97 



October 14.^ — Since the above paper was written, an opportunity has been 

 sought of visiting a favourite habitat of the Anarhynchus, as an examination 

 of the head of the bird was desirable. 



The mandibles are connected by a membrane, fringed with a tough black 

 border, forming itself, when the beak is closed, into a slightly projecting fold 

 at the gape ; the upper mandible (or roof of the mouth) is armed with a treble 

 row of very fine spines, set like the teeth of a saw, pointing to the base of the 

 mandible ; the tongue, when at rest, lies well within the lower mandible, it is 

 partly sulcate in form, tapers to a very fine point, is much shorter than the 

 beak, leaving a vacant space of six lines from its extremity to the end of the 

 lower mandible ; the base is furnished on either side with a few spines (three 

 or four), planted in the same dwection as those in the roof of the upper 

 mandible ; the thick portion of the tongue is indented with four or five very 

 slight longitudinal furrows, terminating in the channel into which the tongue 

 now resolves itself till it ends at the very acute point ; this sulcate form is 

 attained by the edges being raised. 



From this peculiar form of tongue, it may be observed that no hindrance 

 is presented by that organ to the sucking up of water ; the spines would 

 prevent the escape of the most slippery or minute prey, which could be crushed 

 by the closing of the beak and the pressure of the tongue against the upper 

 mandible, the water finding ready egress. 



The tongue of C. hicinctus is altogether different in form. 



No. 74. — Ardea sacha, Gml. 

 Matuku. 

 Blue Crane. 



With us in the South, this bird is of rare occurrence ; occasionally it may 

 be observed on the flats at the head of one of the bays ; as yet, we only look 

 upon it as a visitor. When we have noticed it on the wing it has been flying 

 low, just skirting the shore, with deliberate, almost heavy, flight. Last year, 

 an egg was received at the Canterbury Museum which had been taken from a 

 nest in Hawke's Bay. In colour it is greenish white, ovoiconical, measiiring 

 1 inch 10|- lines in length, with a breadth of 1 inch 4 lines. 



ISTo. B. 75. — Ardetta pusilla, Gould, (Botaurus minutus, Haast.) 

 Kaoriki. 

 Little Bittern. 



Some of the scientific institutions have lately been favoured by Mr. Purdie, 

 the Curator of the Otago Museum, with photographs and descriptions of an 

 exceedingly rare and interesting species of bird belonging to the Grallatorial 

 division, and which may be taken as the Australian representative of the Little 

 Bittern of Europe. The rare occui-rence of this bii'd, of Avhich only three other 



o 



