44 



examples of this beautiful variety from the same locality as the one noticed above. The natives assured him 

 that they always pair together, nesting in the crevices of the rocks. 



Var. ?. 



I am indebted to Dr. Haast for a specimen showing a very decided tendency to albinism, although still 

 exhibiting the bright scarlet facings which adorn the others. In this bird the crown is greyish white, with pale 

 yellow margins ; the nape dull crimson, with yellowish tips, forming a broad nuchal collar ; ear-coverts bright 

 orpiment-orange stained with red ; feathers overlapping the lower mandible, and those covering the throat, 

 pale vinous-red ; fore neck and upper part of breast smoky grey, washed with red, and each feather tipped with 

 dull yellow ; back and upper surface of wings smoky yellow tinged with gamboge ; lining of wings and axillary 

 plumes bright scarlet- red; quills dark yellowish grey, obscurely toothed, and washed at the base with pale 

 scarlet ; sides, flanks, and abdomen scarlet red tipped more or less with dusky and yellow ; tail-feathers yel- 

 lowish brown, with paler edges, washed on the under surface with scarlet, marked with dusky freckles, but not 

 toothed ; upper and lower tail-coverts bright gamboge, crossed near the tip by a band of bright red. Bill very 

 narrow and fine ; yellowish grey in colour, bluish at the tip. Tarsi and toes dark grey ; claws bluish horn- 

 colour. 



Var. r). 



A specimen obtained by Mr. Henry Travers, in the Province of Marlborough, is remarkably small, as 

 compared with ordinary examples from the same locality, and is differently coloured. 



Crown of the head hoary grey ; fringed behind the eyes and on the occiput with pale sea-green ; ear- 

 coverts golden yellow tinged with red ; mantle, scapulars, and wing-coverts dull olivaceous green, margined 

 with black ; nuchal collar dull vinous red, with lighter tips ; neck above dark olivaceous brown ; cheeks, throat, 

 front and sides of the neck dark brown, strongly tinged with red ; breast, sides, abdomen, and under tail- 

 coverts of different shades of arterial red shaded with brown ; lower part of the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, 

 and thighs dark arterial red, banded with lighter red, and tipped with black ; lining of wings and axillary 

 plumes beautiful scarlet, transversely barred with dusky black. Quills and tail-feathers olivaceous brown, with 

 paler edges, toothed on their inner webs with pale orange-red. 



Var. 0. " Kaka-kereru " of the natives. 



The following description is taken from a specimen in my collection, which was obtained in the vicinity of 

 Wellington, in 1856 : — 



Upper parts generally tinged with od-green, and each feather narrowly margined with black ; crown 

 light grey, with darker shades, varied with deep sea-green over the eyes and on the hinder part of the head ; 

 nape sea-green mixed with brown and yellow ; nuchal collar, which is nearly two inches broad, dark crimson, 

 each feather faintly margined with yellow and black. Upper wing-coverts and upper portion of the tail- 

 feathers tinged with olivaceous. The ear-coverts are orpiment-orange varying in shade; while the cheeks 

 and throat are dark vinous red, each feather having a bright centre ; feathers of the neck and breast dark 

 brown, with a margiual tinge of crimson; rump, upper and lower tail-coverts, thighs, and abdomen deep crim- 

 son, with lighter crescentic bands and narrow terminal margins of black. This bird was shot with a Hock of 

 twelve others (all bagged), and was the only one presenting this character of plumage. 



In another example, obtained at Otaki in September 1862, all the tints of the plumage are very rich, and 

 the red of the underparts extends to the breast, each feather having two bright crescentic bands of arterial red 

 and a terminal margin of dusky black; the ear-coverts are gallstone yellow, and the nuchal collar, which is 

 much extended, is of the same colour intermixed with red ; the secondaries and lesser wing-coverts are pale 

 metallic green, narrowly edged with black ; and the whole of the dark upper plumage is tinged with the same 

 colour. 



