68 



natural proportion to that of the male, and is apt to give a false idea of its relative size and 

 thickness. 



In the generality of specimens, and in the published drawings that have hitherto appeared, 

 the bill is of a yellowish horn-colour ; but this, instead of being natural, is caused by the de- 

 composition of the animal matter inside. I have succeeded in retaining the ivory whiteness of 

 the bill, in preserved specimens, by treating them after the manner recommended by Waterton 

 for preserving the bill of the the American Toucan (see ' Wanderings,' p. 103) — that is to say, by 

 removing with a sharp scaljiel the whole of the inner substance, leaving nothing but the outer 

 shell, which then retains its original appearance. The process is a tedious one ; but the result 

 amply repays the trouble. 



Figures 1 & 2 (plate iv.*) represent the heads of the male and female which I had in my 

 possession alive, and will give an accurate idea of the sexual character treated of above. Fig. 3 

 represents a more highly curved form of the bill than is usually met with, and was taken from the 

 dried head of a Huia given to me, many years ago, by a native who had been wearing it as an 

 ear-ornament. 



Since the above was written a live female Huia has been added to the collection of the 

 Zoological Society. I am informed by Mr. A. D. Bartlett, the Superintendent of the Gardens, 

 that this bird (although without a mate of its own species) is perfectly happy and contented in 

 its new home, the cage containing it being placed between those of a Toucan on one side and a 

 Hombill on the other. It is supplied with a mixed food, in which boiled eggs, fresh meat, 

 and earthworms form the principal ingredients ; but its diet requires careful regulation, to pre- 

 vent scouring, to which the bird is very liable. 



Our Plate represents the two sexes, the figure of the male being taken from my Ruahine 

 specimen mentioned above, and that of the female from one obtained in the Wairarapa valley, 

 both of which are now in the Colonial Museum. 



* Trans. New-Zealand Institute, vol. iii. 1870. 



