412 HEEB r. E. BLAAUW Ol!f THE [MaV. 21, 



2. On the Breeding of the Weka Rail and Snow-Goose in 

 Captivity. By F. E. Blaauw, C.M.Z.S. 



[Keceived February 15, 1899.] 



I. The Weka Eail (Ocydromiis australis). 



A pair of Wekas, kept in a small enclosure in my park, began 

 to exhibit tlie first signs of breeding in the end of February of 

 last year (1898). The birds became very noisy and were heard 

 screaming in concert, as well during the day as during the night. 

 The male became extremely attentive to the female, and, if fed 

 with bread or anything else that was acceptable to him, would 

 take as much of the food in his bill as it coidd possibly Isold, and 

 run towards the female, calling her by a peculiar drumming noise. 

 As soon as she came to him, he would give her the whole of his 

 provisions, and would only eat himself what she left. He 

 delighted so much in feeding her that, if she were present whilst 

 the food was thrown before them, he would snatch it away from 

 her in great haste to present it to her afterwards. 



The beginning oi the nesting- operations was a rather deep 

 circular hole, which the male excavated with his powerful bill 

 under a box-tree. The female soon began to join him in this work, 

 and afterwards would sit in it whilst the male went about in 

 search of material for the iiest. This consisted of loose grass and 

 hay, but chiefly of grass dug out with the roots adhering to it, 

 which he would bring in big mouthfuls to the female, who set it in 

 order about her. This went on for several days, the nest growing 

 very large considering the size of the birds. It measured ulti- 

 mately fully 25 inches across, the borders being raised about 

 11 inches, whilst the depression in the middle was so deep as 

 to almost entirely hide the bird which sat in it. 



Both male and female took part in the construction of the nest, 

 but the bringing and collection of the materials seemed to be exclu- 

 sively the work of the male. On the 2f)th of March the first egg 

 was laid, and the following five were laid with generally, but not 

 always, one day between each egg. The eggs are of a huffish 

 white, with lighter and darker red spots, which have the appear- 

 ance of some being on the surface of the shell and of others being 

 under it. The eggs resemble closely those of Aramides ypecaha from 

 the Argentine Eepublic. After three eggs had been laid the birds 

 began to sit, each sitting alternately. The male sat mostly during 

 the night and the female during the day, but sometimes, though 

 seldom, the reverse would occur. This lasted during a fortnight, 

 and I thought everything was going on as it should, when, one 

 morning, I was much grieved to find that all the eggs were 

 gone — eaten by the parent birds, as I found out afterwards, and 

 the whole nest was left in disorder. 



A few days after this catastrophe the Eails began to pair again 

 and to build a new nest. Again eggs were laid, seven in number 



