strange New Zealand Wood-Hen. 295 



We now draw attention to a most remarkable form of 

 Wood-Hen which we name 



Gallirallus townsoni^ sp. n. (Plate XI.) 



The forehead, lores, sides of face, throaty ear-coverts, fore 

 neck, and all under parts pure white. The white encroaches 

 on each side of the occiput but is divided by a regular stripe 

 of umber. There is a dash of umber under the eyes, a small 

 patch on each side of the breast, a minute patch on each 

 side of abdomen (groin) ; the outer sides of the thighs 

 are streaked with umber, with a small irregular patch on the 

 vent. The general upper coloration is umber, the feathers 

 having darker streaks on the head and neck, this dark streak 

 being emphasised in the elongated scapulars. The back and 

 rump are almost uniform umber-brown, the bases of the 

 feathers ashy grey, the tips very indistinctly barred with 

 darker. The feathers are quite short. The primai'ies are 

 clear rusty buff regularly barred with sepia : in one wing 

 the first primary is pure white, in the other the first four 

 are pure white. The tail-feathers are unbarred. A small 

 patch of white feathers is seen on each side among the 

 scapulars. 



The bill has the upper mandible pallid horn-colour ; the 

 lower darker. The legs are also pallid horn-colour. 



Type in Coll. Gr. M. Mathews from Westport, on the west 

 coast of the South Island of New Zealand. 



A solitary specimen, such as has been described, might 

 well have been passed over as an albinistic freak and no 

 further notice taken of it. 



The receipt of two specimens identical in their peculiar 

 coloration induced investigation, and we find that three 

 others agreeing with these are already on record from the 

 same locality. 



It is unfortunate that in these materialistic days such an 

 interesting phase of bird evolution would be passed over 

 practically without comment unless a name was inflicted upon 

 the phase. We have, therefore, described this peculiar bird 



