318 Transactions. — Zoology. 



gorge of the Awamoko Eiver perched high up on a ledge on the face of a 

 rocky precipice, where in the early days they never would he found. 



Most of the birds I have referred to are shy and wild, and it is possible 

 may have been driven back from the settled districts into the wilder and 

 more uninhabited parts, though I do not think so. But the weka, or wood- 

 hen (Ocydromus australis), is a bold bird, and is extremely tame, delighting 

 to haunt the envkons of a camp and pick up refuse of all sorts about human 

 habitations. It is rare indeed now to see its dignified stride or the odd 

 sedate meditative nod of its head near a settler's dwelling, even in the 

 country ; whereas, even in Dunedin and its neighbourhood in the early 

 days, no sooner did the evening shadows begin to close in than the peaceful 

 calm which always set in after the habitual blow of a New Zealand day 

 was sure to be broken by the peculiar call of the weka from every ferny 

 brake and bushy dell. The lonely traveller then, camping out at the side 

 of a bush, after having lit his fire and put on his billy, could always 

 count on securing his supper by imitating their " cluck, clucking " cry, and 

 without the bother of fire-arms, knocking them over by means of a stick 

 with a red rag on the end of it. But, alas ! fire and dogs have done 

 their work all too effectually, and it looks very like as if the weka will soon 

 be a bird of the past. Mr. Murison says;— "Wood-hens, I am told by a 

 friend, are at present very plentiful in South Canterbury, where he says 

 they will prove for some time a serious drawback to the successful 

 acclimatization of the pheasant and partridge." He further says : — 

 " The pukeko or swamp-turkey was unknown in the interior twenty 

 years ago, and to the best of my belief was not then seen beyond ten miles 

 inland. About 1862 it made its appearance among the swamps of the 

 Maniototo Plains, and since then it has spread rapidly throughout the 

 adjoining districts," 



The rapidity with which certain introduced species of bhds have spread 

 over the country and increased in countless numbers is something mar- 

 veUous. The wax-eye (ZosUrops lateralis) was quite unknown for many 

 years after the first settlers came, and now it swarms wherever there is a 

 tree or a bush, in numbers only exceeded by the sparrow in the home 

 country. It is believed to be of Australian origin ; but the home birds 

 introduced by the Acchmatization Society have also increased in a most 

 wonderful ratio. It is only necessary for one to mention the starhng 

 ( Sturnus vulijaris) in the open country, and the chaffinch (Fringilla ccelehs) 

 in the neighbourhood of bush, to convince you of this. 



As to mammals. Captain Cook, in his Second Voyage, states (p. 380) : — 

 " For three or four days after we arrived in PickersgUl Harbour, and as we 

 were clearing the woods to set up our tents, etc., a four-footed animal ivas 



