a^j 



— 



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118 



wishing thus to dedicate it to one of the most earnest pioneers of science in New Zealand. This 

 name, however, must, in obedience to the inflexible law of priority, give place to the far less 

 appropriate one of X. gilviventris, a description of the species under that title having previously 

 been published by Von Pelzeln, although it had not then reached the colony. Nevertheless I 

 am glad to be able to quote Dr. Haast's account of the bird's habits as communicated to me at 

 the time : — " It lives exclusively amongst the large taluses of debris high on the mountain-sides. 

 Instead of flying away when frightened, or when stones are thrown at it, or even when shot at, it 

 hides itself among the angular debris of which these large taluses are composed. We tried 

 several times in vain to catch one alive by surrounding it and removing these blocks. It reminded 

 me strongly of the habits and movements of the lizards which live in the same regions and in 

 similar localities." 



Dr. Hector found it frequenting the stunted vegetation growing on the mountain-sides in the 

 Otago Province ; and Mr. John Buchanan, the artist attached to the Geological Survey, met with 

 it on the Black Peak, at an elevation of 8000 feet. There, where the vegetation is reduced to a 

 height of only a few inches, it was constantly to be seen, fluttering over the loose rocks or upon 

 the ground in its assiduous search for minute insects and their larvae. 



F 



It is worthy of remark that in this species the claw of the hind toe is considerably more 



X 



■a modifi- 



cation of structure specially adapted to the peculiar habits of the bird. 



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