EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS. 



hypothesis, but sees, hears, and thinks for himself. .... 

 Happily for Science, the author for twelve years has held 

 an official position in New Zealand which has enabled him 

 to visit every part of the country, while his frequent inter- 

 course with the natives has greatly assisted him in ac- 

 quiring the information required for making such a work 



complete It contains a vast amount of the 



soundest natural-history teaching, and seems to combine 



in an eminent degree the new with the true 



The illustrations in the first number, the only one yet 

 published, are excellently drawn by Mr. Keulemans, who 

 always aims at the representation of living birds rather 

 than the conventional attitudes of birdstuffer's specimens. 

 They are well coloured by hand, and thus the work is 

 rendered as ornamental as useful. We cordially recom- 

 mend the ' History of the Birds of New Zealand ' to the 

 readers of the ' Zoologist,' and we sincerely wish it every 

 success." — Zoologist. 



" The accounts which naturalists from time to time have 

 given to the world of the birds inhabiting New Zealand 

 have been hitherto but fragmentary and incomplete ; and 

 although forty years have elapsed since the first of such 

 publications made its appearance, the available sources of 

 information on this subject are still so few in number, that 

 they may be enumerated almost in a breath. The late 

 Mr. George Gray might deservedly be regarded as the 

 pioneer of New-Zealand ornithologists ; for, although never 

 an actual explorer of the country himself, his official posi- 

 tion gave him unusual facilities for studying its avifauna 

 by means of the numerous collections which from time to 

 time passed through his hands, and not a few of these 

 antipodean species were originally described by him 



" When Mr. Gould, in 1868, published his ' Handbook to 

 the Birds of Australia,' he gave, by way of appendix to his 

 second volume, an account of various New-Zealand species 

 which were scarcely known to English readers, save in 

 name ; and in point of date this would seem to have been 

 the latest publication on the subject in this country until a 

 few months since, when Part I. of Mr. Buller's splendid 

 work made its appearance. But, although so little, com- 

 paratively, has of late been published here, naturalists in 

 New Zealand have been actively engaged for some years 

 past in working out the natural history of their adopted 

 country ; and the transactions of two of their scientific 

 societies contain many excellent contributions on ornitho- 

 logy from such able naturalists as Dr. Haast, Dr. Hector, 

 Mr. Potts, and the author of the work now before us. Nor 

 have our friends in Germany been behindhand in their zeal 

 to become acquainted with an avifauna perhaps the most 

 remarkable in the world 



" We recognise in Mr. Buller's publication, however, the 

 first attempt which has been made to give anything like a 

 complete history of the birds of New Zealand ; and it would 



not be easy to overrate the importance which attaches to 



such an undertaking 



" Those who had an opportunity of seeing the Huia, 

 which lived for some time in the Parrot-house in the 

 Zoological Gardens, could scarcely have noticed it without 

 wishing to learn something of its haunts and habits ; and to 

 them Mr. Buller's account of it will prove most entertajn- 

 ing. In the following extract we seem to get a peep of 

 the country which it inhabits, as we search for and find 



this very curious bird Such sketches as these 



go far to enliven a comprehensive work on birds, which, in 

 other respects, is strictly scientific. As regards the illus- 

 trations Mr. Buller has been most fortunate ; for, under his 

 direction, his artist, Mr. Keulemans, has produced some of 

 the most life-like and beautiful pictures of birds which we 

 have seen. We understand the work is to be completed in 

 five Parts, two of which have already appeared, and a third 

 is in active preparation. It will assuredly become the 

 text-book for all students of New-Zealand ornithology.'' — 

 The Field. 



" Dr. Buller has just produced Part IV. of his great 

 work on the ornithology of New Zealand ; and we may now 

 fairly say that the high anticipations we had formed as to 

 the author's capabilities have been fully realised. In the 

 book before us we find the two great requirements of 

 science combined — namely, a thorough appreciation of the 

 necessary details which are expected of a scientific work 

 in the present day, and the ability to write in appropriate 

 and entertaining language the life-histories of the birds 

 of which the author has to treat. So rarely are these two 

 qualities found combined in a scientific writer, that the 

 greatest credit is due to the learned author for the ad- 

 mirable manner in which he has performed his task. 



" The ornithology of New Zealand is especially in- 

 teresting, from the fact that the indigenous species are 

 being gradually extinguished ; and we read with regret 

 that even within the memory of the author certain birds, 

 which were formerly common, have almost ceased to exist. 



" The work contains elaborate scientific diagnoses of 

 the various birds, and a classification of the different 

 names by which they have been known to different 

 writers. 



" The coloured plates are really exquisite examples of 

 the lithographer's skill. In every respect the work is a 

 most valuable addition to the scientific student's library, 

 as well as to that of the more general reader, and seems 

 to contain the fullest information on every point connected 

 with this interesting study." — Land and Water. 



"Although several more or less complete treatises on 

 and lists of the Birds of New Zealand have been published, 

 they were rather of a tentative and preliminary character ; 

 and the work before us is the first which gives a full 



