Rzrsceugx.—0On New Zealand Ornithology. 191 
Sterna frontalis. Not common. 
Diomedea exulans, Diomedea melanophrys, Diomedea chlororhyncha, Diomedea 
fuliginosa, Ossifraga gigantea, Haladroma urinatrix, Procellaria capensis, 
Prion turtur: all these species are not rare. 
NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 
1. Xenicus gilviventris. Rock Wren. 
This harmless little bird which inhabits the higher regions on the South- 
ern Alps is very tame, hopping about among débris grown over with alpine 
vegetation. I have found them plentiful on top of Mount Alexander, near 
Lake Brunner, in 1877, also on Mount Alcidus, Rakaia Forks, on the station 
of Mr. Neave, in 1879, not uncommon. To my surprise on the Alps in 
this sound they are exceedingly rare where I expected they would be very 
plentiful, as on many of these places there are not any human beings, or 
ever have been, to disturb them. By my examinations I found that the 
common European rats inhabit these Alps in thousands and they destroy 
every bird. 
2. Apteryx australis. Roa. South Island Kiwi. 
This bird, whose limits of existence are annually getting less, I met 
with on the 1st of June, 1884, west of Mount Bender, on the Alps over 
2,000 feet high, among tussocks and low silver pine scrub. My dog got 
on a scent and followed it up on a well-worn track ten inches wide. As 
soon as he set, I examined the place and found a very large roa sitting 
under the scrub in a burrow, with his head under his side feathers, similar 
to the habits of all the species of Apteryx. As soon as I touched him he 
struck at me with his leg, clapped with his bill, and made a grunting noise. 
Judging from his size T mistook him for a female; but to my surprise 
on skinning it I found it was a male. At first I thought it was a large species 
which the natives have often told me about (the roaroa), but by careful 
observation I have found that this alpine inhabitant only differs in size from 
his lower ally, and never leaves the Alps in the severest winter. I have 
found them under snowed-over silver pine scrub, or in burrows between and 
under stones. Their tracks when come across are easily recognized, even 
without a dog. When the snow had disappeared I noticed them, especially 
from one lagoon to another. It is astonishing what a number of tracks one 
pair of these birds make. They also make their tracks in the bush, along- 
side of which I have often found places where they scratch with their feet 
and dig holes with their bills in the ground, also in rotten wood for insects, 
larve, and worms, etc. These holes are about 6 inches in depth, by 14-2 — woe z 
inches wide at the top. The movements ofthe bird when not disturbed are very : 
slow, the head bent down, and the tip of the bill regularly touching n = 
When they get disturbed they stand nearly —€— listen for a moment, | 
