554 SUBANTARCTlC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. [Aves. 



Prosthemadera, Gray,'* 1840. 



Prosthemadera novae-zealandiae, Gmelin. (Tui, parson-bird.) 



Merops novae-zealandiae, Gmelin, Syst. Nat., ed. xiii, i, 1788, p. 799. 



Tuis are really common at the Auckland Islands, and much more confiding 

 than on the mainland ; as they fly within a iew yards of 'one's head their wings make 

 a distinctly harsh noise. Many times I watched individuals feeding, after the manner 

 of a fly -catcher. The bird would choose the dead limb of tree, make a short erratic 

 flight, catch an insect, and return to the same branch time after time. 



Hob. — New Zealand, Chatham and Auckland Islands. 



Anthornis, Gray, 1840. 



Anthornis melanurus, Sparrman. (Bell-bird.) 



Certhia melanura, Sparrman, Mus. Carls., 1786, pi. v. 



Considering how rare this bird is becoming on the mainland, it is most pleasurable 

 to find it really common at the Auckland Islands. Its tameness there is equal to 

 that of the other birds unmolested by man and other enemies. Its wings make a 

 harsh sound as it flits from bush to bush, and at the time of our visit it was feeding 

 largely on the flowers of Dracophyllum, then in bloom. The birds also searched 

 the bark of trees for insects, ascending much after the manner of a creeper, but 

 they pick ofl; the insects with the sticky tongue. 



The ordinary note is a single toll, as on a high-pitched sweet-toned gong. The 

 bird also makes a series of sounds like the whirr of a miniature watchman's rattle. 

 Another common call is : — 



I can give the intervals^'jOnly, not. the pitch. 

 Hah. — New Zealand and Auckland Islands. 



Order P S I T T A C I. 



Fam. PSITTACIDAE. 



Cyanorhamphus, Bonaparte, 1854. 



Cyanorhamphus unicolor, Vigors. (Antipodes Island parrakeet.) 

 Platycercus unicolor, Vigors, P.Z.S., 1831, p. 24. 



In February, 1907, during a visit to the southern islands, I met this bird in 

 company with C. erythrotis. Both species were found on the belt of Coprosma scrub, 

 walking over the dense mat-like summits. They are careless of the presence of 

 man, and examples were caught by means of a noose at the end of a stick. All the 

 island parrakeets breed in holes excavated in the thick matted bases of the tussocks. 



Hab. — Antipodes Island. 



