135 



they were to be found, and one of these localities was not more than two miles from 

 Mason's house, but the other was far inland. In the Porewa, north of Hunterville, they 

 were to be found at that time, and I believe some still remain. They were formerly so 

 plentiful in the Turakina and Mangamahu Valley that I think it is likely a few might still 

 be found there." 



The last tidings I had of this expiring species in the Wellington District was 

 contained in a letter from a friend on the Survey Staff (dated December, 1892), as follows : 

 u There is a pair now frequenting the survey camp at Pongarua, in the Puketoi Eange. 

 They are constantly about, whistling in a sweet fashion, and, to my ear, mimicking the 

 Tui and other birds." 



Order PASSERIFORMES.] 



[Family TURDIML 



T U U N A G II A CB-ASSIROS T E I S 



(SOUTH-ISLAND THRUSH.) 



Turnagra crassirostris (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. L, p. 31. 



This is a fast expiring species. One of its last places of refuge was Stephen Island, in 

 Cook's Strait, where it was once so plentiful that a dozen might be caught in the course of 

 a day by means of a noose at the end of a long stick. But the introduction of the domestic 

 cat by the lighthouse keepers sealed the doom of this charming bird, and it is now seldom 

 or never seen on the island. On my last visit to the Buller Oorge I saw one hopping 

 about on the ground under shelter of the roadside vegetation, and foraging for worms and 

 grubs, just as we see the English Thrush on our lawns in this country. It requires no 

 prophetic vision to foresee the absolute extinction of this form in the near future. It will 

 become a bird of the past, as its congener, Turnagra tanagra, already is in the North 

 Island. 



A caged specimen brought to me by Mr. Capper presents the abnormal feature of 

 the whole of the middle portion of the tail being yellow, with a brown streak down the 

 shaft of each feather. 



I shot a specimen at the head of Dusky Sound. So far as I could see, the habits of 

 this species differ in no respect from those of the North Island bird. 



In the Colonial Museum there is a nest marked as being of this species, from Milford 

 Sound. I cannot say whether this nest is correctly identified ; but it is exactly like that 

 of the Tui, being composed of slender twigs intermixed with kohukohu moss, and carefully 

 lined inside with grass bents. It is quite circular, measuring about 7 in. in outside 

 diameter at the top, and the cavity or cup is about 5 in. across. 



In the Nelson Museum there is a nest of this species (from Stephen Island) 

 measuring 7 in. by 5 in., and formed entirely of slender rootlets arranged in a circular forrm 



