600 SUBANTAECTIC ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND. [Introduced Animals. 



RABBITS. 



These rodents have been freely introduced into the Auckland Group, and are 

 said to be common on some of the islets at the present day. They bred so rapidly 

 on a small detached area that they were in danger of extermination owing to lack of 

 food ; some of them were therefore removed to Rose Island, where they still exist. 



Rabbits also live on Enderby Island, and traces of them were seen by members 

 of our expedition. 



RATS. 



Captain BoUons informs me that rats are very numerous around the homestead 

 on Campbell Island, and he thinks, judging from their size, that they are brown 

 rats {Mus decumanus). Mr. G. R. Marriner tells me that he met with " grey rats " 

 at North-west Bay. It is quite possible that these are black rats {Mus rattus), which 

 I have elsewhere* described as living in the Australian bush, while the brown rat is 

 seldom found far from the habitations of man. 



HOUSE-MOUSE. 



It is not surprising that the mouse is acclimatised on Campbell Island, seeing 

 that it is properly inhabited, four shepherds living thereon the year through. 



At the present day the Auckland Islands are visited normally but twice a year, 

 and the chance of introducing mice is not great. Years ago, however, when whalers 

 and sealers visited the islands, and doubtless lived thereon for considerable periods, 

 the house-mouse was introduced, and has spread considerably. Traces were seen 

 at the various depots established for the benefit of marooned sailors, while at the 

 hut near our main camp kerosene-tins left by former visitors, and containing a little 

 fat at the bottom, yielded numbers of remains. Returning from the bush on one 

 occasion, Mr. F. R. Field told me that he had seen a piebald mouse run under a log, 

 and he piloted me to the scene. We dug under the log for a considerable space, 

 and at length secured a young mouse ; it was, however, of normal coloration. An 

 adult example was secured on Masked Island. 



I am told by Captain Bollons that mice are very numerous at the Government 

 depots on Campbell and Antipodes Islands, 



DOMESTIC POULTRY, 



Whether owing to unsuitable conditions or inability to exist when removed 

 from the fostering care of man, the fact remains that the fowls and ducks placed on 

 the Auckland Islands, and the game and guinea fowls similarly turned loose on 

 Campbell Island, have failed to estahlish themselves ; while the domestic poultry 

 under the care of the shepherds at Campbell Island, where they are properly fed and 

 housed, thrive equally well with the farmyard birds of less rigorous climes. 



* Waite, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1897, p. 857. 



