208 
It is a very common bird in New Zealand, being met with on the fern-covered hills, in the plains, 
among the marshes of the low country, and even along the open seabeach, where it feeds on carrion. 
It is seldom, however, found in the dense bush, although I once surprised one there in the act of 
picking a large Wood-Pigeon * *. 
Like all the other members of the genus, it hunts on the wing, performing wide circles at a low 
elevation from the ground, and sailing over meadows, fern-land, or marshes in quest of lizards, mice, 
and other small game. Its flight is slow but vigorous and well sustained. The small size and specific 
gravity of its body, as compared with the great development of wings and tail and corresponding 
muscles, enable it to continue these wanderings for a whole day without any apparent fatigue. When 
sailing, as it often does, at a high elevation, the wings are inclined upwards so as to form a broad 
obtuse angle (with the tail half spread), and there is no perceptible motion in them, except when the 
bird alters its course. A pair may often be seen sailing thus in company, mounting higher with each 
gyration, and emitting a peevish whistle as they cross each other’s course. On these occasions I have 
sometimes seen the birds close in upon and attack each other, the upper one making the first swoop, 
and the lower one instantly turning on its back, with upstretched talons, to receive him, and, after 
thus parrying the attack, wheeling upwards and becoming in turn the assailant. Whether it be the 
angry meeting of rival males, or the amorous gambols of raptorial lovers, I have never been able 
to determine ; but this aerial encounter, whether in earnest or in play, has a very pretty effect. 
A correspondent informs me that he once observed five of these birds engaged together in this 
manner, at the commencement of the breeding-season, and that it was one of the prettiest sights of 
the kind he had ever witnessed. 
It is worthy of remark that the birds of the first year are apparently incapable of the peculiar sailing 
flight which I have described, their locomotion being effected entirely by slowly repeated flappings 
of the wings. This circumstance, taken in conjunction with the dark colour of the young bird 
(appearing perfectly black at a little distance), has led to the common belief that there are two 
distinct species. 
When gorged with food, the Harrier takes up its station on a rising knoll, a projecting stump, 
or the naked limb of a detached tree standing in the open, when it assumes an erect posture, with 
the head drawn closely in and the wings folded (as represented in the accompanying Plate), and 
remains perfectly motionless for a considerable time. When thus reposing, it is possible to get within 
gun-range of a “ Kahu-korako,” or very old bird ; but at other times it is extremely difficult to 
obtain a shot. Hawks are known to be long-lived ; and they appear to gain more experience of 
the world as they grow older. The dark-plumaged Harrier falls an easy prey to the gunner : it 
may be winged as it sails above him at an easy elevation, or it may be approached quickly and 
surprised when it descends to the ground to capture and devour a mouse or lizard. But the 
wary old “ White Hawk ” carries with him the experience of many dangers, and is not so easily 
single character by which it can be specifically distinguished. As the true C. assimilis, Jard. & Selby, is undoubtedly the 
same as 0. jardinii, Gould (which, therefore, must bear the former appellation), the New Zealand Harrier must stand as 
approximate, Peale.” But Hr. J. H. Gurney, who is a recognized authority in regard to the Accipitres, has arrived at a 
different conclusion; and even were the matter entirely free from doubt, I should hesitate before disturbing a name so 
generally understood and accepted as that of Circus gouldi. 
* I am indebted to Mr. J. A. Wilson for the following interesting information : — In March 1884 there was a violent eruption 
from the crater of White Island in the Bay of Plenty. For some weeks there was a continuous discharge of volcanic debris 
from the pit of the crater, with the usual accompaniments ; and the heat thus evolved had the effect of driving out the rats 
which abound there in prodigious numbers (a small black rat, supposed by some to be the true Iciore maori). Ihis exodus, 
strange to say, was the signal for the appearance on the island of the Harrier, which came over in large numbers from the 
mainland, as many as seventy having been counted on the wing together in one spot alone. 
