Obdeb PASSEEES.] [Fam. CORVID^E. 



GLAUCOPIS CINEEEA. 



(ORANGE-WATTLED CROW.) 



Cinereous Wattle-bird, Lath. Gen. Syn. i. p. 364, pi. xiv. (1781). 



Glaucopis cinerea, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 363 (1788). 



Cryptorhina cattceas, Wagl. Syst. Av. Cryptorhina, sp. 5 (1827, ex Forster, MSS.). 



Callceas cinerea, Forster, Descr. Anim. p. 74 (1844). 



Native name. — Kokako. 



Ad. similis G. wilsoni, vix saturatior, paullo minor : carunculis aurantiacis ad basin tantum cyaneis distin- 

 guendus. 



Adult. Similar in plumage to G. wilsoni, but with less of the brown tinge on the lower parts, and the tail- 

 feathers blackish towards the tips. It is readily distinguished, however, by the colour of the wattles, 

 which are of a rich orange, changing sometimes to vermilion, and blue at the base. Irides blackish 

 brown; bill and feet black. Total length 16 inches; wing, from flexure, 6"25; tail 7; bill, along the 

 ridge l - 25, along the edge of loAver mandible 1; tarsus 2 - 5 ; middle toe and claw 2 - 15 ; hind toe and 

 claw 1"5. 



Partial albino. There is an interesting specimen in the Colonial Museum, which was obtained by Mr. Henry 

 Travers at the foot of Mount Franklin, in the Spencer ranges, in January 1869. The general plumage 

 as in ordinary specimens ; hind head, sides and fore part of neck, and the whole of the back largely 

 marked with pure white : one or two of the quills in each wing are either wholly or partially white, 

 and there are a few scattered white feathers on the sides, abdomen, and thighs. 



This species is the South-Island representative of Glaucopis ivilsoni, to which it bears a general 

 resemblance, except in the colour of its wattles and its rather smaller size. Like the North- 

 Island species also, its distribution is very irregular : thus, in Otago, Dr. Hector found it very 

 plentiful on Mount Cargill and in a strip of bush near Catlin River, but never in the intervening 

 woods ; while, in the Nelson Province, as I am informed by Mr. Travers, its range is exclusively 

 restricted to certain well-defined localities, although the berries on which it is accustomed to feed 

 abound everywhere. It is said to be very abundant on some of the wooded ranges of Westland, 

 and Dr. Haast has obtained numerous specimens from the Oxford ranges hi the Province of 

 Canterbury. 



The habits of this bird differ in no essential respect from those of the preceding species. 

 Mr. Buchanan, of the Geological Survey, has mentioned to me a very curious circumstance 

 frequently observed by himself at Otago : he has seen these birds travelling through the bush on 



