﻿Wellington 
  PhilosopJiical 
  Society. 
  531 
  

  

  2. 
  "Further 
  Contributions 
  to 
  the 
  Ornithology 
  of 
  New 
  Zealand," 
  by 
  

   Walter 
  L. 
  Buller, 
  C.M.G., 
  Sc.D. 
  {Transactions, 
  p. 
  366.) 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Newman 
  said 
  he 
  would 
  like 
  to 
  be 
  informed 
  whether 
  the 
  New 
  Zealand 
  harrier 
  was 
  

   in 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  catching 
  fish. 
  Dr. 
  BuIIer 
  had 
  referred 
  to 
  its 
  repugnance 
  to 
  water 
  ; 
  but 
  he 
  

   wished 
  to 
  state 
  that 
  in 
  Hawke 
  Bay 
  District 
  he 
  had 
  frequently 
  found 
  this 
  hawk 
  devouring 
  

   large 
  eels 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood 
  of 
  the 
  swamps. 
  Others 
  had 
  observed 
  the 
  same, 
  and 
  it 
  

   was 
  evident 
  that 
  this 
  bird, 
  which 
  was 
  constantly 
  hovering 
  about 
  the 
  swamp 
  vegetation, 
  

   was 
  in 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  catching 
  eels. 
  As 
  to 
  the 
  kingfisher, 
  he 
  was 
  surprised 
  to 
  hear 
  that 
  

   Captain 
  Hutton 
  had 
  ever 
  contended 
  that 
  this 
  bh'd 
  did 
  not 
  feed 
  on 
  fish. 
  Everyone 
  who 
  

   had 
  observed 
  its 
  habits 
  would 
  agree 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  most 
  active 
  in 
  pursuit 
  of 
  small 
  fish. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Martin 
  Chapman 
  said 
  that 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  kakas 
  which 
  perished 
  in 
  their 
  

   passage 
  across 
  the 
  Strait, 
  he 
  believed 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  found 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  lean-conditioned 
  

   bird, 
  and 
  not 
  the 
  fat 
  one, 
  that 
  succumbed. 
  He 
  instanced 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  wild 
  turkeys 
  in 
  

   America. 
  They 
  were 
  known 
  sometimes 
  to 
  cross 
  rivers 
  on 
  the 
  wing, 
  and 
  on 
  these 
  occa- 
  

   sions 
  the 
  thin 
  emaciated 
  birds 
  often 
  fell 
  into 
  the 
  water 
  and 
  were 
  drowned. 
  As 
  to 
  the 
  

   piscivorous 
  habits 
  of 
  our 
  kingfisher 
  mentioned 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Buller, 
  he 
  could 
  aver 
  from 
  personal 
  

   observation 
  that 
  the 
  New 
  Zealand 
  bird 
  was 
  an 
  undoubted 
  fish-hunter. 
  He 
  had 
  actually 
  

   seen 
  one, 
  after 
  dropping 
  a 
  fish 
  that 
  it 
  had 
  captured, 
  return 
  and 
  pick 
  it 
  up 
  again. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Buller, 
  in 
  reply, 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  harrier, 
  like 
  many 
  other 
  birds, 
  is 
  very 
  averse 
  to 
  

   wetting 
  its 
  plumage, 
  and 
  never 
  hunts 
  in 
  the 
  water. 
  But, 
  being 
  a 
  carrion-feeder, 
  it 
  may 
  

   constantly 
  be 
  seen 
  hovering 
  over 
  the 
  sea-beach, 
  and 
  devouring 
  the 
  dead 
  bodies 
  of 
  cast 
  up 
  

   fish, 
  etc. 
  Eels 
  are 
  known 
  to 
  travel 
  considerable 
  distances 
  overland 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  new 
  

   ponds, 
  and 
  during 
  such 
  migrations 
  would, 
  of 
  course, 
  be 
  exposed 
  to 
  the 
  attacks 
  of 
  the 
  

   hawk. 
  He 
  thought 
  that 
  the 
  circumstance 
  mentioned 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Newman 
  might 
  be 
  accounted 
  

   for 
  in 
  that 
  manner, 
  for 
  the 
  helpless 
  eels 
  on 
  dry 
  ground 
  would 
  be 
  very 
  apt 
  to 
  fall 
  a 
  prey 
  to 
  

   this 
  ever-vigilant 
  hawk. 
  As 
  to 
  the 
  kakas 
  cast 
  ashore 
  in 
  Golden 
  Bay, 
  he 
  could 
  state 
  on 
  

   the 
  authority 
  of 
  his 
  informant 
  that 
  in 
  every 
  case 
  the 
  birds 
  picked 
  up 
  were 
  excessively 
  fat, 
  

   and 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  well-known 
  fact 
  that 
  at 
  certain 
  seasons 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  the 
  kakas 
  became 
  so 
  

   incommoded 
  with 
  fat 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  scarcely 
  capable 
  of 
  fiight. 
  A 
  correspondent 
  informed 
  him 
  

   that 
  on 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  occasions 
  he 
  actually 
  caught 
  with 
  his 
  hands 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  

   day 
  eight 
  of 
  these 
  over-fed 
  kakas, 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  positively 
  unable 
  to 
  fly 
  at 
  all. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Newman 
  said 
  that 
  his 
  experience 
  of 
  eels 
  was 
  that 
  they 
  only 
  travelled 
  when 
  their 
  

   pools 
  became 
  dry, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  district 
  to 
  which 
  he 
  referred 
  the 
  lagoons 
  were 
  always 
  full 
  of 
  

   water. 
  He 
  thought 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  interesting 
  facts 
  in 
  New 
  Zealand 
  ornithology, 
  brought 
  

   out 
  in 
  Dr. 
  Buller's 
  papers, 
  was 
  the 
  frequent 
  recurrence 
  of 
  albinoes. 
  Almost 
  every 
  species 
  

   showed 
  a 
  tendency 
  in 
  some 
  degree 
  to 
  albinism, 
  and 
  this 
  was 
  certainly 
  a 
  very 
  remarkable 
  

   and 
  inexplicable 
  thing. 
  

  

  3. 
  "On 
  Osomose 
  as 
  the 
  Cause 
  of 
  the 
  persistent 
  Suspension 
  of 
  Clay 
  in 
  

   Water," 
  by 
  W. 
  Skey, 
  Analyst 
  to 
  the 
  Greological 
  Survey 
  Department. 
  

   [Transactions, 
  p. 
  485.) 
  

  

  4. 
  " 
  On 
  the 
  Nature 
  and 
  Cause 
  of 
  Tomlinson's 
  Cohesion 
  Figures," 
  by 
  

   W. 
  Skey. 
  (Transactions, 
  p. 
  490.) 
  

  

  5. 
  "On 
  some 
  New 
  Zealand 
  AjjhroditcB, 
  with 
  Descriptions 
  of 
  supposed 
  

   new 
  Species," 
  by 
  T. 
  W. 
  Kifk, 
  Assistant 
  in 
  the 
  Colonial 
  Museum. 
  (Trans- 
  

   actions, 
  p. 
  397.) 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Field 
  wished 
  to 
  know 
  whether 
  the 
  beautiful 
  colours 
  mentioned 
  were 
  preserved 
  

   after 
  death 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  author 
  stated 
  that 
  the 
  specimens 
  exhibited 
  on 
  the 
  table 
  would 
  prove 
  

   that 
  they 
  were 
  retained 
  to 
  a 
  great 
  extent. 
  

  

  