Birds of New Zealand, read before the Association 
December 5th, Toor. 
BY DR. D. V. LUCAS, OF GRIMSBY. 
Nature is laid before us as a great book with many pages. 
Some of us take very naturally to one page, some to another. The 
enthusiast always feels, whatever department he may have chosen, 
that he has had the rare good fortune to light upon the most interest- 
ing of all, whether it be a study of diatoms or of diamonds ; of mole- 
cules or of mountains. 
I will not say that the subject I place before you to-night is 
superior to all others on your annual list, though I hope you will find 
it at least worthy of your attention for an hour or so now, and afford 
you profitable and pleasant remembrances of it in the days to come. 
In many senses New Zealand is a remarkable country, and in 
considering her birds we have before us one of her most interesting 
features, especially in her natural kingdom. She has not only a great 
variety of birds without wings, especially if we include the now ex- 
tinct Moa, but there are also birds in that country which, though 
they have wings, seldom or never use them. There are ten different 
sorts of Parakeets and about fifteen different kinds of Parrots. 
To me a talking bird is always a wonder. Why should a bird 
possess the power of imitating the educated human voice? There is 
something more than a mere pronouncing of words by some of these 
birds ; there is apparently an appreciation of the relationship of one 
word or one thought to another. I stood by and heard one of these 
talking birds say to a dog, “‘ Carlo, come here,” and the dog came. 
The bird said, “‘ Carlo, lie down,” and the dog lay down. The bird 
said, ‘“‘ Carlo, roll over,” and the dog rolled over. The memory of 
these birds is to me as great a matter of wonder as their power of 
speech. I have met with instances where the memory of the bird 
has been equal to carrying a thought through three, and in another 
