192 Transactions. — Zoology. 



make up my mind to put it to death, I let it go ; it swam, dived, and 

 disappeared. From its not possessing a frontal shield on the forehead 

 (which is one of the principal generic marks of the Linn, genus Fulica) it 

 may possibly hereafter be considered as a type of a new genus, serving to 

 connect the genera Fulica and Rallns. Not a doubt, however, in my opinion 

 can exist, as to its being naturally allied in habit and affinity to the Fulica ; 

 I have therefore named it Fulica novcB-zealandice. In size it was somewhat 

 less than our European species, i^. arua." 



The bird so well described by Mr. Colenso is evidently quite distinct 

 from Fulica australis, the only species of coot known to inhabit Australia, 

 and as it has never, so far as I am aware, been heard of since this capture, 

 more than thirty years ago, we may fauiy conclude that it is one of the 

 ornithic forms that have become extinct within the memory of man. 



Nestok meridionalis. Gray. — Kaka Parrot. 



This bird is very abundant in the Urewera country, and during the 

 short season the rata is in bloom the whole Maori population, old and 

 young, are out kaka-hunting. An expert bird-catcher will sometimes bag 

 as many as 300 in the course of a day ; and at Euatahuna and Manga- 

 pohatu alone it is said that from 10,000 to 12,000 of these birds are killed 

 during a good rata season, which occurs about every three years. 



There are several modes adopted for catching the kaka, but the com- 

 monest and most successful is by means of a trained mokai or tame decoy, 

 the wild birds being attracted to artificial perches, skilfully arranged 

 around the concealed trapper, who has simply to pull a string and the 

 screaming kaka is secured by the leg, as many as three or four being often 

 taken at the same moment. At the close of each day the dead birds are 

 buried, and when a sufficient number have been collected they are unearthed, 

 stripped of their feathers, fried in their own fat, and potted in calabashes 

 for winter use, or for presents to neighbouring tribes. The perches used 

 for kaka-trapping are often elaborately carved and illuminated with imua 

 shell. 



EuDYNAMYs TAiTENSis, Gray. — Long-tailed Cuckoo. 



During its sojourn with us this species is generally met with singly or 

 in pans, but Captain Mair gives the following interesting particulars of a 

 summer flight: — "Passing down the Hurukareao river, in the Urewera 

 country, during the intensely hot weather of February, 1872, I was 

 astonished at the number of koheperoa that coursed about overhead. 

 During the three days that we were making the passage, I saw some 

 hundreds of them, swarming about in the air like large dragon-flies, as 

 many as twenty or thirty of them being sometimes associated together. 

 The loud clamour of their notes became at length quite oppressive. There 



