52 



16. Nestor notabilis, Gould. 



This fine species is not quite so scarce as Dr. Finsch supposes. In referring 

 to the two examples sent home by Mr. Mantell (the first pair received in 

 Euroj)e), he observes that they may be regarded " as the last of this extinct, 

 or very nearly extinct, species ;" but farther on he mentions, on the authority 

 of a private letter, the arrival of two specimens at the Vienna Museum. 



As this bii'd inhabits the slopes of the Southern Alps, and is driven down 

 to the plains only during very severe winters, it is not frequently met with ; 

 but explorers, like Dr. Haast, who have visited its Alpine haunts, report it 

 comparatively common. A zealous fi-iend in the back Mackenzie Country has 

 obtained, at various times, no less than eigbt live specimens for me, but in every 

 instance some accident has oc3urred to them in transitu, or they have managed 

 to escape. I am informed that another pair of live ones are now on their 

 way, and I trust that these may i-each me in safety, for it would be of the 

 highest interest to study the .habits of a species at present so imperfectly 

 known. 



A specimen obtained by Dr. Menzies in the Otago Province, and presented 

 by him to Sir George Grey, is now deposited in the Colonial Museum 

 at Wellington. 



17. Apteryx australis, Shaw. 



The first example of the Apteryx of which there is any record was 

 obtained in New Zealand, about the year 1813, by Captain Barclay, of the 

 ship " Providence," and afterwards deposited in the collection of the late Lord 

 Derby. This biixl Avas first described, under the above name, by Dr. Shaw 

 {Nat. Misc., Vol. xxiv., pis. 1057, 1058), and aftei'wards, at greater length, by 

 Mr. Yarrell, in the Traoisactio-ns of the Zoological Society (Yol. i., p. 71, pi. 10). 

 On the 10th Decembei-, 1850, a series of specimens was exhibited before the 

 Zoological Society of London, when Mr. Bartlett pointed out characters which, 

 as he contended, established the existence of two species hitherto confounded 

 tinder the specific name of Apteryx australis (Proc. Zool. Soc, 1850, p. 276). 

 Mr, Bartlett stated, at this meeting, that an Apteryx belonging to the late 

 Dr. Mantell having been placed in his hands by that gentleman, he had 

 remarked its dissimilarity to ordinary examples, and that after a careful 

 comparison with a number of other specimens he had come to the conclusion 

 that it was a new species. On comparing Dr. Mantell's bird, however, with 

 the original specimen in the Earl of Derby's collection, he found that they 

 were identical. He accordingly referred his supposed new species to Ap. 

 australis, and distinguished the more common bird as Ap. Mantelli — " A 

 humble eflfort," as he says, " to commemorate the exertions of Walter 

 Mantell, Esq., to whom we are indebted for so many valuable discoveries in 



