391 



Fam. TURDID^E. 



3. Turn agra hectori,* sp. no v. 



Upper surface olivaceous -brown ; tail and coverts bright rufous, with an olivaceous 

 tinge on the two middle rectrices ; throat pure white ; breast and abdomen ashy -grey, 

 darkest on the former ; abdomen and under tail-coverts tinged with yellow ; sides oliva- 

 ceous-brown, washed with yellow. Bill and feet dark brown ; irides yellow. 



Length 1 1 in. ; wing from flexure 5 '25 ; tail 5 ; tarsus 1 '25 ; middle toe and claw 

 1*25 ; hind toe and claw 1 ; bill, along the ridge '875, along the edge of lower mandible, 1. 



I have honoured this line species with the name of my esteemed friend Dr. James 

 Hector, F.R.S., Director of Geological Surveys, who has done much to advance the 

 cause of science in New Zealand. 



It differs from T. crassirostris, not only in plumage, but in its superior size and more 

 strongly-developed bill. Its notes also are far more varied and musical. Its range is 

 confined to the North, while T. crassirostris is found only in the South Island. They are 

 in fact the representatives of each other in the two islands, and furnish another example 

 of a remarkable law in the local distribution of the birds of New Zealand, many of those 

 inhabiting one island being represented by closely-allied forms in the other, each, how- 

 ever, being specifically distinct. Cook's Straits, a neck of sea only eighteen miles in 

 width, completely divides the range of one set of species from that of the other. 



Fam. PSITTACTDJE. 



4. Platycercus alpinus, sp. nov. 



This Alpine form differs from its near ally, Platycercus auriceps, both in size and in 

 the tints of its plumage. Our three species of Platycercus present a distinct gradation in 

 size and colouring. In P. pacificus the frontal spot, ear-coverts, and thigh-spots are deep 

 crimson, whde the general plumage is dark green. In the smaller species, P. auriceps, 

 the frontal band is crimson, and the vertex golden, while the general plumage is a warm 

 yellowish-green. In P. alpinus, which is smaller again than the last-named species, the 

 frontal band is orange, and the vertex pale yellow, while there is an absence of the yellow 

 element in the plumage, which is of a cold pure green, much paler on the under parts. 

 The thigh-spots moreover are much smaller than in P. auriceps, and are orpiment-orange 

 instead of crimson. On comparhig the bills of the two species the difference is very 

 manifest, that of P. alpinus being fully one-third less than that of P. auriceps. 



Length S'5 in. ; wing from flexure 4 "25 ; tail 4 - 5 ; tarsus "625 ; longest fore toe and 

 claw "875 : bill, following curvature - o, along edge of lower mandible "25. 



Dr. Haast, from whom I received several specimens of this bird, met with it in the 

 forests of the Southern Alps, at an elevation of from 2000 to 2500 feet ; and Mr. Travers 

 sent me for examination other examples obtained by him hi the high wooded country of 

 the Nelson Province. 



5. Nestor occidentalis, sp. nov. 



Upper surface dark olivaceous-brown, tinged with yellow on the wing-coverts, each 

 feather margined with dusky black ; feathers of the nape dull red, margined 

 with yellow and black, and forming a narrow nuchal collar ; uropygium, tail- 

 coverts, and abdomen dark arterial-red, the feathers of the latter banded with a 

 brighter tint ; ear-coverts pale orpiment-orange ; feathers projecting over the lower 

 mandible tinged with red ; throat, neck, and breast dark olivaceous-brown ; lining of 

 wings and axillary plumes bright scarlet, obscurely barred with black, and tipped with 

 golden-yellow ; quills and tail-feathers russet-brown, the former toothed with yellow on 

 their inner vane ; bill and feet dark olivaceous-gray. 



Length 16 5 in.; wing from flexure 10 5 ; tail 6; tarsus 1; longest fore toe 

 2 25; longest hind toe 2 - 125 ; bill, following curvature 2 25, along edge of lower man- 

 dible 1-5. 



Apart from the difference of plumage, this species is appreciably smaller than the 

 common one, while the bill is more slender and has the upper mandible produced to a 

 finer point. 



Dr. Hector discovered this bird in the densely wooded country on the west coast of 

 the South Island, and he generously gave me the only two specimens which his collection 

 contained. These differ very slightly in the details of their colouring, and there is 

 scarcely any perceptible difference in their size. 



Fam. SCOLOPACID^E. 



6. Gallinago pusilla, sp. nov. 



Upper surface dark rufous-brown, variegated with irregular spots of fulvous and 

 black. These markings are most conspicuous on the back and scapulars, the feathers on 



* [May not this species be identical with that described in 1865, by Professor Sehlegel (Nederl. Tijdschr. 

 voor de Dierk. iii. p. 190) under the name of Otagon tanagra? — Ed. " Ibis."] 



