BuLLEB. — On New Zealand Ornitliology. 55 



shaped nest of Gerygone, and leave tlie care of their youug entirely to the 

 little foster-parent. Eamsay reports an egg of Glirysococcyx lucidus taken 

 from the nest of Antlwrnis ; but his information was .received third-hand 

 at Wellington, and from inquiries I have since made on the spot I am 

 inclined to doubt the authenticity of the discovery. We are informed, 

 however, in Bennett's "Wanderings of a ISTaturalist," (p. 207), that a fan- 

 tailed flycatcher (Bhipidiira alhiscapci) was shot at E.yde, near Sydney, in the 

 act of feeding a solitary young bird in its nest, which, when examined,, was 

 found to be the chick of the bronze cuckoo of the colonists, and that both 

 the specimens are preserved in the Australian Museum. 



18. The extent of range to be accorded to Ardea flavirostris will mani- 

 festly depend on the acceptance or rejection of Herr Finsch's views as to its 

 specific identity wdth Ardea intermedia, Wagl., and Herodias plumifera, 

 Grould, {egrettoides, Bonap.). I am disposed to adopt that view, although the 

 examples I have examined present some diversity. 



Ardea novce-Tiollandice, Latham, of which I have obtained several 

 specimens in the Worth Island, is a fresh addition to this section of our 

 ornithology. 



19. A remarkably small species of bittern, " standing only 7 inches 

 high," has recently been discovered on the west coast of the South Island, 

 and two specimens (male, and female) have been received at the Canterbury 

 Museum ; but I have not yet had an opportunity of examining this bird. 

 It is probably the diminutive bittern referred to by EUman in the notes on 

 New Zealand birds, which appeared in the " Zoologist " of 1861. 



20. In the section Scolopacidce, a new bird from the Chatham Islands, 

 Gallinago pusilla, BuUer, has recently been added (vide " Ibis,' ' 1869) . Siman- 

 topus leiococephalus, Grould, may also be added to the list. Several examples 

 which have fallen under my notice are clearly referable to that species. 



The mark of doubt may now be removed from Beciorvirostra richricolUs, as 

 there can be no question about the specific identity of the two birds. 



21. With reference to the remarks on Notornis, it is sufiicient to observe 

 that Herr Einsch has been entirely misled by the report of Mr. D. Mackay, 

 who, in writing of the Strigops liatroptilus, misnamed it Notornis mantelli. 

 The only two known examples of Notornis, both of which were obtained 

 by Mr. Walter Mantell many years ago, are now deposited in the British 

 Museum. I am far, however, from considering the species extinct, having 

 recently obtained reliable information of its present existence in certain 

 remote districts of the South Island. 



22. There can be no doubt whatever as to the specific distinctness of 

 Ocydromus earli, and O. australis, the former of v^rhich inhabits the JYorth 

 Island, whilst the latter is confined to the South. I agree, however, with 



