Wellington Philosophical Society. 511 



that to reach our country they perform a pilgrimage on the wing of upwards 

 of a thousand miles !" 



4. " Additional Notes on New Zealand Ichthyology," by James Hector, 

 M.D., E.R.S. {Transactions, p. 239.) 



5. " Further Notes on New Zealand Whales," by Dr. Hector. {Trans- 

 actions, p. 251.) 



6. Dr. Buller said that he was glad to avail himself of this opportunity of 

 placing before the society a letter which he had just received from Professor 

 Newton, on the subject of Rallus modestus, of the Chatham Islands, and its 

 claim to be considered a good species. It would, no doubt, be in the recol- 

 lection of those present who took special interest in ornithology, that Captain 

 Hutton some time ago recorded a new species of Rail from the Chatham 

 Islands, as forming part of the novelties collected by Mr. Henry Travers. 

 One of the specimens obtained was forwarded to England, and on examination 

 he (Dr. Buller) pronounced it to be the young of a rare species already known 

 to science {Eallus dieffenhachii), of which only one adult specimen exists in the 

 British Museum. In this view he was confirmed by the concurrent opinions 

 of several leading ornithologists to whom the birds were submitted. Captain 

 Hutton, however, having obtained fresh evidence on the subject from 

 Mr. Henry Travers, maintained the validity of his new species, and forwarded 

 sjDecimens of the skin and skeleton to Professor Newton, of Cambridge, whose 

 judgment on any critical point in ornithology all parties would be inclined to 

 accept as final. The result of this reference was favourable to Captain Hutton, 

 and he (Dr. Buller) was only too glad to welcome Rallus modestus into the 

 ranks of true and accepted species. The extract from Professor Newton's 

 letter, which he was about to read, illustrated the importance of securing, 

 whenever it was possible, the skeleton, or at any rate the sternum, of any bird 

 supposed to be new or unknown ; for, in the present instance, it would have 

 been quite impossible without this aid to determine satisfactorily the point at 

 issue between himself and Captain Hutton. Professor Newton writes, under 

 date 13th December, 1874: — 



" As to Rallus modestus, I wrote some time ago to Hutton, telling him that 

 I had placed the specimens in Murie's hands, and that he has been very care- 

 fully working them out. The result was to have been in the next number of 

 * The Ibis,' but I hear from Salvin (who is now domiciled here as ' Strickland 

 Curator') that it is doubtful whether he can get it in, especially as Murie has 

 been much delayed by illness and other work from completing it. However, 

 the long and short of it is that Rallus modestus is a perfectly good species, and 

 belongs to the Ocydromine group of Rallidce, as Hutton suggested, but with 

 some hesitation, a year or more ago. The existence of so small a form of 

 Ocydromus is a very interesting fact." 



