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said, without any very great difficulty ; after which they were tui-ned loose 

 amongst the fowls in a jDOultry-yard. They were found dead shortly after- 

 wards, it is alleged, from exposure to the keen frosty night air, being 

 deprived of the acciistomed protection afforded by the thickly-growing sedgy 

 vegetation of their swampy habitat. They had beear observed standing motionless 

 on a bare stem or stalk, from which they overlooked the water. 



From the description given of our bird, it will be observed how much it differs 

 in the general coloration of its plumage from its antipodean representative 

 {Botaurus minutus), which has the top of the head, shoulders, primaries, and tail 

 bluish black, whilst the rest of its plumage is buff, except the front part of the 

 neck and chin, which are whitish, as is also the vent ; the size must be about the 

 same, as we have noted measiirements of specimens which are less than those 

 of our Bittern, as well as some which exceed them ; both have the middle 

 claw toothed on the inside ; irides of B. minuttis are said to be yellow ; the 

 fact that the feathers on the tibiae are said to reach the tarsal joints, points out 

 pretty clearly that the New Zealand wader is the more aquatic of the two species. 



Having been entrusted by Dr. Hector with a copy of the photograph and 

 the description of Mr. Purdie's bird (which he proposes to name provisionally, 

 Ardeola Rovce Zelandice) for comparison with the Little Bitterns preserved in 

 the ornithological collection in the Canterbuiy Museum, after careful 

 exainination I am unable to discover any material difference between them 

 and the specimen from Otago. In Mr. Purdie's descripticfii, the under parts 

 and thighs are described as brown with greyish white margins, and the 

 photograph exhibits the hind claw rather more produced, but there can be no 

 doubt, I think, that these birds are of identically the same S2:)ecies. Mr. Purdie 

 notes the legs and bill of his bird as yellowish green, eyes rufous brown. 



October, 1870. — The Canterbtiry Museum received two fine specimens 

 from Westland, lighter in colour, without the rich deep chestnut markings on 

 the side of the ueck, etc., which are conspicuous on the birds obtained in 

 1868 ; this may be the distinction of the sexes ; no information on that point 

 accompanied the skins ; or it may be the difference of plumage between the 

 seasons of spring and autumn. 



Any information respecting the habits of the Little Bittern would be 

 exceedingly interesting ; judging from the natural features of the localities 

 whence the Westland specimens were procured, it would appear to live on the 

 sedgy margins of deep swampy pools or creeks. 



Mr. Docherty, who preserved the skins now in the Christchurch Museum, 

 furnished the following Notes, descriptive of where they were obtained : — 

 " They are to be found on the salt-water lagoons on the sea shore, always 

 hugging the timbered side of the same ; I have seen them in two positions, 

 viz., standing on the bank of the lagoon, with their heads bent forward, 

 studiously watching the water ; at other times I have seen them standing 



