514 INTERACTION OF ENDEMIC 



I have only watched them in the neighbourhood of towns, where they 

 become objects of interest to passers-by, and especially to those great 

 enemies of birds — the small boys, — ^they are in such localities subjected 

 to an amount of attention and persecution which they do not receive in 

 more sequestered parts. 



I have attempted to find whether the colour changes recorded are 

 permanent, or merely transient, but have not been able to obtain 

 evidence on the subject. I think it will be found on examination 

 that very frequently abnormal colouring at one period of the bird's 

 life may disappear at succeeding moults. Mr A. Binnie tells me that 

 a dealer got a pure white goldfinch in a catch near Dunedin one day. 

 He refused los. for it. At next moult it reverted to the natural colour. 

 He also stated that another bird was nearly black, but it retained its 

 colour at successive moults. 



Writing now (1917), nearly thirty years later, I consider that the 

 inferences I drew from my own observations were wrong. I was so 

 busy looking for anomalous characters that I met with a good many, 

 and so came to the conclusion that they were on the increase, but 

 I cannot find now any more white, coloured, or white-feathered 

 birds than were to be found in 1876. There are different varieties of 

 birds in different parts, but no variation seems to be now taking place 

 more than occurred before. The race of house-sparrows common in 

 Wellington appears to be of a darker brown colour than those common 

 in Canterbury and Otago, but this would merely show that a darker 

 strain was originally imported into the Wellington district. 



Similarly my observations on rabbits do not show that there is 

 any tendency to the production and perpetuation of multi-coloured 

 varieties. I thought differently in 1891, when I wrote: 



In the neighbourhood of towns and villages, where cats and dogs, and 

 sportsmen abound, the sober greys and browns of the wild rabbit are the 

 colours commonly seen ; but in the country districts, away from all enemies 

 except professional rabbiters and phosphorised oats, neither of which are 

 likely to exert much selective action on their colour, it is as common 

 to see black, white, yellow, and piebald rabbits as the ordinary greys. 



It is clear that I did not attach much importance to the native harrier 

 as an agency for keeping down the rabbit pest, nor do I now. The 

 subject could almost be treated numerically, for skins are exported 

 by the million every year, but I have been unable to obtain exact 

 figures. However, rabbit-skin dealers and exporters tell me that 

 black, white, buff, yellow and piebald skins do not tend to increase at 

 all in numbers. One large exporter informed me that greys amount to 

 about 97 per cent, of all the skins which come into the market. 

 Mr B. C. Aston, in an account of a trip to Marlborough makes 



