GENERAL ZOOLOGY. 



11 



Writing on 



„ ...,..f^ ^^ this subject, Mr. E. S. Hill remarks, " There appears to bo a 

 predisposition in animals to go wild on this island ;— domestic pigeons have 

 forsaken the dove-cot, and have taken up positions in the mountain cliffs, 

 and have proved the correctness of Darwin's theory, for what were originally 

 pied and mottled are now blue, with bar shoulder, with rare exceptions. The 

 island at one time abounded with large wild pigeons— so much so, that 

 within the past twenty-five years it was no unusual thing for a man to snare, 

 by aid of a stick and string, fifteen or twenty birds of a flock without the 

 others taking the least alarm."* 



It appears strange, considering the excellent cover some of the Hats 

 afford, that no rasorial birds, such as the quail, exist. It is, however, due, 

 perhaps, to the distance of Lord Howe from the mainland being too great 

 for the 'performance of their periodical migrations. The^ fowl is another 

 instance of a domestic creature wliicli has become wild. Some years ago a 

 number took to the bush and have bred and thriven there. The present 

 breed of domestic fowl kept on the island is the Bramah and its crosses. 

 The birds in question, however, are quite distinct from this, and there does 

 not aiipear to be anv attempt at inter-breeding. They have not s])read, as 

 they seem to frequent the hill-sides near the lioldmg from winch thoy origi- 

 nally escaped. 



The Plovers are represented by the G-olden Plover, Gharadnus ccantho- 

 cleilus, Gould, a handsome bird, associated in small flocks, and also 

 accompanying one of the curlews, Numeniusuropygialis. We met with these 

 birds along the shores of the Lagoon and other reaches on the east side, 

 especially where the beach assumed a less sandy character than usual. 



Several birds recorded by Dr. Eamsay, but not met with by us, take their 

 place here, such as the Bittern, Ardetta minuta, Linn., and the Nankeen 

 Crane, Nyoticorax caledonicus. Lath. The AVhite-fronted Heron, Ardea 

 novcB-ioUandicc; was seen by Mr. Thorpe on the rocks to the north of 

 Middle Beach. Two genera of Curlew are plentiful— Znnosa; uropygiahs, 

 Gould, and Numenius tirojn/f/ialis— and are to be seen in any of the little 

 bays where a sandy shore predominates. The Hooded Dottrcll, Iliaiimla 

 monacha, was also seen by Mr. Thorpe. 



Sand-pipers did not come under our observation, but Eamsay records 

 Cinclus interpres, Linn., and a species of CEgialitis. 



Eails are not indigenous to the island, but Rallus pecforahs, Gould 

 (called Ilypotmidia australis, Pelzeln, in Dr. Eamsay's last list), is said to 

 have been introduced, but we were not fortunate enough even to see it. The 

 Eed Bill, Porphyria melanotus, as far as we could ascertain, is an indigenous 

 bird, at least it is believed to be so by those Islanders to whom we mentioned 

 the 'matter. To our great annoyance we did not see a trace of it, its 

 occurrence being a fact we much wished to put beyond doubt, in connection 

 with its relation to the extinct Notornis alba, White, sp. The very remark- 

 able bird, known under this name, and probably quite extinct, is without 

 exception, the most noteworthy of the forms comprising the fauna of Lord 

 Howe Island. Although specimens are not preserved, so far as I know^, in 

 any of the Australian Museums, there is now no doubt that the Fulica alha, 

 White, as it was formerly called, existed in large numbers both on Lord 

 Howe 'and Norfolk Islands, As Fidica alba it was described by Whitef 

 without locality, and ostensibly from New South Wales, but it is more than 

 probable that his specimen found its way from Norfolk Island m the earliest 

 days of convict settlement there. Mr. E. S. Hill, in the pamphlet previously 



* Hill's Lord tlowt Island, foe. cM., p. 46. 



t Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales, 1790, p. 238. 



