NOTES AND QUERIES. 301 



tree of the forest (Poclocarpus totara), but, on seeing a twig and 

 fruit of this tree, I at once saw that my prostrate shrub was a 

 variety of the totara. I hardly think Mr. Huddleston alludes to 

 this variety of Podocarpus, and should be surprised to hear that 

 the Kea really has access to the fruit of any of the forest Podo- 

 carpi. 



In this same journal Mr. F. R. Chapman, in describing a 

 botanical expedition which he made to a valley of the Upper 

 Waimakariri, Canterbury, says : — " A very interesting Raoulia, 

 or vegetable sheep, was very plentiful on steep rocky places, but 

 I believe a finer species is found on Mount Torlesse. ... It is 

 said that the Keas tear them up with their powerful beaks, and 

 that these birds learnt to eat mutton through mistaking dead 

 sheep for masses of Raoulia" 



Mr. Huddleston has, to my thinking made a hasty guess as 

 to Keas' bill-of-fare including] Coprosma, Panax, Pittosporum, 

 and Podocarpus. Also, I would ask, how could the bird feed in 

 winter on the roots of Aciphylla, Ranunculus, or Celmisia, which 

 would then be covered with a deep winding-sheet of snow 3 ft. to 

 10 ft. in thickness ? 



NOTES AND QUERIES 



MAMMALIA. 



Marten in Cumberland. — I have recently received a specimen of the 

 Marten, which was trapped near Derwent Water on Dec. 23rd last. The 

 animal is a male, and weighed 2£ lbs. The orange- white patch on the 

 throat and breast is very conspicuous, and well set off by the dark colour 

 of the rest of the body. — E. W. H. Blagg (Cheadle, Staffordshire). 



[During a recent visit to Christchurch, Hants, we noticed in the 

 admirable collection of Mr. Hart two mounted specimens of the Pine 

 Marten, both of which were obtained in Cumberland, one a male taken at 

 Wallae Crag on Nov. 28th, 1891 ; the other a female taken near Keswick 

 so lately as Feb. 16th, 1895.— Ed.] 



Marten in Co. Waterford. — Irish naturalists have to thank the Editor 

 for his article on "The Alarten in Ireland " (Zool. 1894, p. 100). From 

 this source of information it would appear that Martes sylvatica has not 

 been noticed in the Co. Waterford for about forty-five years. Six specimens, 

 according to Mr. Ussher, were taken about the year 1850 in different parts 



