930 Transactions.— Zoology. 
I have visited many parts of the North Island. Even in the South Island, 
where Captain Hutton states it is still abundant, I had lately to pay six-and- 
eight-pence for a pair of them! 
Rhipidura fuliginosa. 
In my “ Birds of New Zealand ” (p. 146) I mentioned a single in- 
stance of the occurrence of this South Island species on the northern side of 
Cook Strait, in the winter of 1864. Another specimen was killed about two 
years ago near a streamlet in the Pirongia Ranges, Waikato; and I have 
now to exhibit to this meeting the skin of a third obtained by my son in à 
shrubbery near Wellington on the 2nd Aprillast. I may add, further, that 
a pair of these black fantails visited my garden on Wellington Terrace on the 
15th of the same month, and, as I would not allow them to be molested, re- 
turned on several successive days. They disappeared together, and I have 
not seen them since ; but it is to be hoped that they will breed with us this 
season, and that this pretty bird may become at length fairly acclimatized in 
this island. 
Ocydromus earli. 
It is a notorious fact that this species, notwithstanding its feebly 
developed wings, rendering it quite incapable of flight, is getting every year 
more plentiful in the settled districts of the North Island. The reason is 
doubtless to be found in the fact that while its natural enemies, hawks and 
wild cats, diminish with the progress of settlement, the cultivation of the 
country increases its advantages in the every-day struggle for existence. 
The nocturnal cry of the Woodhen is now quite familiar in districts where a 
few years ago it was quite unknown. 
On the synonymy of this species Captain Hutton sends me the follow- 
ing :— 
"lam sure that you are right about the identification of Ocydromus 
earli. I always agreed with you, and I don’t understand how Finsch thinks 
otherwise. I think the following is about right :— 
“1. O. earli, Gray ; ‘ Ibis,’ 1862, p. 26; also, O. australis, Gray, ibid in 
part ; Buller, ‘ Birds of New Zealand.’ Whether or not it is the Rallus 
rufus of Ellman I have no means of judging. 
“2. O. fuscus, Dubus; R. troglodytes, Forster, * Descr. An.’ p. 110; R. 
fuscus, Ellman ? ; Buller, * Birds of New Zealand.’ 
** 8. O. australis, Sparr. ; Gray, in * Voyage, ** Erebus and Terror " (young 
only); Buller, * Birds of New Zealand,' in part (not the figure). 
** 4. O. troglodytes, Gral. ; O. australis, Gray, * Voyage, ** Erebus and Terror" 
(adult); and Buller, * Birds of New Zealand,' in part, with figure. 
“I doubt O. brachypterus, Lafr., being a synonym of either of these. 
Finsch thinks it is the same as 0. hectori, mihi., which is very probable. I 
