hi 



central moaatain-chaius in tlie South Island ; but it is also 

 found in isolated places in the King-country in the North 

 Island. 



^'Apterycc australis was formerly abundant all over the lower 

 scrub-covered districts of the South Island, but is now almost 

 exclusively confined to the Dusky-Bay region. 



^'Apteryx maximus is almost a fictitious species, though I am 

 inclined to agree with Prof. Hutton that it was only an over- 

 grown A. haasfi. The name was published originally, without 

 a description, by Bonaparte in the ' Comptes Rendus,^ xliii. 

 p. 841, taken from an unpublished manuscript of Jules Yer- 

 reaux, and then Prof. Hutton described a foot in his ' Catalogue 

 of the Birds of New Zealand' and ascribed it to this species. 

 Both refei-euces, however, distinctly refer to a bird from the 

 South Island. In 1890, Sir Walter Buller finally announced 

 that he had discovered the true A. maximus on Stewart 

 Island, and I am fortunate in possessing the entire series 

 from his collection; but I most emphatically say that this 

 species cannot be A. maximus of Yerreaux, and therefore I 

 have much pleasure in naming it Apteryx laicryi, after 

 Sir W. Lawry Buller. 



" Sir W. Buller fully described this bird before the Y'elling-, 

 ton Scientific Society. All that I shall add is, therefore, that 

 though the differences between it and A. australis are very 

 slight, they are apparently constant, owing, no doubt, to the 

 isolation of the species. 



" Apteryx ovoeni is found exclusively on the east coast of 

 the South Island, and there is nothing particular to be said 

 regarding this species. 



" On the west coast of the South and North Islands, from 

 one end to the other, occurs, however, a grey Apteryx, which 

 has hitherto been confounded with tlie typical A. oweni. 

 This form difi'ers from A. oweni in its much larger size (being 

 quite as big as A. australis), in its comparatively very small 

 bill, and in the heavy black bars on the feathers. I propose 

 to call this Apteryx accident alls, a subspecies of A. oweni. 



" So far I consider we shall be justified in accepting the 



