53 



the natural history of New Zealand." The characters which distinguish it 

 from Shaw's Ap. australis are, — " its smaller size, its darker and more rufous 

 colour, its longer tarsus which is scutellated in front, its shorter toes and 

 claws which are horn coloured, its smaller wings Avhich have much stronger 

 and thicker qnills ; and also in having long straggling hairs on the face." 



Mr. Bartlett stated further, that the Apteryx belonging to Dr. Mantell 

 was collected by his son, in Dusky Bay, whence the original bird, figured and 

 described by Dr. Shaw, was also obtained, and that so far as he had been able 

 to ascertain, all the known specimens of Aj). Mantelli were from the North 

 Island. 



In a ''' Report on the present state of our Knowledge of the Species of 

 Apteryx," by Drs. Sclater and Hochstetter, read at a meeting of the British 

 Association, in September, 1861, and published for genei*al information in the 

 New Zealand Gazette, in May, 1862, the following observation occurs 

 respecting Ap. australis : — " In fact, the species is so closely allied to the Ap. 

 Mantelli as to render it very desirable that further examples of it should be 

 obtained, and a rigid examination instituted between the two. For the 

 present, however, we must regard this form of Apteryx as belonging to the 

 southern portion of the Middle Island." 



Mr. Gould, in the Appendix to his Hand-booh to the Birds of Australia 

 (p. 568), retains the original name for this species, but remarks : — " If Mr. 

 Bartlett's \"iew be correct, it is probable that the bird figured by me is the one 

 he has named Ap. Mantelli." 



In my Essay on the Ornithology of New Zealand, 1865 [Trans. N Z. 

 Inst., Vol. i.), I stated that only two examples of A2J. australis had been 

 recorded (those noticed above), but Dr. Otto Finsch, in his review of my 

 Essay, (Journal fur Ornithologie, 1867, p. 331) observes: — " Our knowledge 

 of Ap. australis, Shaw, is not confined to the two examples referred to by Mr. 

 Buller. The Leiden Museum possesses one also, and there is a very fine 

 specimen in the Imperial collection at Vienna." 



Never having seen the four examples of A]?, australis thus mentioned as 

 existing in European collections, I cannot presume to offer any positive opinion 

 respecting them ; biit having examined a large series of specimens in New 

 Zealand, some forty in number, of all ages and collected from all parts of the 

 country, I have no hesitation in saying that (excluding, of course, the well- 

 known Apteryx Owenii) all of them are referable to one and the same species. 

 Having also carefully inspected the drawings illustrative of the specific 

 distinctions between Ap. australis and A]). Mantelli [Proc. Zool. Soc.) and 

 examined the characters on which Mr. Bartlett grounded his new species, I 

 am strongly of opinion that it will be found necessary to drop Apteryx 

 Mantelli as a species, and to refer all the examples thereof to the true Ap. 

 australis. 



