no BIRDS 



I cannot find that these birds estabhshed themselves anywhere as 

 a wild species till much later, though it is quite possible that the 

 natives got them from whaling vessels in later years. In 1814, when 

 Marsden came to the Bay of Islands, fowls were brought over from 

 Sydney, and from that date onwards the natives acquired birds and 

 carried them throughout the country. Numbers became wild in 

 the bush. Mr Thos. Hallett informs me that 30 or 40 years ago 

 common fowls, the progeny of birds escaped from the Maoris, were 

 found in many inland parts of the North Island, from Hawke's Bay 

 to Lake Taupo. No doubt they were equally common in other parts, 

 but in recent years these wild fowls have been exterminated. 



Mr Jas. Hay says: "there were in the early days many wild 

 fowls in the bush in Pigeon Bay, but whether or not descended from 

 Captain Cook's stock I cannot say." It is much more likely that they 

 were introduced either by whalers or by the early settlers at Akaroa and 

 Lyttelton, as they were not recorded from other parts of Canterbury. 



In 1840, during the Ross Expedition, some poultry were landed 

 on the Auckland Islands. Again in 1865, Captain Norman liberated 

 some on Campbell Island. In both cases they failed to establish 

 themselves, though domesticated fowls thrive on the latter island at 

 the present time. 



Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) 



The Auckland Society received one from Mr R. Claude in 1867, 

 and imported four more in 1868. 



In 1 871 several were imported by the Canterbury Society, but 

 there is no record as to what they did with them. 



The Wellington Society obtained three in 1891 from England. 



The Otago Society received a pair in 1906, which they kept in 

 their Opoho grounds, Dunedin. In 1907 they had 12 birds; in 

 1908 only five; in 1909 15 and in 1910 30. In the following year 

 they had 35, and then their stock diminished till in 1913 they had 

 only some half-a-dozen, but whether from death or by distribution 

 is not stated. In 1912 a number of hybrids between golden and 

 diamond pheasants were reared, but whether these crosses were fertile 

 or not I cannot find out. 



I do not think these birds were liberated at any time ; they have, 

 apparently, only been kept as aviary specimens. 



Diamond Pheasant (probably Lady Amherst's Pheasant) 

 (Chrysolophus amherstiee) 



The Otago Society had two of these birds at Opoho in 1907, but 

 there is no record as to where they came from. They had increased 



