167 



Mr. Henry Mair enabled me to establish the identity of the species. In the Wellington Province 

 it is very generally dispersed, frequenting alike the woods and the open country. In the deep 

 gullies of the Rimutaka ranges, on the marshy banks of the Manawatu river, in the low kahikatea 

 swamps, and among the dry sand-dunes bordering on the sea, I have at all times found it tolerably 

 abundant. But every year the struggle for existence is becoming harder, its numbers are dimi- 

 nishing, and ere long it must take its place among the species that were. 



The Woodhen is furnished with ample wings, but they are so feebly developed as to render 

 the bird quite incapable of flight. The quill-feathers have broad webs, but are soft and flexible, 

 while the long inner secondaries take the form of a loose overlapping mantle. The legs, on the 

 other hand, are very strongly developed, and the bird is, in some measure, compensated for its 

 disability of wing by being able to run almost with the swiftness of a rat. Its anterior extremities, 

 although useless for the ordinary purposes of flight, appear to be of some assistance to the bird 

 when running, as they are briskly fluttered, apparently for the purpose of steadying the body. 

 Like most other Rails, its wings are armed below the carpal joint with a sharp spur, the object 

 of which, unless as a means of defence, it is not easy to divine. Even in very young birds it is 

 strong and sharp, and at maturity attains a length of "25 of an inch. I have observed that when 

 two of these birds are fighting they often buffet each other with their wings ; and I have frequently 

 myself been made aware of the existence of this spur on seizing the bird with the hand. As, 

 however, in the case of the smaller Rails the spur is too diminutive to be at all effective as a 

 weapon of defence, it may serve some other useful end in the economy of the bird, which has 

 hitherto escaped discovery. 



On the osteology of this highly aberrant form of Rail I propose to give some further par- 

 ticulars in the Introduction to the present work, and will only notice here a curious fact already 

 pointed out by Professor Newton, in a communication to the Zoological Society*, namely that 

 the New-Zealand Ocydromus and the Dodo of the Mauritius are the only two known forms 

 (excepting, of course, the Struthiones) in which the angle formed by the axes of the coracoid and 

 scapula is greater than a right angle — a feature of such importance that Professor Huxley has 

 since adopted it as one of the distinguishing characters in his proposed scheme for the classifi- 

 cation of birds, under the two divisions of Carinatce and Ratitce. 



The Woodhen is seminocturnal in its habits, and during the day usually remains concealed 

 in the thick fern or scrub which covers its haunts, or takes refuge in a hollow log or other 

 natural cavity. Sometimes, however, it excavates a home for itself underground, the work being 

 performed entirely with the bill and with great rapidity, as I have frequently had an opportunity 

 of observing. These subterranean burrows are often of considerable length, and not only serve as 

 a diurnal retreat, but furnish also a convenient breeding-place. 



As will appear further on, the Woodhen inhabiting the South Island is a totally distinct 

 species, although closely resembling the present one both in form and habits of life. Now it is a 

 curious fact that while the southern species is remarkably bold and fearless (so tame, indeed, as 

 to visit the farmer's yard, and sometimes even to enter the house), the northern bird is naturally 

 shy and recluse — a development of character which Dr. Hector attributes to its " greater experi- 

 ence of the treachery of man," the North Island having always possessed a large Maori population. 



* Proc. Zool. Soc. 1865, p. 732. 



z2 



