64 



in the very act of making night hideous, so that all doubt has been removed as 

 to the bird from which this startling cry proceeds ; this night-call was referred 

 to in "Notes on the Birds of New Zealand," Trans., Vol. ii., pp. 45, 46. 



In 1854, at Rockwood, in the Malvern Hills, we first became acquainted 

 with the Wekau ; it had been captured in a drain or ditch, and lived in a 

 half-tamed state for some time, beneath the house, till unfortunately destroyed 

 by a visitor's dog. At the present time a very fine owl may be seen at the 

 Christchurch Acclimatization Gardens, where it has lived in confinement about 

 two yeai'S ; we believe it was obtained from the Cass River. 



In its customary position, when at rest, the great length of the tarsi are 

 concealed by the plumage of the breast, the head feathers are so raised as to 

 increase the apparent size of the head, this lessens very much the hawk-like 

 appearance which the prominent beak usually gives to preserved skins of this 

 bird ; the large brown eyes are very striking, but so sensitive that the owl 

 apparently sufiers great discomfort when forced into daylight ; the irides then 

 become scarcely discernable ; the tarsi densely feathered, on examination 

 appear remarkable for their depth no less than their length, the skin feeling- 

 loose or free to the touch ; in cMed skins this of course could not be observed ; 

 much of the peculiar character of the nostrils also is lost in preserved skins ; 

 the toes dull flesh colour, sparsely covered with hairs ; the claws white, much 

 curved, and sharp. The entire plumage is of warmer shades of brown than 

 most of the specimens which we have seen, but has no claim to a white face ; 

 the outer edge of the facial disk, where it coshers the aiiditory conch, is whitish 

 grizzle ; the nostrils appear raised or swollen. The Curator of the Gardens 

 states that he has heard the cry uttered but rarely, it was of a most dismal 

 character ; it is fed on mice, i-ats, and birds ; it refuses to eat any kind of 

 meat that may be thrown to it ; its sight is thought to be affected. 



Some yeai-s since, we saw a fine bird which had been caught on the pre- 

 ceding night by a bushman, on the Upper Rangitata Flat ; the intelligent 

 captor signalized his good fortune by chopping off" the head of his victim with 

 the ever-ready axe. The look of satisfied tri;imph, as the bird was pointed at, 

 we never saw equalled, except perhaps on one occasion, when a friend, fresh 

 from town, entered the house with the mangled remains of a tame kaka, which 

 he had blown almost to pieces in a kowhai tree, from whence poor Bess had 

 unfortunately studied the stranger's face too closely. A Wekau entered a 

 shepherd's whare at the foot of Mount Hutt, and remained for several days, 

 perching in the roof; on one occasion it seized a mouse which a cat had just 

 brought in. Another visitor of this species remained in a station on the 

 Rangitata for some weeks. Last year, a fine light-coloured specimen was 

 obtained at the Point Station, Malvern Hills ; when killed it was perched on 

 the rail fence, not many yards distant from the house. Of the examples 

 in the Canterbury Museum, one was prociired from the Kakahu Bush, near 



