Beischek.— On. 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. Bock Wren. 



This harmless little bird which inhabits the higher regions on the South- 

 ern Alps is very tame, hopping about among debris grown over with alpine 

 vegetation. I have found them plentiful on top of Mount Alexander, near 

 Lake Brunner, in 1877, also on Mount Alcidus, Bakaia Forks, on the station 

 of Mr. Neave, hi 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. Boa. 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 I 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 witb their bills in the ground, also in rotten wood for insects, 

 larvae, and worms, etc. These holes are about 6 inches in depth, by 1^-2 

 inches wide at the top. The movements of the bird when not disturbed are very 

 slow, the head bent down, and the tip of the bill regularly touching the ground. 

 When they get disturbed they stand nearly upright, listen for a moment, 



