9 
all the information I could collect respecting the Huia, which was then a somewhat rare species. As 
will presently appear, the bird is now far more plentiful than formerly. But, in order to preserve its 
full history, I will reproduce here a portion of that paper : — 
A well-known writer in ‘Nature’ (Dr. Sclater), in describing the peculiarity in the form of 
the bill that distinguishes it from the female, observes : “ Such a divergence in the structure of 
the beak of the two sexes is very uncommon, and scarcely to be paralleled in the class of birds. 
It is difficult to guess at the reason of it, or to explain it on Darwinian or any other principles. ’ 
In the absence of any published account of its habits, beyond mere fragmentary notices, I have 
thought the subject of sufficient interest to justify my placing before the Society the following com- 
plete account of all that I have been able to ascertain respecting it. The peculiar habits of feeding, 
which I have described from actual observation, furnish to my own mind a sufficient “ reason ” for 
the different development of the mandibles in the two sexes, and may, I think, be accepted as a 
satisfactory solution of the problem. 
Before proceeding to speak of the bird itself, I would remark on the very restricted character 
of its habitat. It is confined within narrow geographical boundaries, being met with only in the 
Ruahine, Tararua, and Rimutaka mountain-ranges, with their divergent spurs, and in the intervening 
wooded valleys. It is occasionally found in the Fagus forests of the Wairarapa valley, and in the 
rugged country stretching to the westward of the Ruahine range, but it seldom wanders far from its 
mountain haunts. I have been assured of its occurrence in the wooded country near Massacre Bay *, 
but I have not been able to obtain any satisfactory evidence on this point. It is worthy of remark 
that the natives, who prize the bird very highly for its tail-feathers (which are used as a badge of 
mourning), state that, unlike other species which have of late years diminished and become more 
confined in their range, the Huia was from time immemorial limited in its distribution to the district 
I have indicated. 
My first specimen of this singular bird (an adult female) was obtained in 1855, from the 
Wainuiomata hills, a continuation of the Rimutaka range, bounding the Wellington harbour on the 
northern side — the same locality from which Dr. Dieffenbach, nearly twenty years before, received 
the examples figured by Mr. Gould in his magnificent work ‘ The Birds of Australia.’ I have since 
obtained many fine specimens, and in the summer of 18G4 I succeeded in getting a pair of live ones. 
They were caught by a native in the ranges, and brought down to Manawatu, a distance of more 
than fifty miles, on horseback. The owner refused to take money for them ; but I negotiated an 
exchange for a valuable greenstone. I kept these birds for more than a year, waiting a favourable 
opportunity of forwarding them to the Zoological Society of London. Through the carelessness, 
howevei, of a servant, the male bird was accidentally killed ; and the other, manifesting the utmost 
distiess, pined for her mate, and died ten days afterwards. 
The readiness with which these birds adapted themselves to a condition of captivity was very 
remarkable. W ithin a few days after their capture they had become perfectly tame, and did not 
appear to feel in any degree the restraint of confinement ; for, although the window of the apartment 
in which they were kept was thrown open and replaced by thin wire netting, I never saw them make 
any attempt to regain their liberty. It is well known, however, that birds of different species differ 
widely in natural disposition and temper. The captive Eagle frets in his sulky pride ; the Bittern 
* Mr. Kane informs me that when travelling, two years ago, in the South Island he saw several Huias in a forest lying 
between Nelson and Picton. He states that he was quite close to them, and could not possibly be mistaken in the bird, with 
which he is familiar. Mr. W. T. Owen, who is a very careful observer, assures me that he met with it on the other side oi 
Nelson. If the range of the Huia does in reality extend across the Straits, it is a very remarkable tact in the D eo„raph 
distribution of this much-restricted species. That'it does occasionally wander far beyond the limits assigned to it in the North 
Island is certain, because in 1881 Mr. Ambrose Potts met with one near To Biuopoanga, in the Patea country. This ■was not an 
escaped bird, because the natives of the district knew nothing about it, and would scarcely credit the statement. 
C 
