BuLLER. — Ornitliolo(pj of New Zealand. 227 



encamped at the edge of an extensive forest. * * * * It was 

 towards midniglit, and thougli fast asleep, Ave Avere all awakened by this 

 remarkably loud call ! " 



If the accounts of the natives may be relied o]i, the members of this 

 family possess, in common with the MecjapodidcB of the Australian con- 

 tinent, a very extraordinary habit of nidification — that of depositiiig their 

 eggs in a mound of earth and leaves, and then leaving them to be hatched 

 under heat produced by fermentation of the decayiug vegetable matter. 

 The natives agree further in the statement that in each of these vegetable 

 mounds only one egg is deposited. 



The egg of Apteryx mantelli is considerably larger than that of a goose, 

 and is of a creamy Avhite colour. The recent discovery of a neaidy perfect 

 moa's egg in an old Maori sepulchre in the South Island, has enabled us to 

 complete the following comparative statement of measurements : — 



Greatest Length. Greatest Breadth. 



Egg of Moa 9 1 inches 7 inches. 



„ Ostrich 6 „ 5 „ 



„ Emu 5tV „ 3xV „ 



Apteryx 5 „ 3 „ 



„ Megapodius 3i „ 2i „ 



Eam. CHAEADRiADiE. — The birds of this family are Avidely dispersed over 

 the globe. Of the seven species inhabiting New Zealand, tAvo are common 

 to Australia — Gliaradrius hicincta and Scematopus longirostris — while another, 

 C. xantlioclieilus, extends its range to Norfolk Island. In the new genus 

 Thinornis, our beautiful T. novce-zealandice is represented in the Auckland 

 Islands by a closely allied one, Tliinornis rossii. The others, all of which 

 appear to be exclusively restricted to New Zealand, are C. obscicrus, C. 

 frontalis and Scematopus unicolor. 



Earn. AEDEiDiB.- — The stately white crane {Ardea flavirostris) takes a 

 prominent place in this section. NeAV Zealand is its restricted habitat, and 

 its range is limited to the southern districts of the South Island. Occasion- 

 ally a straggler finds its way to the North Island, but this occurs only at 

 distant intervals, and " rare as the kotuku" is a favourite Maori j)roverb. 



A small slate-coloured heron {Ardea matooJc) inhabits our coasts, and the 

 celebrated night heron of Australia (Nycticora caledonicus) is recorded as a 

 straggler, a specimen having been killed some years ago in the neighbourhood 

 of "Wellington. 



Almost every region of the globe is tenanted by one or more species of 

 bittern. The one inhabiting New Zealand (Botaurus poiciJopterus) possesses 

 all the characteristics of the genus, and in its general appearance is not 

 unlike the common bittern of Europe. 



