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present day one of our rarest species. There are three specimens in the British Museum, and one 
in the fine collection of raptorial birds formed by Mr. J. H. Gurney, and presented by him to the 
Norwich Museum. The Colonial Museum at Wellington and the Canterbury Museum * contain 
two specimens each ; and there is a fifth in the local Museum at Dunedin. There are three fine 
specimens in the late Mr. Dawson Rowley’s private museum at Brighton, and a still finer series in 
my own collection. All these examples, but one, were obtained in the South Island — the exceptional 
one having come from Wairarapa, in the provincial district of Wellington. 
My first acquaintance with this Owl in the live state was made in the Acclimatization Society’s 
Gardens at Christchurch. Unfortunately this Owl, which had lived in the Gardens for upwards of 
two years, w 7 as stone-blind, and its large eyes had a dead, glassy appearance ; but I saw quite enough 
to satisfy me that, in its natural state, it is strictly a ground-feeder. Its appearance was very full and 
rounded, the feathers of the head and neck being puffed out to a considerable extent. Although it 
had the freedom of a commodious shed, I observed that it remained constantly on the ground, standing 
high on its feet, the strong, feathered tarsi being vrey conspicuous. It manifested much impatience 
or, rather, restlessness, striding with rapidity along the ground, or sometimes moving by a succession 
of hops, and generally in a rotatory manner, which may have been due to its blindness. The keeper 
informed me that this bird was a very poor eater, refusing fresh meat, and taking nothing but newly 
killed birds and live mice. A young mouse, quite paralyzed with fear, was crouching near the ground 
awaiting its fate, but the Owl took no heed of it ; and in another part of its shed there was lying the 
half-devoured body of a hen Pheasant. I remarked of this bird that the feathered tarsi were much 
broader and stronger than they appear to be in the dried specimens. It walks quickly and with long 
strides, the body being held very erect ; and when its speed is increased, the wings are raised with a 
quivering motion. During the whole time of its confinement, the keeper had never heard it utter a 
sound, except once, when it startled him with its loud mocking cry. 
It should be mentioned that this bird, which was obtained near the source of the Cass River, in 
the county of Westland, was much darker in plumage than the specimens in the Canterbury Museum, 
and more nearly resembled the North-Island example mentioned above. As the colours underwent 
no change during its long confinement, it is sufficiently clear that the dark plumage is not a condi- 
tion of immaturity. 
The late Sir J. von Haast believed latterly that the large Owl captured by his dog amongst the rocky 
precipices in a creek near the Lindis Pass, and noticed by me, on his authority, under the provisional 
name of Stria: haasti f, was in reality a bird of the present species. Professor Hutton wrote informing 
me that this W'as the Owl referred to in the following passage, in his account of the Birds of the Little 
Barrier Island J : — “ Another bird also lives on the island, apparently in the cliffs, and comes out 
* Of the examples in the Canterbury Museum, one was procured from the Kakahu Bush, near Arowhenua ; and the other, 
killed at the Levels Station, near Timaru, was presented to the Museum by Mr. Donald McLean. Mr. Potts writes : — “ In May 
1857, while living in a tent on the Upper Ashburton, we were constantly disturbed at night by their doleful yells amongst the 
rocky mountain-gullies. When disturbed on the ground, it hursts forth its weird-like cry immediately after taking wing. Its 
robust form, thickly clothed with soft feathers, is admirably adapted for encountering the severities of climate to which it must bo 
frequently exposed whilst scouring its wild hunting-grounds. Par less arboreal than its smaller congeneT, it roams over the bleakest 
tracts of country in many districts where bush of any extent is rarely to be met with, finding shelter among the numerous 
crevices in the rocks of rugged mountain-gullies. Being strictly nocturnal in its habits in pursuit of its prey, it must brave the 
icy blast of the alpine snowstorm at the lowest temperature. The severity of the climate in these elevated regions would 
scarcely he credited by those who have only known the mildness of the coast-line. As may he inferred, the real home of this 
hardy raptorial bird is amongst the fastnesses of the Southern Alps, from whence it makes casual excursions by the numerous 
river-beds to the lower-lying grounds, these occasional visits extending as far as the plains. Although well known from its cry, 
not many specimens have been obtained.” 
f Essay on Eew-Zealand Ornithology, 1867. 
% Transactions of the Kew-Zealand Institute, vol. i. p. 162 (1868). 
