79 



procured for me by A. M. Sheppard, Esq., of Ahiruna, This bird is known to 

 the natives, both of Tarawera and Waikato, by the name of Karakahia. Like 

 all the Pochards, it frequents the lakes only, and is rarely, if ever, seen in the 

 livers and creeks. I have not yet ascertained where it breeds. The specimen 

 I got from Mr. Sheppard, I sent to W. Buller, Esq., of Whanganui, who 

 identified it with the Nyroca australis of Gould's "Birds of Australia." 



Male. — Head and neck, dark reddish-brown ; back, brown with the 

 feathers of the upper part tipped with yellowish-brown ; breast, white ; sides, 

 light-brown ; abdomen, brown ; wing feathers, white, tipped with brown ; under 

 wing-coverts, white ; speculum, white ; tail, dark-brown ; bill, black, with a 

 slate-coloured band near the tip ; irides, white ; tarsi, grey, front part very 

 light-grey ; membranes, black, bordered with light-grey on the side of 

 each toe. 



Length, 1 foot 8 inches ; bill, from gape to point, 2 inches 2 lines. Wing, 

 from carpal joint to tip 8 inches 3 lines ; tarsi, 1 inch 6 lines. 



Female. — Head, neck, and breast, reddish-brown, speckled with white on 

 the throat, and black on the breast ; upper abdomen, dirty white ; wings, same 

 as male ; but the white of the primaries is shaded with brown ; rest of 

 plumage same as male ; bill, greenish-grey, tipped with slate-blue ; lower 

 mandible, greyish- blue ; irides, light-brown. 



Length, 1 foot 7 inches ; wing, from carpal joint, 8^ inches; bill, 2 inches ; 

 tarsi, 1-| inches. The wind-pipe of the male is much swollen, but not that of 

 the female. 



^ESTRELATA GOULDII, n. S. 



Procellaria macroptera, Gould, nee A. Smith. 



This bird I first noticed in May, 1866, off Tasmania, and thought, at the 

 time, that it would be an undescribed species ; but I was never able to examine 

 a specimen until a few months ago, when one was left at the Museum of the 

 Auckland Institute, the donor's name not being known. It is very common 

 on the Tasmanian and New Zealand coasts, and is, undoubtedly, the bird that 

 Mr. Gould refers to as " the dark Petrel with a grey face," which he shot off 

 the coast of Tasmania, and which he suggests might be the Procellaria 

 macroptera, of Dr. A. Smith. According to that author, however, the bird he 

 called P. macroptera, has no grey face, but a white circle round the eye, and 

 reddish-brown legs and feet, in all of which respects it differs from the present 

 bird, as well, probably, as in its dimensions, although more specimens will have 

 to be measured before this can be determined. 



Considering, therefore, this bird to be a new species, I have named it after 

 Mr. John Gould, to whose labours we are so largely indebted for our knowledge 

 of the Petrels of the Southern Seas. 



Description. 



Upper parts with wings and tail sooty-black, some of the wing coverts 

 with brownish tips ; under parts, dark-brown ; forehead, cheeks, and chin 

 silvery-grey, shading off gradually into the black before reaching the eye. 



Tail rather long, cuneate ; wings, when folded, reaching about half-an-inch 

 beyond the tip. 



Legs and bill black. 



Length, from tip of bill to end of tail . . 16-75 inches 

 Bill, from gape to point . . . . 1*6 „ 



Wing, from carpal joint to tip . . . 13-5 ,, 



Tail 5-0 „ 



Tarsus . . . . . . . 1*6 „ 



