262 JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, 
to be found, whereas these occupied New Zealand during the 
whole of its last great geographical extension. The quantity of 
turf which was removed in Campbell Island in consequence of our 
excavations (for suitable positions for the instruments used in 
observing the transit) was enormous, and yet no remains were 
ever discovered except those of seals. In addition to this, all 
the other New Zealand birds which either are destitute of wings 
or have them in an atrophied condition, such as the Apteryx, 
Strigops, Notornis, and Ocydromus, are absolutely wanting in 
Campbell Island. In the last place, I would point out that it 
does not possess a single terrestrial land bird. Campbell Island 
appears, therefore, as much from a geological as from a zoologi- 
cal point of view, to be a land of recent and independent origin. 
HUIA EGGS. 
SRT ROREN 
NOTE BY MR. T, W. KIRK, ASSISTANT IN THE COLONIAL 
MUSEUM, WELLINGTON. 
Very little is at present known of the nesting habits of the 
Huia (Heterolocha acutirostris), and indeed, until a few years ago 
its egg was quite unknown. The information now possessed is 
extremely meagre, and the details somewhat conflicting. It 
may therefore be interesting to many persons occupied with 
zoological studies to peruse the descriptions of several eggs sup- 
posed to have been produced by this interesting bird ; there are 
now three specimens, differing so much in form and colouring 
as to cause grave doubts of their identity. 
1. The first example was brought to the Museum on 2oth 
October, 1875, by a Maori, who stated that having seen a pair 
of adult Huia passing in and out of a hollow tree, he had 
examined the hole and found the egg in question, which con- 
tained a young bird. Both egg and chick were submitted to Dr. 
Buller, who described them as follows :—“ The egg contained a 
young bird, apparently ready for extrusion, and both embryo 
and shell are now in the collection of the Colonial Museum. 
The egg is ovoido-conical, measuring 1°45 by 1°05 inches, and is 
of a pale stone-grey, irregularly .stained, freckled and speckled 
with purplish-grey, the markings in some places running into 
dark wavy lines. The chick is apparently a male; the bill being 
very stout, with caruncles at the angles of the mouth well deve- 
loped, and of a flesh-white colour. The whole of the body is 
bare, with the exception of what appear to be strips of coarse 
hair-like filaments, from one-half to three-quarters of an inch in 
length, and perfectly black, but which are in reality tufts of ex- 
tremely fine downy feathers, A strip of these filaments encircles 
the crown, a line passes down the course of the spine, and there 
is another along the outer edge of each wing and behind each 
thigh.’—(Trans. N.Z. Inst., VIIL, p. 192.) 
