85 



It would appear that this species breeds twice in the year. A young bushman at Hawera 

 found, in the month of May, a nest containing eight young ones, which he took and sold for 

 10s. each, the village settlers being very partial to these docile and imitative pets. 



The confusion about Cyanorhamphus cooM, Gray, appears to have been cleared up at last. 

 The ' Ibis ' of last year (p. 156) contains the following : " Mr. North, having procured two 

 authentic specimens of the Parrakeet of Norfolk Island, admits that Count Salvadori was 

 correct in stating (' Ibis,' 1893, p. 466) that the species is quite distinct from Cyanorhamphus 

 novce-zealandice, and that C. rayneri is identical with C. cooki — the proper name for the Norfolk 

 Island bird. It would seem that the species of this genus which formerly inhabited Lord Howe's 

 Island has become extinct." So, I may add, has that which, a few years ago, inhabited 

 Macquarie Island.* 



Mr. Bethume, of the 'Hinemoa,' declares that the Macaulay Island Parrakeet is quite distinct 

 from the one inhabiting Sunday Island. He says he could readily pick a specimen out of 

 a hundred of the others. 



I have come to the conclusion that my Cyanorhamphus roivleyi cannot be maintained as 

 a species. The specimens on which it was founded were, no doubt, like Gray's Cyanorhamphus 

 aucJclandicus, abnormally small examples of C. novce-zealandice. 



Mr. Cheeseman records that he found this Parrakeet very plentiful on Macaulay Island, 

 that it was seen hopping about on the short grass, in flocks of about twenty to fifty, apparently 

 feeding on the seeds of Cnaphalium and Erigeron, and so tame that he had no difficulty in 

 moving up to them and capturing them with his hat before they attempted to fly. He states 

 that all his specimens were slightly larger than New Zealand ones, but he could not detect 

 any other difference. It is highly probable, therefore, that this was Cyanorhamphus cyanurus, 

 which differs only in having the tail of a bluish hue. 



Dr. Lorenz, in commenting on the specimens contained in the Eeischek collection, says 

 he entirely concurs with Mr. Eothschild in treating all the forms existing in the North and 

 South Islands and in the Auckland and Chatham Islands, irrespective of size, as referable 

 to Cyanorhamphus novce-zealandice ; but he goes further and says that the bird from the 

 Kermadec Islands, C. cyanurus of Eothschild, approaches so near to G. novce-zealandice that, 



-Cyanorhamphus cooki.— Count Salvadori writes in the 'Ibis' (1893, p. 466): "I am quite persuaded that 

 the type of P. cooki (like the type of C. rayneri) is a specimen from Norfolk Island, which has been wrongly labelled 

 ' New Zealand,' and that G. cooki is a perfectly distinct species, quite distinct from C. novce-zealandice. If the 

 Australian and New Zealand naturalists will take the trouble to bring together specimens of the genus Cyanorhamphus 

 from the different islands, they will find that they belong to insular forms perfectly distinct from one another." 



Referring to this, Mr. North writes (< Proc. Zool. Soc, N.S.W.,' viii., p. 520) : "I can assure him (Count Salva- 

 dori), as regards Lord Howe Island, it has been diligently searched at various times by such keen enthusiasts as 

 Mr. George Masters and Mr. J. A. Thorpe, but not a single specimen of Cyanorhamphus was ever obtained by them. At 

 the time of the visit of the Australian Museum party, Messrs. Etheridge, Whitelegge, and Thorpe, in September, 1887 

 (and who remained three weeks on the island), they were informed by the inhabitants that this Parrakeet had at one 

 time existed in large numbers, but had gradually disappeared about ten years ago. Since their stay on the Island, 

 Mr. T. R. Icely, the Visiting Magistrate, has, on behalf of the trustees of the Australian Museum, acquired from the 

 islanders many rare specimens, but not a Parrakeet amongst them." 



In another report he states that he had received two specimens of the Norfolk Island Parrakeet in spirits, procured 

 on October 3rd, 1893, and immediately on examining these specimens " found them to be quite different and specifically 

 distinct from C. novce-zealandi®, being larger and having a more robust bill ; the crimson colour on the forehead 

 and vertex more extended, and the spot on the ear-coverts but slightly indicated by obscure crimson, instead of the streak 

 across the eyes terminating on the ear coverts in deep crimson, as in C. novce-zealandimr He adds :— " G rayneri will, 

 therefore, rank as a synonym of C. cooki, which is to be regretted, for ornithologists who have only Gray's mis- 

 leading description of C. cooki will never be able to recognise in it the species of Cyanorhamphus which inhabits 

 Norfolk Island." 



