ButiEr.—Ornithology of New Zealand. 225 
diet, but it also plunders the nests of small birds, devouring alike the eggs 
and young. The pipiwarauroa, or shining cuckoo, is of a milder disposition, 
and, like many of its congeners, subsists almost entirely on caterpillars. Its : 
cry is plaintive but musical, and is always weleomed by the colonists as the 
harbinger of spring. 
This bird has hitherto been confounded with an Australian species that 
closely resembles it. On comparison, however, it will be found that 
they are quite distinct. The Australian bird is somewhat larger, the 
metallie lustre of the plumage is not so bright, and the transverse bands of 
the under parts are narrower and less brilliant; besides which, there is a 
broad rufous band on the lateral tail-feathers which is altogether wanting in 
our bird. 
Fam. CoruwBrIDAX.—There is an interesting group of fruit-eating pigeons 
(Carpophaga) dispersed over Australia, New Guinea, Malacca, the Celebes, 
and Polynesia. This genus is worthily represented in our lists by a fine 
wood-pigeon (Carpophaga nove-zealandie), remarkable for its size and the 
brillianey of its plumage. It subsists almost entirely on fruit or berries, but 
when these fail it feeds on the leaves of the kowai (Edwardsia microphylla) 
or on wild cabbage. It breeds in the remote parts of the country, and, not- 
withstanding the numbers that are annually destroyed, there is no sensible 
diminution on the recurrence of the shooting season. 
Slight varieties occur, and albinos have been recorded, but there is no 
reason to believe that any other species exists in this eountry. n 
. Fam. TETRAONID.— Of this family, also, we have only a single repre- 
sentative, and this is fast disappearing. Our handsome little quail (Coturniz 
nove-zealandie) was formerly so abundant that in one locality in the neigh- 
bourhood of Nelson Dr. Monro and Major Richmond shot forty-three 
brace! This occurred in 1848. It is now almost, if not quite, extinct in the 
North Island, and is met with only in the unfrequented parts of the South. 
Its place, however, is adequately supplied by the introduced members of this 
family, the common pheasant and the Californian quail, both of which, 
under the protection of the Legislature, have rapidly increased, and are now 
probably more abundant in the North Island than the indigenous quail 
ever was. : 
Acclimatization Societies are now in operation in several of the provinces, 
and the introduction of useful birds is every day gaining a larger share of 
public attention ; but the colony is greatly indebted to the efforts of private 
individuals, and especially to Sir George Grey, for many new and valuable 
additions to its fauna. 
Fam. ArrERYGIDX.— The members of this singular group of wingless birds 
are exclusively confined to New Zealand. Four species are recorded, viz. 
e 
