79 





cheek-feathers are vivid wine-red, and the ear-coverts are bright orpiment-orange. The 

 nuchal collar of red is continued all round the lower neck, the upper breast-feathers having 

 arterial red and orange borders ; on the feathers immediately below, the red disappears and the 

 orange is more spread ; the transverse belly-band, which is of a brilliant canary-yellow, is 2*5 in. 

 wide; the lower abdominal feathers, with the flanks and under tail-coverts, are, like the rump and 

 upper tail-coverts, banded with bright arterial red. On the crown and hind-head the grey 

 is shaded with dusky, and the feathers have a greenish tinge ; many of the small wing-coverts 

 have brilliant tips of arterial red and yellow ; the toothed markings on the under-surface of the 

 quills are very conspicuous and of a pale-red colour ; the tail-feathers are flushed underneath with 

 red for two-thirds of their length, then they are dark-brown with a terminal band of obscure-red, 

 beyond which the black shafts are produced in extremely fine points. The plumage of the upper- 

 surface is greyish-brown, tinged with green, and with broad black margins to the feathers. The 

 colours are distinct and pronounced, and, this being the fourth example since Gould's Nestor 

 esslingii was described, one is tempted to recognise a distinct species, the yellow sides on the lower 

 mandible showing an approach to Nestor notabilis It gave the following measure- 

 ments : Extreme length, 21 in. ; wing from flexure, 12 in. ; tail (to end of produced shafts), 8 in. ; 

 bill, along the ridge, 2*25 in. ; along the edge of lower mandible, 1*50 in. ; tarsus, 1*25 in. ; longer 

 fore-toe and claw, 2'75 in. ; longer hind-toe and claw, 2'25 in." 



Hearing that the sixth specimen of this interesting species had been procured at Collingwood, 

 I instructed my agent to buy it, but he reported that the young man who had shot the bird had 

 presented it to his sister, who could not be induced to part with it. I remembered Canon 

 Tristram's story in the ' Ibis ' of how, under somewhat similar circumstances, he had made use of 

 a showy Paris hat with excellent effect, and I attempted a similar exchange, but without success. 

 However, in the end, the Fates favoured us ; for there was a death in the young lady's family, 

 and the exigencies of the case appealing to my agent, he induced the owner to accept a mourning- 

 dress in lieu of the bird, illustrating the old saying that " 'Tis an ilk wind that brings no one any 

 good." This is the specimen I have figured, and it is now in my son's collection. 



Later on, I had again to refer to this bird, which I did in the following terms : "It will 

 be remembered that at a former meeting I exhibited a specimen of the Yellow-belted Kaka named 

 by De Souance Nestor esslingii, in honour of the Prince d'Essling. I have now to exhibit another 

 example of this peculiarly-coloured form, from the same locality. Seeing that no less than six 

 have been obtained at different times, it may seem unreasonable not to accord the bird full 

 recognition as a distinct species. But the tendency to albinism in some of the claws in the 

 beautiful specimen now exhibited makes me still suspicious, and, for the present at any rate, 

 it will, I think, be safer to rank it as a well-marked variety. I may mention, however, that 

 in this bird the bill seems finer than in ordinary examples of Nestor meridionalis, coming nearer 

 in this respect, as well as in the yellow colour of the under-mandible, to the very distinct Nestor 

 notabilis. " 



Mr. James Dall, of Collingwood, through whom I obtained several of the above specimens, 

 writes : "I am sure the form is permanent, as I remember having them many years ago." 



As stated in my account of the genus, it is not unusual to meet with more or less 

 perfect lutinoes (proposed at one time to be distinguished as Nestor superbus). The last 

 specimen of this variety added to my son's collection (from the Nelson provincial district) 

 is so lovely an object that I have given a figure of the bird on the same plate as its near 

 congener, Nestor esslingi. 



The following is a description of this gorgeous bird, which my son was fortunate enough 

 to obtain from Mr. Henry Travers for the moderate price of ten guineas. I mention this 

 circumstance because there is an impression that Mr. Travers charges extravagant prices for 



I 



