68 



right across the feather ; on the scapulars they are likewise present, but here they are 

 somewhat broken, and of a richer colour. The upper wing-coverts, for the most part, have 

 one transverse bar of rufous and a terminal edging of the same colour on both webs. The 

 underparts of the body are as in Sceloglaux albifacies. Bill, lemon-yellow; the rictal bristles, 

 black. Feet, dull yellow ; the tarsi closely feathered, and the toes beset with short, whitish 

 hairs ; claws, horn colour. 



In size it is intermediate between the Laughing Owl and the Morepork. Although the 

 specimen here described is a female, and, consequently, the superior sex as to size, its 

 measurements fall short of those given for ordinary-sized males of Sceloglaux albifacies. 



Ad. ? . — Length, 17'5 inches; wing, from flexure, 10*5; tail, 6; bill, along the ridge, 1, 

 along the edge of lower mandible, 1 ; tarsus, 2*25 ; middle toe and claw, 2. 



Obs. — This specimen, as already stated, was killed in the Wairarapa district, in the North 

 Island, some fourteen years after Mr. Martin shot the bird mentioned above in the Taranaki 

 district. 



On casting my mind back, I am able to remember some five-and-twenty examples of 

 the Laughing Owl that I have examined, from time to time, all obtained in the South 

 Island. The specimen described above is the only one, so far as I am aware, ever obtained 

 in the North Island. 



Mr. Morgan Carkeek, on seeing my living specimen of Sceloglaux albifacies, assured me 

 that he had seen one of these Owls before. It was many years ago, when he was surveying 

 for the Government in the neighbourhood of Porirua Harbour. On entering an abandoned 

 Maori hut in the daytime he found one " roosting " there. It was very tame, and remained 

 there several days. He brought it food from time to time, and it made no attempt to escape 

 from the hut. To the Maoris of his survey party it was quite a new bird. I have no doubt 

 now that this was the North-Island bird herein described by me as Sceloglaux rufifacies. 



There is a very dark-coloured specimen of S. albifacies in the Canterbury Museum ; 

 but it is quite unlike the bird described above. It is the largest example I have seen, and 

 has a very conspicuous white rim round the face, each of the feathers composing this outer 

 disc having a black shaft-streak. There is no rufous colouring, as in S. rufifacies, but the 

 whole of the plumage is strongly suffused with chocolate-brown. This bird died in cap- 

 tivity, having lived from eighteen to twenty years in the Gardens of the Christchurch 

 Acclimatisation Society, during which time it laid several infertile eggs. 



The Maori name for this Owl in the North Island is Hakoke. It is probably the bird 

 referred to by the Maoris as Korohengi, and described as " a large kind of Owl that hopped 

 on the ground and stood very upright," formerly inhabiting the woods of the interior. 



Possibly this is also the bird referred to by old Hopa Te Rangianini, the chief of 

 Ngatimatakore (Waikato), who says that the Korihawa was a ground bird with large eyes 

 like an Owl. He added, " There was another bird something like the Korihawa called 

 Tiutiu; and they both disappeared sixty or seventy years ago." 



Mr. J. C. McLean, of Gisborne, New Zealand, has sent me the following interesting 

 letter (under date of December 4th, 1904) : — " The ' Ibis ' (October No.) arrived last night, 

 and I note your article on a new species of Owl from the Wairarapa. 



" I believe that I have seen an Owl corresponding to the one you describe, but, having 

 no gun at the time, and never seeing the bird again (although I hunted for it on several suc- 

 cessive days), I never had the opportunity of recording its identity. This was at Waikohu, 

 Te Karaka, in July, 1889. I disturbed the bird while leading my horse through tall, heavy, 

 dense manuka, and am perfectly certain it was quite distinct from Spiloglaux novce-zealandice" 



