812 Transactions.— Zoology. 
Mr. Cook having considerately sent me also the carcase in spirits, I was 
able to dissect it and to make a preparation of the sternum for Professor 
Newton’s collection at the Cambridge University. It proved to be an adult 
female, and the stomach contained four large blue-bottle flies almost 
uninjured and the remains of others in black comminuted matter. 
On this point Mr. Cook further remarks in his letter: ** Certainly the 
condition of the specimen is not that of one which has lately made a long 
aerial trip. In skinning it, although I freely used cotton wool and kept the 
pepper castor going, I could not help getting the plumage saturated with 
oil, owing to the excessive fatness of the body.” 
My correspondent promises to obtain from Mr. Cheeseman, who pro- 
cured the specimen, full particulars as to when the swallows were first 
seen, as to whether there seemed to be a family party, and as to when and 
where this one was shot. In the meantime, he offers the following 
pertinent remarks : “ Do you think that the recent warm weather and the 
early and frequent nor-westers have had anything to do with the appear- 
ance of the swallows once more ? Again, what do you think becomes of 
the stray birds which find their way to New Zealand? I should say it is 
very unlikely, judging from the prevalent winds, that they could ever 
return to Australia or Tasmania, whence, I presume, they come. Are 
they known in Fiji or South Sea Islands ? For, if so, we could imagine 
them migrating northward to escape our winter. If not, is our New Zea- 
land winter too rigorous for this family of birds? I scarcely fancy so. 
Even here, there are few winter days when an occasional blink of sunshine 
does not fetch out dancing myriads of Ephemerida on the river banks. In 
olden days, I fancy this was not so much the case. The rapid growth of 
willows now overhanging the water must afford protection to delicate new- 
born insects such as mosquito and other gnats which the old fringe of flax 
and toe never could have given. The temperature of the water in which 
the larve reach their fullest development is scarcely affected by the season. 
Indeed, in many snow-fed rivers the temperature, far from the source, 
when the water is at its lowest, must often be higher in winter than in 
summer when the melting snows are in full swing and the river body too 
great to be affected materially by sun-heat. I hope you will agreé with me 
that the natural acclimatization of the Australian swallow is not impossible. 
One certainly does miss the easy graceful little bird out here.” 
I received another letter from Mr. Cook, under date June 11th, in which 
he says :— 
“Since I wrote I have seen no further specimens, but note a local in the 
* Kaikoura Star,’ stating that two swallows had been seen at Kaikoura 
