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better acquainted with the species, that the bird is carunculated at one season of the year 

 and not at another, for all the specimens brought by Mr. Travers (killed in May) are without 

 caruncles on the face. They include adult birds of both sexes, but presenting very different 

 phases of plumage. In three of them there is a slight coronal crest, the feathers being 

 acuminate, and produced beyond the ordinary plumage of the head. In some the alar bar 

 is very conspicuous, occupying the whole of the median wing-coverts, in others it is broken 

 and irregular ; in one of the birds it is wholly absent, whilst in another the only indications 

 of it are a few scattered white feathers among the dark wing-coverts. Of the whole series 

 only one presents the white dorsal spot. The white throat-stripe is very uncertain in 

 character : in some of the specimens it widens gradually from the chin to the breast, whilst 

 in one of them it is narrow and of even width in its whole extent ; in some it is con- 

 stricted in the middle ; and in one of them the dark plumage of the sides of the neck 

 almost meets above the breast, the white stripe being interrupted and broken. Out of the 

 whole lot only one gives the wing-measurement of my type — namely, 10'5 inches. In all 

 the others the wing, from the flexure, measures 11 inches. It will be seen, therefore, that, 

 even in this respect, the species is variable. The fact is that this Shag, like many others, 

 varies with age and season, and the only thing to be done, so far as I can see, is to make 

 the characters of Phalacrocorax colensoi somewhat wider. 



In a specimen which I have since had an opportunity of examining, the dark plumage 

 actually meets about the fore-neck, there being only a few minute white feathers along the 

 line of junction. There is a single lengthened coronal feather, evidently the vestige of a 

 crest that had recently been shed. There is a broad alar bar of white, but no dorsal spot. 

 This bird, which represents old and faded, or out-of-season, plumage, was obtained by Mr. 

 Henry Travers on a former visit to the Auckland Islands, about the year 1890. 



A year later I had an opportunity of examining two more specimens (male and female). 

 The male bird of these is without a crest, but has a broad irregular white dorsal patch, 

 and the white alar bar long, narrow, and distinct. The female is also crestless, and exhibits 

 only an indication of a dorsal spot in a few white feathers. The alar bar is very irregular, 

 being represented in the left wing by only a few scattered white feathers. In both birds 

 the white streak on the fore-neck commences within the angle formed by the crura of the 

 lower mandible, and increases rapidly in width downwards towards the breast. These 

 specimens, therefore, go to confirm the conclusions to which I had arrived from an exami- 

 nation of the collection made by Mr. Henry Travers. 



With regard, however, to another species of Shag, Mr. Forbes has, I think, been more 

 fortunate. He is probably right in considering Phalacrocorax imperialis, with which I had 

 united the Chatham Island Shag, as being confined to the Straits of Magellan, from whence 

 the type came. I am perfectly sure that the Chatham Island bird is distinct from Phala- 

 crocorax cariincidatus of New Zealand, and if it cannot properly be united with P. imperialis 

 it requires a distinctive name; and in providing this Mr. Forbes could not, in my opinion, 

 have made a better selection than he did in dedicating this handsome species to our former 

 Governor. Lord Onslow not only took an active interest in our native birds and their 

 preservation, but he was the first to send to Europe living specimens of Phalacrocorax 

 carunculatus, one of which survived for many years in the Zoological Society's Gardens at 

 Eegent's Park. 



Mr. Henry Travers, who collected, at several times, a large series of skins of this 

 species, assures me that he never found a crested example. This may have been due to 

 the particular season in which he visited the Auckland Islands. 



Mr. Youil states that he took careful note of the soft parts. Irides bright red; naked 



