WARD’S .NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
11 
ippine Islands. It is confined to the islets Min- 
danao and Bohol. Mr. Waterhouse was the first 
to give us the characteristics which distinguish 
this species from G. volans. Though a smaller 
animal G. philippinensis has larger ears than G. 
volans. Its hands are longer, its skull is propor- 
tionally narrower, its muzzle broader and more 
obtuse, its orbits smaller, the . temporal ridges 
generally meeting near the occiput or separated 
by a very narrow 7 space. The anterior upper in- 
cisor is narrow and has but one notch, whereas 
volans has two. The next incisor is considerably 
larger, longer and stronger. Its edges are even. 
The same remarks apply to the first premolar. 
Perhaps the most important difference between 
the two species is the larger size of the molar 
teeth in the smaller skull of G. 'philippinensis. 
Mr. Waterhouse might have added to the above 
another minor point of difference. The swell- 
ing at the juncture of the hones of the lower 
jaw is larger than in G. volans. 
A fine specimen of the Philippine Island spe- 
cies was collected by Mr. Hornaday while on his 
expedition to India and the neighboring islands. 
It is from the skull of this specimen that the cut 
was taken. The skin has been well mounted by 
Mr. Adams, and will soon go to stand among the 
large series of animals with which the establish- 
ment has been supplying Tufft’s College. 
W. M. Wheeler. 
SOME NEW ZEALAND BIRDS. 
The fauna of New Zealand is most singular 
and shows by its many and marked peculiarities 
that these islands have from the earliest times 
been as completely insolated as they are at 
present. Of its mammals but little need be said, 
since the only indigenous representatives of this 
class are two small bats, but the birds deserve 
especial notice. 
New Zealand is credited with one hundred and 
seventy six species of birds, no less than eighty 
of which are swimmers, and thirty-nine waders. 
Eight of these, representing five genera, are found 
in New Zealand only, and of the fifty-seven 
species of land birds, sixteen genera and twenty- 
nine species — one-half — are peculiar, although 
some of them are Australian in their type. The 
most striking feature of these birds is the com- 
paratively large number— ten species — that are 
incapable of flight, but this is readily accounted 
for by the total absence — until introduced by 
colonists — of predatory mammals. As there was 
nothing to disturb birds feeding on the ground, 
flight was to a great extent unnecessary, and the 
wfings from disuse became atrophied. Most pe- 
culiar of these flightless forms is the apteryx, 
whose huge and distant relatives the Moas were, 
long ago, frozen and eaten from the face of the 
earth. The Apteryx himself is doomed, and 
year by year retreats before the steadily advanc- 
ing tide of civilization. Not only is the Apteryx 
hunted by man, but by the destructive at- 
tendants — dogs and cats — that he brings in his 
train. Man pursues the Apteryx by day and 
they by night, following the poor bird amid its 
rocky fastnesses or even destroying it in its bur- 
row. As this bird has been described at length 
in previous issues, it is useless to dwell upon the 
subject longer than to say that the species of 
this genus will illustrate the high specialization 
of the fauna of these islands. Apteryx manielli 
is found only on the North Island, Australis and 
Haasti are restricted to the South Island, Oiceni 
alone being common to both. Next to the 
Apteryx — were birds classified by their strange- 
ness — comes the quaint Owl Parrot {Stringops 
habroptilus) who not only resembles an owl in ap- 
pearance but in habits also. Its soft plumage — 
of a curious mottled green — facial disk and 
nocturnal habits, are all owl like and the resem- 
blance is further hinted at by some points in its 
anatomy. 
Unlike other parrots, it feeds mostly on the 
ground, although it sometimes climbs trees in 
search of food, "being something of a gourmand 
in its tastes. Like the Apteryx it can not fly, 
for although the wings are fairly developed, the 
keel of the sternum is small, and consequently 
the pectoral muscles. The wings are used in 
running and to break the force of a fall when the 
bird jumps from a tree. Formerly abundant— 
so say the natives — on both islands, it is at present 
restricted to a limited area, and is yearly becom- 
ing scarcer. Another curious Parrot is the Kea 
{Nestor notabilis ) who steals the beef and mutton 
when hung out to cool, tears the sheep skins, and 
even attacks and kills the living sheep. A flock 
of Keas will single out a sheep from the flock, 
and one after another alight on the poor creature’s 
back and tear out the wool and flesh. It is in 
vain that the sheep seeks safety in flight, for its 
tormentors pursue it till bleeding and weary it 
sinks from sheer exhaustion and becomes an easy 
prey. 
It should be said, however, that it is only in 
winter that the Kea is so bloodthirsty in its 
habits, as during the milder seasons of the year 
it subsists on fruits and flowers. Both this species 
and the Kaka (N. meridionalis ) are closely related 
to the fhilip Island Parrot, which has become 
nearly if not quite extirpated by the agency of 
man. Noteworthy among the passerine birds is 
the Huia ( Heleralocha acutirostris ) as it is the only 
known bird in which the sexes are distinguished 
by bills of entirely different shape. The bill of 
the male is stout and compressed like that of a 
Woodpecker, while that of the female is slender 
and curved. This difference in the shape of the 
bills leads to a difference in their use. The male 
employs his bill like a Woodpecker to chisel 
grubs out of decayed timber, and the female 
carefully probes all holes where the surrounding 
wood is so hard as to defy the efforts of her 
mate. 
Closely allied to the Huia, and like it peculiar 
to New Zealand, is the Saddle Back ( Oreaclion 
carunculata), whose powers of flight are so feeble 
as to argue that if left undisturbed it would have 
become entirely flightless. Among the birds 
whose rapid decrease can be directly referred to 
the agency of cats and dogs are, the thick- billed 
Thrushes ( Turnagra ), one species of which in- 
habits the North and another the South Island. 
