Order CHAEADBIIFOEMES.l 



[Family CHAKADKIIDJE. 



THINOENIS NOV^l-ZEALANDT^. 



(NEW-ZEALAND SHOEE-PLOVEE.) 



Thinornis novae-zealandiae (Gmelin), Buller, Birds of New Zealand, vol. ii., p. 11. 



In a case of stuffed birds, at Invercargill, on the occasion of my last visit, I observed the young of 

 the above rare species, the specimen, as I was informed by the taxidermist, having been obtained 

 at the mouth of the Car gill Biver. 



I learn by letter that in a collection of birds made by Mr. Palmer at the Chatham Islands, 

 and taken to England, there was a perfect albino specimen of this very handsome Plover. 



Eggs from the Chatham Islands assigned to this species are of the shape and size of 

 the Banded Dottrel's egg ; one is somewhat smaller and of a more pyriform type. They are of a 

 creamy or very pale brown tint, sprinkled all over, but more thinly at the larger end, with minute 

 spots of brown, which form into a distinct zone about one-third way down. The smaller egg- 

 mentioned above is of a greyer tint, coming nearer in that respect to the Dottrel's egg. 



The late Mr. Potts, who visited the Chatham Islands, reported that on October 3rd, he found 

 the species breeding on a small rocky islet — about five acres in extent — one of the group called the 

 Sisters, or, by the Maoris, Eangitutahi. The eggs, three in number, just fit the slight nest of a 

 few grass-leaves twisted into a circular form. They vary very much both in shape and 

 individual colouring. 



Dr. Forbes, who also collected the eggs of this species on the Eangitutahi Islets, states that 

 their ground colour is olive-buff, marked pretty evenly all over, but more abundantly at the larger 

 end, with fine spots and fine linear streaks and markings of clove-brown, often becoming almost 

 black. He describes the egg as pyriform in shape and measuring 1*42 inches by 1'02 in. He figures 

 two of these eggs, illustrating the variation in colour and markings, as well as a newly hatched 

 nestling, in the ' Ibis ' for 1893 (Plates XIY. and XV.). The nestling has the true Plover 

 character and is a charming little creature, variegated yellowish-brown on the upper surface and 

 white on the under, with a blackish-brown stripe over the vertex and another, less pronounced, 

 through each of the eyes. 



THINORNIS ROSSI. 



(AUCKLAND-ISLAND SHOEE-PLOVEE.) 



Thinornis novse zealandise, Gray; Buller, Birds of New Zealand [in part], vol. ii., p. 11. 



Thinornis rossi, G. R. Gray, Voyage Ereb. & Terr., p. 12, pi. 11a (18M). 

 De. Shaepe has admitted this bird (hitherto supposed to he the young of Thinornis novce- 

 zealandice) into the list as a good species, the type now in the British Museum, having come from 

 the Auckland Islands, whereas T. nova-zealandice belongs to the Chatham Islands. He thus 

 distinguishes it in the ' Cat. Birds ' Brit. Mus. (xxiv., p. 306): — 



Adult. Similar to T. novce-zealandice, but differing in the much darker colour, which 



is uniform brown, and by having the sides of the body extensively mottled with brown, the 

 basal portion of the feathers being of that colour. Total length 7*5 inches ; culmen 1 in. ; wing 

 4'8 in. ; tail 2*4 in. ; tarsus 0'95 in. 



Further specimens should be obtained before this matter can be considered settled. 





