Butrer.—On New Zealand Ornithology. 55 
shaped nest of Gerygone, and leave the care of their young entirely to the 
little foster-parent. Ramsay reports an egg of Chrysococcyx lucidus taken 
from the nest of Anthornis; but his information was received third-hand 
at Wellington, and from inquiries I have since made on the spot I am 
inclined to doubt the authenticity of the discovery. We are informed, 
however, in Bennett’s “ Wanderings of a Naturalist,” (p. 207), that a fan- 
tailed flycatcher (Rhipidura albiscapa) was shot at Ryde, near Sydney, in the 
act of feeding a solitary young bird in its nest, which, when examined, was 
found to be the chick of the bronze cuckoo of the colonists, and that both 
the specimens are preserved in the Australian Museum. 
18. The extent of range to be accorded to Ardea flavirostris will mani- 
festly depend on the acceptance or rejection of Herr Finsch’s views as to its 
specific identity with Ardea intermedia, Wagl., and Herodias plumifera, 
Gould, (egrettoides, Bonap.). I am disposed to adopt that view, although the 
examples I have examined present some diversity. 
Ardea | nove-hollandie, Latham, of which I have obtained several 
specimens in the North Island, is a fresh addition to this section of our 
ornithology. 
19. A remarkably small species of bittern, “standing only 7 inches 
high,” has recently been discovered on the west coast of the South Island, 
and two specimens (male and female) have been received at the Canterbury 
Museum; but I have not yet had an opportunity of examining this bird. 
It is probably the diminutive bittern referred to by Ellman in the notes on 
New Zealand birds, which appeared in the * Zoologist " of 1861. 
20. In the section Scolopacide, a new bird from the Chatham Islands, 
Gallinago pusilla, Buller, has recently been added (vide “Ibis,” 1869). Himan- 
topus leucocephalus, Gould, may also be added to the list. Several examples 
which have fallen under my notice are clearly referable to that species. 
The mark of doubt may now be removed from Zecurvirostra rubricollis, as 
there ean be no question about the specific identity of the two birds. 
21. With reference to the remarks on AJVotornis, it is sufficient to observe 
that Herr Finsch has been entirely misled by the report of Mr. D. Mackay, 
who, in writing of the Strigops habroptilus, misnamed it Notornis mantelli. 
The only two known examples of JVotornis, both of which were obtained 
by Mr. Walter Mantell many years ago, are now deposited in the British 
Museum. I am far, however, from considering the species extinct, having 
recently obtained reliable information of its present existence in certain 
remote districts of the South Island. 
22. There can be no doubt whatever as to the specific distinctness of 
Ocydromus earli, and O. australis, the former of which inhabits the North 
Island, whilst the latter is confined to the South. I agree, however; with 
