50 



and was much struck by your statements in regard to the disappearance and reappearance 

 of certain birds near your property in the Horowhenua district — particularly the Weka. I have 

 always thought it strange that this bird should be very scarce near where I now live. There was 

 in this place — when I knew it first — abundance of cover and feed and that mixture of light bush 

 and open patches such as the Weka loves in other parts of the country, but, so far as I know, the 

 bird has always been a stranger, while along the No. 2 line, near Wanganui, it is comparatively 

 plentiful." 



Mr. Hamilton records that he once found a nest containing (November 10th) four eggs, whilst 

 the female bird, which was caught on the nest, contained another egg fully developed. 



As is well known, there has been much discussion in the Colony as to the alleged existence 

 of hybrids between the Weka and the domestic fowl. In order to determine this question I 

 brought to England, for anatomical examination, a specimen received from Dr. Lewis, the 

 then Medical Superintendent at Kotorua, as a typical example of the alleged hybridity, and 

 placed it in the hands of Dr. James Murie, the well-known expert. That gentleman made 

 the necessary examination and published a very elaborate report, accompanied by numerous 

 beautiful illustrations, in the ' Transactions ' of the New Zealand Institute (vol. xxii., 1889). 

 The result was to shatter, once and for all, the theory of hybridity. From that report, all that I 

 consider necessary now is to extract a few passages : — 



I received from Sir Walter Buller a square tin canister, soldered down and air-tight, containing the bird 

 preserved in strong spirit. I found the specimen in good condition for anatomical examination, though not 

 perfect in plumage. The plumes of the primary and. secondary wing-feathers and those of the tail-feathers 

 (rectrices) had been broken away, but leaving sufficient of the quills intact to enable their numbers to be 

 counted. 



The bird was an adult of stout build, muscular, though in very lean condition. It outwardly resembled 

 an ordinary cock of good size, inasmuch as there was a fair development of comb and wattles ; nevertheless, 

 partly from its unusual plumage and otherwise, there was something not easily defined, suggestive of its being 

 a fowl of impure breed. 



As taken out of the preservative fluid, before drying, the ear-coverts were of a dark brownish-black, 

 browny-black, or sooty-brown, as, indeed, were such feathers of the body and of the tail as were left; 

 the tint varying in different degrees of intensity. When dried, however, the feathers assumed quite a 

 bluish-grey hue, and were remarkably fluffy .... 



Unfortunately for those persuaded of the intermixture of race, direct proof of the illegitimate union 

 of Gallus and Ocydromus is wanting. Their evidence is mainly derived from predominating resemblances in 

 the offspring to the Rail — such as colour, wing-feather banding or pencilling, hairy feathering, feeble develop- 

 ment of wings and tail, form of head, body, and legs, the peculiar furtive, prying, Rail-like gait and nocturnal 

 habits, with the fact of the Weka's freely associating with the fowls in the Maori clearings .... 



My dissection of the muscles confirmed gallinaceous structure from the myological standpoint ; but this 

 rather in the general configuration of parts than in variations of individual muscles from those of the Rallida. 

 As a matter of fact, there are no salient distinctions therein between the two groups. This has been partly 

 shown by the late Professor Garrod in his two papers, ' On certain Muscles of the Thigh of Birds, and on their 

 Value in Classification.' 



I may note that in the reputed hybrid in question an ambiens was present in both limbs, that on the left 

 side (agreeing with Garrod's description of that muscle, P.Z.S., 1873, p. 629) being inserted in, or, rather, fusing 

 with, the topmost fibres of the flexor digitorum, whereas on the opposite right limb the tendon was lost on the 

 fibrous tissue abreast of the knee-cap, and it did not cross to the outside of the joint .... 



The skeleton emphasized the preponderance of fowl attributes. The skull, in its breadth to depth, naso- 

 maxillary shortening, general robustness of fronto-cranial section, and contour as a whole, could not be mistaken 

 for that of any of the Rail tribe. 



The sternum of the asssumed hybrid is quite double the size of that of the Ocydromus, and it comports 

 with the gallinaceous type. The body is very narrow and spatular, the keel immensely deep anteriorly, before 



