﻿206 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Art. XXXIY. — Notes on the Habits of Some of the Birds of New Zealand. 

 By W. T, L. Travees, F.L.S. 



l^Read before the WelUngton Philosophical Society, 30th September, 1871.] 



The following notes on the habits of some of ovir commoner birds (including 

 a few which ai-e only to be found at considerable altitudes), and chiefly com- 

 piled from observations made during periodical visits to my cattle station at 

 Lake Guyon, in the Nelson province, may not be uninteresting to those who 

 are engaged in investigating the ornithology of this country. Lake Guyon, 

 as I have on other occasions mentioned, occupies a depression in a mountain 

 ridge lying between the valleys of the Waiau-ua, and of its tributary the 

 Stanlej^, and has been formed by the deposit of a large moraine at the end of 

 the depression furthest from the valley of the Waiau, which dams in the waters 

 flowing through this depression. These waters, which formerly ran into the 

 Stanley, now flow out of the lake over a rocky barrier on the Waiau side, con- 

 siderably lower than the moraine at the other end. Although situated at an 

 altituide of 3,000 feet above sea level, this lake is never frozen over, and, even 

 during the severest winters, its waters preserve a remarkable degree of warmth. 

 It abounds in fish of the genus Galaxias, whilst the weeds growing below its 

 banks swarm with Physa variabilis and the larvae of Dragon flies, and in the 

 sandy nooks formed by the wash of the waves are found considerable numbers 

 of a small Cyclas. This abundance of life, and the warmth of the water, 

 attract a great variety of aquatic birds at all seasons of the year, amongst 

 which the principal are the Gasarca variegata or Paradise Duck, the Anas 

 ■superciliosa or Grey Duck, the Hymenolaimus malacorhynchus or Blue Duck 

 (the Whio of the natives), the Fuligula Novae Zelandioe or Black Teal, the 

 Podiceps cristatus or Crested Grebe, the Podiceps rufipectus or Lesser Grebe, 

 two species of Cormorant, Graculus carbo and Graculus brevirostris, and the 

 Lotus tiiela.norhynchus or Black-billed Gull. On the northern side of the lake 

 patches of level land occur, formed by the deposition of the detritus broiight 

 down by its feeders, and covered with Fagus forest. In this forest a number 

 of our ordinary land birds are found, including the Nestor meridionalis or 

 Kaka, the Ocydrovius Australis or Weka, the Platycercus auriceps or Yellow- 

 headed Parroquet, the Prosthemadera Novae Zelandioe or Tui, the Anthornis 

 ^nelamira or Mako-mako, the Petroica albifrons or Robin, the Athene Novae 

 Zelandioe or More-pork, and the rarer Glaucopis cinerea or Kokako, commonly 

 called the New Zealand Crow. Amongst the rocky glens in the vicinity of 

 the lake, the Falco Novae Zelandioe or Sparrow-hawk of the settlers is not 

 uncommon, whilst on the shingle-beds of the larger rivers the HoBmatopus 



