U* 



/ 



Order EALLIFORMES.] 



[Family KALLIDiE. 



CABALUS MODESTTTS 



(BUTTON'S BAIL.) 



Cabalus modestus, Hutton ; Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 123. 



Theee seems little doubt that this remarkable form has, like its larger congener of the Chatham 

 Islands, Cabalus dieffenbachi, become extinct. The small island of Mangare, on which it was 

 originally discovered, and whence fortunately a good many specimens have been obtained for the 

 various museums, is now overrun with cats, besides which the native vegetation has been burnt 

 off for the purpose of sowing grass-seed, even this bleak spot having been annexed by the 

 enterprising sheep-farmer. 



The occurrence of these flightless forms of bird-life in detached insular areas is a most 

 interesting and suggestive fact in the zoology of this region, as I have more than once 

 pointed out, and it is of the utmost scientific importance that we should obtain full in- 

 formation as to the structure and anatomy of these peculiar endemic species before they 

 pass away for ever. 



Of this interesting Eail I have in my collection three specimens, all obtained by the 

 late Mr. Hawkins. There are three in the British Museum; also a pair in the Liverpool 

 Museum, a single specimen at Cambridge, and a matchless series in Mr. Eothschild's Museum 

 at Tring. 



Mr. Hawkins informed me that this bird is strictly nocturnal in its habits, and that the 

 man employed by him was out every night for two months before he succeeded in taking 

 the specimens now in my collection. 



The distinguishing superficial characters of this remarkable form are apparent at a glance: 

 the abbreviated wings, the soft fluffy plumage of sombre hue, the long, slightly-curved bill, 

 and the well-developed legs. Professor Hutton, who first described this species, claimed for 

 it generic rank on account of its internal structure (Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. vi., pp. 108-110), 

 and this claim is now generally recognised. The curvature of the bill is more pronounced 

 in the larger (presumably the male) bird, being very similar to that of the Moeriki (Cabalus 

 dieffenbachi) as figured in the ' Transactions ' of the New Zealand Institute (vol. vi., p. 12), 

 but more slender, and I feel confirmed in the opinion that the two species are referable to 

 one and the same genus, although, for the sake of consistency, I now follow Dr. Sharpe in 

 referring the latter to the genus Nesolimnas. 



The specimens I now possess have enabled me to prepare a more detailed description of 

 the species than has hitherto appeared. 



Adult. — General plumage dark vinous-brown, changing to dull grey on the throat ; foreneck, 

 breast, and the rest of the under parts, as well as the sides of the body, marked with numerous 

 narrow, transverse, broken bars of yellowish-brown; these markings continued, but in a frag- 

 mentary and scattered manner, on the upper surface of wings ; on the bastard quills, and 

 on the under tail-coverts they are broader, lighter, and more regular; quills blackish brown, 

 each vane crossed at regular intervals b}^ triangular markings of fulvous-brown. Bill and 

 feet uniform dark-brown. 



The two first specimens obtained differ appreciably in size, and I take the smaller of the 



