

Ill 



with a specimen of the bird for illustration, were received by the Editors in this country and 

 were in their hands before Mr. Eothschild's communication was made to the 'B.O.C." 



In a 'Note on the Stephen-Island Wren,' by the Hon. Walter Eothschild, which appeared 

 in ' Novitates Zoologicae ' (vol. ii., p. 81), the writer says : — 



"When I described this very interesting bird ('Bull. B.O.C.,' December 29th, 1894), 

 although I had nine specimens before me, nothing was known of its habits. It has since 

 been redescribed by Sir Walter Buller in the 'Ibis' (April, 1895), under the, name of 

 Xenicus insularis, but the author gives us no further particulars, except that the three 

 specimens were brought in by the cat." 



I feel that, in justice to myself, I cannot allow this statement to pass unchallenged. 

 Now, if the facts had been what this somewhat disingenuous note implies, I should have 

 accepted the position in silence and allowed my name for the species to rank as a synonym. 

 It was "redescribed," certainly, but by whom? I have in my possession a letter from one 

 of the Editors, Dr. Sclater (dated April 7th, 1896), in which he informs me that he told 

 Mr. Eothschild I had already described the bird, and tried to dissuade him from doing what 

 he considered an unfair thing. 



Any technical construction of the rules of nomenclature notwithstanding, I think I am 

 justified, under the circumstances, in adhering to the specific name originally bestowed by 

 me, leaving ornithologists, with a knowledge of the facts, to adopt it or not as they may 

 think fit. 



In my opinion, however, Mr. Eothschild was quite justified in making it the type of a 

 new genus ; and I gladly adopt the name because it serves to connect Mr. Henry Travers 

 with this interesting discovery. I have already associated his name, specifically, with one 

 of his Chatham Island discoveries {Miro tr aver si). 



In the 'Note' referred to above, Mr. Eothschild continues: "I have had a letter from 

 Mr. Travers, who tells me that all the eleven specimens (ten in my museum and one from 

 which Sir Walter Buller made his description) were brought in by the cat. The bird itself 

 has only been seen on two occasions alive, when disturbed from holes in the rocks, and was 

 not obtained. It is nocturnal, runs like a mouse and very fast, and did not Hy at all." 



I think that Mr. Eothschild is under a misapprehension in supposing that he possesses all 

 the known specimens except that described by me in the ' Ibis.' Besides a pair in my son's 

 collection, I purchased a specimen from Mr. Henry Travers for Canon Tristram ; and the 

 former gentleman has since offered to sell me two more. 



Eeferring to this new species, an article presumably from the pen of a well-known 

 New Zealand scientist appeared in the Canterbury Press, under the head of ' Found and 

 Exterminated,' from which I take the following extract : — 



At a recent meeting of the Ornithologists' Club in London, the Hon. W. Eothschild, the well- 

 known collector, described this veritable vara avis, specimens of which he had obtained from Mr. Henry 

 Travers, of Wellington, who, we understand, got them from the lighthouse-keeper at Stephen Island, who 

 in his turn is reported to have been indebted to his cat for this remarkable ornithological " find." As to how 

 many specimens Mr. Travers, the lighthouse-keeper, and the cat managed to secure between them we 

 have no information, but there is very good reason to believe that the bird is no longer to be found on 

 the island, and as it is not known to exist anywhere else, it has apparently become quite extinct. This 

 is probably a record performance in the way of extermination. The English scientific world will hear 

 almost simultaneously of the bird's discovery and of its disappearance before anything is known of its 

 life-history or its habits. It was only a little creature, about four inches in length, allied to the little 

 Kock Wren, which lives in the mountains, and is occasionally found dead on our glaciers. It was not a 

 flightless bird, but from its structure was evidently very weak-winged, and thus fell an easy prey to the 



