Correspondence, Notes, etc. 213



BIRD PRESERVATION IN NEW ZEALAND.


[The following note appears in the Emu for January 1905].


At the Sydney session of the A.O.U. Colonel Legge referred to the

interest taken by members of the Union in bird preservation, and spoke of

the lamentable extinction of interesting birds in New Zealand, such as the

Notomis, the Quail {Coturnix novce-sealandice), the Macquarie Island Rail,

one of the Cyanorhamphus genus of Parrakeets, &c., &c.


He alluded to the praiseworthy efforts of the New Zealand Govern¬

ment to preserve other interesting endemic forms, such as Apteryx,

Ocydromus, &c., in the “bird sanctuaries” of Resolution Island aud Little

Barrier Island.


The subject of the further preservation of these restricted New

Zealand forms was dwelt with by the Committee of the Biological Section

A.A.A.S., under Colonel Legge’s presidency, and as the result he took the

opportunity, when in Wellington, of officially addressing Sir Joseph Ward,

in whose department the subject of bird preservation is dealt with, on the

preservation of the very interesting “ Flightless Rail ” of the Chatham

Islands (Cobalus modestus), which has become almost extinct from several

causes—clearing of low scrub, destruction of the rough pasturage by sheep,

and finall)'by the ruthless onslaught of the fast-disappearing species by a

collector, on behalf, it is reported of the Tring Museum, when about 20

specimens were captured.


Colonel Legge’s communication, written as president of the Biological

Section, A.A.A.S., was favourably received, aud he has recently received a

courteous letter of thanks from the Government of New Zealand for

having called attention to the matter, with a copy of the Gazette containing

a notice proclaiming the species as absolutely protected, and instructing

the magistrate to use every effort to preserve the Rail in future.


The only doubt is whether this bird is not already extinct. If so,

this will be another lamentable disappearance of a specialized New Zealand

form, which is all the more regrettable inasmuch as this Rail formed an

interesting link between the New Zealand aud Lord Howe Island avifauna,

and an interesting testimony to the former land-connection, in past

geological times, between the two localities.



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