In fact the now-famous faunal peculiarities of 
the Gallapagos Islands are to a great extent 
paralleled in New Zealand, allied but distinct 
species dwelling respectively on the North and 
South Islands. And this seems to have been the 
case at a very early date, the Moas on the two 
sides of Cook Straits having belonged to different 
species. 
The Honeyeaters {Meliphagidae) form a group 
of birds very characteristic of the Australian 
region, and among them are several genera, 
equally characteristic of New Zealand. The 
most striking of these is the Parson or Fui 
( Prosthemadera nova zealandica ) so-called from 
his black coat and white tie of curly feathers. 
From its activity and power of mimicry it is a 
rather favorite cage bird, but requires much at- 
tention to keep it for any length of time. Own 
cousin to the Tui is the Bell-bird ( Anthornis 
melanura) formerly ve?’y abundant, but now like 
so many of its friends becoming scarce. Mr. 
Buffer tells us that from time immemorial this 
bird has been snared by the Maoris, certain of its 
favorite resorts being looked upon as the ex- 
clusive property of the tribe residing near by. 
And now in investigating the validity of the title 
of the natives to the land claimed by them, the 
snaring of the Korimakos by their ancestors is 
brought forward as evidence in their favor. 
Smallest of all New Zealand birds is the little 
creeper called the Rifleman ( Acanthisitta chloris ) 
who, apart from its small size and the fact that it 
is restricted to New Zealand, has but little claim 
for our notice. The only known bird whose biff 
is bent sidewise is the crook-billed Plover 
(Anarhynchus frontalis), and although such a 
structure seems at first sight to be a malforma- 
tion, yet the Plover finds it very useful. This 
curved bill enables the bird to readily turn over 
pebbles and also to poke around them in search 
of food. This curiously curved beak is, accord- 
ing to Mr. Buffer, associated with an equal pe- 
culiarity of plumage. In feeding, the bird turns 
naturally to the right, thus exposing the leftside, 
and it is worthy of remark that the black band 
which ornaments the breast is not only narroioer 
on the left side, but also paler in color, and thus 
less likely to attract the attention of enemies. 
Four species of the Large Rails, known as 
Wekas, or Woodhens ( Oeydromus ), are found in 
New Zealand, and it is interesting to note that a 
specimen procured by Prof. Ward during his 
trip proved to be of a new species. Like the Owl 
Parrot, the Weka is flightless, not because the 
wings are too small, but because the feathers are 
too soft and yielding. If, however, it is weak of 
wing it has strong and nimble legs, and trusts to 
them for flight. 
Like the Jackdaw, the Weka is a bird of 
thievish propensities, stealing everything it can 
lay biff on, even such articles as pipes and 
watches. It apparently steals for the mere love 
of the thing, neither hiding its booty like the 
Jackdaw nor using the objects like the Bower 
Bird, to decorate its nest. One point of the 
Weka’s anatomy is interesting. The genus 
Oeydromus is — aside from the Struthiones— the 
only bird in which the angle formed by the 
scapula and coracoid is greater than a right 
angle. The history of the Notornis is so well- 
known as to require no repetition, only it may be 
well to remark that it is by no means impossible 
that other specimens may be added to the three 
already known, since the localities at which these 
were taken are some ninety miles apart, in a 
region comparatively little known. In conclud- 
ing these brief notes on New Zealand birds, it 
may not be amiss to once more caff attention to 
their rapidly diminishing numbers, a decrease 
wholly due to the agency of man. It is not 
enough that he should play the part of a de- 
stroyer himself and also turn loose the pests of 
dogs, cats and rats, but he must call to his aid 
the birds of foreign climes and introduce them in- 
discriminately. And as a stranger who has once 
gained a footing has from that time an advantage 
over one who is native and to the manor horn, so 
these new birds are crowding out the older resi- 
dents. The fauna of New Zealand is thus rapid- 
ly changing, and it will be but a comparatively 
short time ere it loses those peculiar and 
characteristic forms which render the Ornithology 
of this region so interesting. F. A. L. 
Did you ever watch a dog gape? For thor- 
oughness' and entire absence of affectation and 
mock shame-facedness, there is nothing like it. 
When a dog gapes, he doesn’t screw his face into 
all sorts of unnatural shapes in an endeavor to 
keep his mouth shut with his jaws wide open. 
Neither does he put his paw up to his face in an 
apologetic way, while gaping in ambush, as it 
were. No, sir; when he gapes he is perfectly 
willing that the whole world shall come to the 
show. He braces himself firmly on his fore feet, 
stretches out his neck, depresses his head, and 
his jaws open with a graceful moderation. At 
first it is but an exaggerated grin, but when the 
gape is apparently accomplished, the dog turns 
out his elbows, opens his jaws another forty five 
degrees, swallows an imaginary bone by a sudden 
and convulsive movement, curls up his tongue 
like the petal of a tiger-lily, and shuts his jaws 
together with a snap. Then he assumes a grave 
and contented visage, as is eminently becoming 
to one who has performed a duty successfully and 
conscientiously. — Boston Transcript. 
“ What is meant by the ‘bone of contention?” 
asked Rollo, looking up from his book. “The 
jaw-bone, my son,” replied his father solemnly, 
“ the jaw bone.” And Rollo wondered then why 
the book couldn’t have said so, just as well. 
“Johnny, how many bones are there in the 
human body?” “ Whose human body? Mine?” 
“Yes, yours, for instance.” “Can’t tell. You 
see I’ve been eating shad for breakfast, and that 
upsets the anatomical estimate. 
