H. and W. Travers. — Birds of the Chatham Islands. 213 



of the Birds of New Zealand " as belonging to the Chatham Islands is 47, but 

 my son has now rea?on for believing that the weka {Ocydromus australis), the 

 kakapo {Stringops hahroptilus), and the kiwi {Apteryx australis), which were 

 all inserted in the catalogue in question on the authority of a former notice of 

 the fauna of the Islands, published in the fourth volume of the Linnsean 

 Society's Journal — Botany — were erroneously assigned to them. Of the total 

 number in the catalogue which have now been ascertained to belong to the 

 Islands, my son obtained specimens of thirty-eight species, but was unable to 

 procure species of Ardea sacra, Ardea poiciloptera, Limosa uropygialis, Rallus 

 dieffenhachii, and Anas chlorotis, whilst the memoranda are silent as to others 

 which he did obtain, and notably as to Diomedea exulans, Thalassidroma 

 nereis, and Haladroma berardii. 



He obtained two species entirely new to science, which have been named 

 by Capt. Hutton Petroica traversii and Rallus tnodestus, whilst, besides these, 

 he has added five other species to the avi-fauna of the Chatham Islands, 

 namely, Chrysococcyx plagosus, Haladroma berardii, Graculus africanus, 

 Eudyptes pachyrhynchus, and Eudyptula minor, of which the three former 

 were not even previously known to the avi-fauna of New Zealand. 



I need hardly say that the Chatham Islands are situated about 450 miles to 

 the eastward of New Zealand, in lat. 42^ South, and consist of one large island 

 called Chatham Island, seventy miles long, and which is almost in the shape 

 of an isosceles triangle, the north-western side, about thirty miles in length, 

 forming the base, — of Pitt Island, which is about ten miles in circumference, 

 and of several small rocky islets, of which the principal are named Mangare 

 and South-east Island. The surface of the main land is undulating, and 

 generally covered with grass, whilst all round it is a fringe of bush, more or 

 less broad, containing a considerable number of small trees. Upon this island 

 there are several lagoons, the largest of which is twenty miles in length, by 

 from three to eight in breadth, the waters of which are separated from 

 the sea by a sand beach from half-a-mile to a mile wide. The surface of 

 Pitt Island is completely covered with bush of the same class as that on the 

 main island. South-east Island contains the highest land in the group. 

 Mangare is very small, and the surface stony, but nearly covered with low 

 rigid scrub. Owing to the constant swell from the south-eastward it is 

 extremely difficult to land on these smaller islets, as the sea rises and falls 

 many feet with each wave, rendering it dangerous for boats to approach too 

 closely ; indeed, it is only by patiently watching an opportunity that a landing 

 can be effected, and re-embarkation is equally difficult and dangerous, whilst 

 the treacherous nature of the weather increases both the danger and the 

 difficulty. It will be seen, in the course of these notes, that my son succeeded 

 in obtaining a considerable number of birds from these smaller islands, where 



