16 
those of a Toucan on one side and a Hornbill on the other ; and I was assured by Mr. Bartlett, the 
Superintendent of the Gardens, that this bird (although without a mate of its own species) seemed 
perfectly happy and contented in the midst of these new surroundings. It was supplied with a mixed 
food, in which boiled eggs, fresh meat, and earthworms formed the principal ingredients ; but its diet 
required careful regulation, to prevent scouring, to which the bird was very liable. It did not, 
however, long survive this condition of things, and ultimately succumbed, as I venture to think, to 
the tropical heat of its environment — the prosector’s official report being that it had died “ in a much 
emaciated condition, but without organic disease ” *. 
There is now living in the “Western Aviary” in the same Gardens a fine male bird which I 
brought to England in April 1886, and which had been in possession of the Wairarapa Maoris for 
nearly a year previous to my leaving the colony. 
A study of this living bird has enabled my artist to depict the species in the highly characteristic 
attitudes shown in the Plate. The berries represented are those of the titoki ( Alectryon excelsum), on 
which the Huia doubtless feeds, for although habitually insectivorous, I have often found in the 
stomach the kernels of the hinau and other berries ; and Mr. Tone informs me that he once saw 
* As stated in the Introduction to my former edition (page xvii) the loss to the collection was a gain to science, for the late 
Prof. Garrod had thus an opportunity of studying the osteology and anatomy of this singular form ; and I quoted the following 
passages from his valuable paper on the subject read before the Zoological Society on the 21st of May, 1872 : — 
“ The arrangement of the feathers is completely Passerine. The rhombic saddle of the spinal tract does not enclose any 
ephippial space, therein differing from the Crow’s and resembling the typical Starling’s. There are nineteen remiges, of which 
ten are on the hand; they increase in size up to the fifth. The rectrices are twelve in number. The oil-gland is nude 
The gizzard is well developed. The intestines are 16 inches long, with the bile-ducts 2J inches from the gizzard. The caeca are 
1 inch from the cloaca and J inch long, being cylindrical. There is one carotid artery, the left The palate is strictly 
Eegithognathous ; that is, the vomer is truncate in front abruptly, and cleft behind; tho postero-oxtcrnal angles of the palatines 
are produced ; the maxillo-palatines are slender, and approach towards, but do not unite with, one another, nor with tho vomer, 
which they partly embrace. There is no ossification in the nasal septum anterior to the vomer. The whole cranial configuration 
closely resembles that of Sturnus ; but the mandible, instead of being bent upwards, is straight. Like it, the palatines are narrow 
and approximate ; the antero-internal angles of the posterior portions of those bones are reducod and rounded off, as is sometimes 
the ease with Sturnus. The vomer is completely truncated in front, and is not prolonged forwards at its external angles, as in 
Corvus and its allies. Tho zygoma is not so slender as in Sturnus ; but the curves are similar. The articular surfaces on the 
quadrate bone for the mandible are proportionally very large. The anterior extremities of the pterygoid bones articulate with 
the sphenoidal rostrum much as in Corvus, meeting in tho middle line behind tho posterior extremities of tho palatines for a short 
distance. Tho maxillo-palatines, in their approximate portions, are shorter from before backwards than in Sturnus, and much 
resemble those of Corvus. The antero-inferior processes of the orbit are large and spongy ; they almost touch the zygoma. But 
the most characteristic portion of the skull of Heteralocha is the occipital region ; and in this it presents a great exaggeration of 
the peculiarities of Sturnus and its allies. In Corvus and most Passerines the digastric muscles occupy a narrow space intervening 
between the auditory meatus and the mass of occipital muscles, not extending so high up the skull as the latter. The occipital 
ridge encloses a space elongated from side to side, and of but little depth. In Sturnus the digastrics are much broader, and they 
narrow the occipital space ; they also extend up the skull to so great an extent that they nearly meet in the middle line above 
the origin of the biventres cervicis muscles ; but in Heteralocha they are of still greater size, and, meeting above the middle line, 
they form a strong ridge, which extends for some distance into the parietal region vertically. This peculiar development of these 
muscles produces a corresponding change in the shape of the space enclosed by the occipital ridge. In Heteralocha it is almost 
circular, and it extends some way above the foramen magnum. In Sturnus there is an approximation to this condition. A 
vertical parieto-oecipital ridge in many other birds closely resembles that of Heteralocha ; but it is the median limit of the 
temporal fossa in most. Correlated with this extensive digastric origin is a large surface for its insertion. The angle of the 
mandible is prolonged directly backwards for this purpose, in a manner unique among Passerine birds, but well seen in the 
Anatidce. In Sturnus the angle of the mandible is slightly prolonged backwards for a similar purpose In the sternum 
Heteralocha differs in no important point from Sturnus, except that the posterior notches tend to be converted into foramina, as 
observed by Mr. Eyton in his ‘ Osteologia Avium.’ .... In conclusion, it may he stated that the anatomy of Heteralocha shows 
clearly that it is truly Passerine, and not related to Upwpa, as was previously supposed by most authors. When examined more 
in detail its relation to the Sturnidce is found to be very intimate, and its structure is clearly not closely allied to that of the 
Corviclce. In its relation to Sturnus it seems to present an exaggeration of the peculiarities of that bird, which would place it at 
the head of the family.” — Proc. Zool. Soc. 1872, pp. 643-647. 
