69 



Otago Daily Times : — " It appears that on Sunday morning, the 7th August, as the Messrs. Koss 

 lay awake in their bunks, they heard an unusual bird-call in the bush near the edge of the lake, 

 and about 100 yards or so from their camp. In discussing it, they came to the conclusion 

 that it was not unlike a certain double-call often made by the Calif ornian Quail, only more 

 bass — not so sharp and clear as the quail-call. The peculiar call was discussed, but nothing 

 more happened until evening. One of the Messrs. Eoss was then taking a walk along the beach 

 just before darkness set in. When near the spot whence had proceeded the peculiar bird-call in 

 the morning, the dog that was with him made a dart into the bush, and shortly after emerged 

 with a bird in its mouth. The bird was not quite dead, and it was at once taken to the camp, 

 where it expired a short time after its capture. Its fortunate captor thought that it was a Notomis, 

 and it was taken with all speed to the foot of the lake. Involving as it did a twenty-five mile 

 pull, it was early morning before the foot of the lake was reached ; but fortunately there was 

 time to pack the bird securely and despatch it by the mail coach for Lumsden, en route to 

 Invercargill." 



As an indication of the interest which this fresh capture of Notomis excited in the Colony, I 

 may mention that numerous offers were made to the owner for its purchase, for various sums 

 running into three figures. Ultimately it was purchased by the Government for £250, and 

 placed in the Otago Museum. It will thus be kept in the Colony, where it will always be ac- 

 cessible to those of our rising colonists who take an interest in the natural history of New 

 Zealand. 



It is said that, after the Government had purchased the specimen, an old settler from 

 Lake Te Anau went to the Museum to see it, expecting to find a great novelty. He 

 looked at it for a moment, and then exclaimed : " Why, them's the birds we lived on all 

 last winter. Our dogs used to catch 'em in the swamp ! " Probably he was confounding 

 it with the Pukeko; but that bird flies, when pressed hard, and is not easily caught by a 

 dog. At any rate, I understand that the old man's commentary, when reported to the 

 Premier, who had just before authorised the payment, had a very disquieting effect.* 



Before leaving the Colony I had an opportunity of examining the last captured specimen 

 of Notomis, and made the following notes : — 



? Head, neck all round, breast, sides of the body and abdomen, dark indigo-blue, mixed on the flanks 

 with bright oil-green ; the feathers covering the femora dull bluish-black ; shoulders, upper part of back and 

 upper wing-coverts, bronzy-green, the line of demarcation between this colour and the indigo-blue of 

 the hind -neck being well marked and the blue along the line of junction somewhat intensified; lower 



* The Wyndham Farmer says : " The specimen of the Notomis mantelli, or Takahe— the rare bird which was 

 recently caught in the region of Lake Manapouri— has, we are glad to hear, been definitely secured for location in 

 a colonial repository. It was purchased by Government for £250 the day after the House rose at the close of the 

 late session, and is to be placed in the Dunedin Museum. An offer of £350 was made outside the colony, with a possi- 

 bility of its ' rising ' to £400 ; so the colony has secured the rara avis at a comparatively cheap price." 



The foregoing paragraph relates of course to the last obtained specimen of Notomis. The price may seem high, but, 

 after all, the values of extinct or all but extinct birds are necessarily fanciful, and will become more and more so. I met 

 somewhere with the following remarks in illustration of this :— " The egg of the Great Auk, of which the sale was re- 

 ported in The Times Weekly of 5th July, 1895, the great collection of postage stamps sold at about the same time, and the 

 then current price of wheat. The egg was sold to the International Fur Store for £173 5s. The postage stamps were sold 

 to Mr. Ferdinand Bothschild for £56,000. The current price of wheat was a little under 3s. 4d. per bushel. Thus the 

 bushel of wheat bore an exchange ratio of ^Vo-th to the egg and of g^^th to the postage stamps. This was 

 expressedly the sum of £173 5s. as the price respectively of the egg and of 1,039 bushels of wheat, and of £56,000 as 

 the price of the stamps and 336,000 bushels. On the other hand, the value of these several commodities to their 

 respective buyers can only be gauged by the worth which each attached to his purchase for its usefulness in satisfying 

 his needs or in giving him personal gratification." 



