BuLLER. — Further Notes on the Ornitholoyij of New Zealand. 207 



Casaeca variegata, Gray. — Paradise Duck. 



This fine cluck is seldom met with north of Petane. A flock of five 

 visited Eotomahana Lake in March, 1866, and a pair was seen in Lake 

 Taupo in October, 1873. I have already recorded"' the appearance of five 

 some ^^ears ago in the Kaipara district, at the far north. These are the 

 only instances that have come within my knowledge of the occurrence of 

 this species beyond its ordinary range. 



Stekcorarius antarcticus, Gray. — Southern Skua. 



In my " Birds of New Zealand," page 267, I mentioned the only local 

 s]3ecimen then known — a female bird obtained by Dr. Hector in AVoodhen 

 Cove, on the south side of Breaksea Sound, and deposited in the Otago 

 Museum. Other specimens have since been collected in the South Island, 

 and I have now in my possession a living example taken some months ago 

 at Waikanae, some forty miles from Wellington. 



Larus dominicanus, Licht. — Black-backed Gull. 



Simpkins, a pubhcan at Whakataue, obtained a female of this species, 

 when quite young, from White Island, a distance of some thirty-five miles. 

 It became perfectly tame, answering to the name of "Hinemoa," and 

 coming into the house at meal-times to be fed. When about two years old 

 it suddenly disappeared, and after a lapse of six months it returned with 

 two young ones, which have since become quite domesticated. By last 

 advices both old bird and young were still inhabitants of the yard, and 

 evinced no desire to leave it. 



ProcellajRia parkinsoni, Gray. — Black Petrel. 



This petrel is said to breed in large numbers on the Island of Karewa, 

 in the Bay of Plenty. In March the Maoris visit the island and collect 

 the young of this and other species. The most plentiful, however, is the 

 oii or mutton-bird (Puffimis tristis). 



Phalacrocorax brevirostris, Gould. — White-throated Shag. 



In the Lake district there are "shaggeries" of considerable magnitude 

 which are much valued by the natives, each colony of nests having its own 

 proprietor, who exercises all the rights of ownership, visiting the ground at 

 the breeding season for the purpose of collecting the young birds, which are 

 potted in the usual manner and are considered a great dainty. Captain 

 Mair accompanied one of the shag parties to the Tauranga Eiver, at Lake 

 Taupo, and saw 400 young birds collected in the course of a single day. 

 Both the white-throated and the small black shag breed together in these 

 localities, although ajpparently never pairing. Captain Mair still adheres 



* " Birds of New Zealand," p. 242, 



