192 Transactions.— Zoology. 
make up my mind to put it to death, I let it go; it swam, dived, and 
disappeared. From its not possessing a frontal shield on the forehead 
(which is one of the principal generic marks of the Linn. genus Fulica) it 
may possibly hereafter be considered as a type of a new genus, serving to 
connect the genera Fulica and Rallus. Not a doubt, however, in my opinion. 
can exist, as to its being naturally allied in habit and affinity to the Fulice ; 
I have therefore named it Fulica nove-zealandig. In size it was somewhat 
less than our European species, F. arua." 
The bird so well described by Mr. Colenso is evidently quite distinct 
from Fulica australis, the only species of coot known to inhabit Australia, 
and as it has never, so far as I am aware, been heard of since this capture, 
more than thirty years ago, we may fairly conclude that it is one of the 
ornithic forms that have become extinct within the memory of man. 
NESTOR MERIDIONALIS, Gray.—Kaka Parrot. 
This bird is very abundant in the Urewera country, and during the 
short season the rata is in bloom the whole Maori population, old and 
young, are out kaka-hunting. An expert bird-catcher will sometimes bag 
as many as 300 in the course of a day; and at Ruatahuna and Manga- 
pohatu alone it is said that from 10,000 to 12,000 of these birds are killed 
during a good rata season, which occurs about every three years. 
There are several modes adopted for catching the kaka, but the com- 
monest and most successful is by means of a trained mokai or tame decoy, 
the wild birds being attracted to artifieial perches, skilfully arranged 
around the concealed trapper, who has simply to pull a string and the 
screaming kaka is secured by the leg, as many as three or four being often 
taken at the same moment. At the close of each day the dead birds are 
buried, and when a sufficient number have been collected they are unearthed, 
stripped of their feathers, fried in their own fat, and potted in calabashes 
for winter use, or for presents to neighbouring tribes. The perches used 
for kaka-trapping are often elaborately carved and illuminated with paua 
shell. 
Evpynamys tatrensis, Gray.—Long-tailed Cuckoo. 
During its sojourn with us this species is generally met with singly or 
in pairs, but Captain Mair gives the following interesting particulars of a 
summer flight:—‘‘ Passing down the Hurukareao river, in the Urewera 
country, during the intensely hot weather of February, 1872, I was 
astonished at the number of koheperoa that coursed about overhead. 
During the three days that we were making the passage, I saw some 
hundreds of them, swarming about in the air like large dragon-flies, as 
many as twenty or thirty of them being sometimes associated together. 
The loud clamour of their notes became at length quite oppressive. There 
