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gosling, and was covered with thick cottony down of a dirty white colour inclining to buff, with 
feathers beginning to show themselves on the back, wings, and tail ; cere and legs yellow. It opene 
its mouth for food on being approached, and when provoked would strike forward or upward with 
its well-armed feet. It made one aware of its presence by its rather fetid odour, as well as its occa- 
sional cry, which was like a half-suppressed whistle. . , . . 
When there are two young birds in a nest there is often a remarkable disparity in their size. 
They are always very savage when molested, throwing themselves on their back and staking vigorously 
with their talons at the hand of the intruder. 
A nest found by a Wanganui settler contained, in addition to two full-grown young birds, the 
remains of 11 Pheasants, 5 rats, 3 Quail, and a Weka. ... - ... .. 
The e- s are from two to four in number, but genentlly three, ovoido-con.cal in form with a 
, - r f .1 „v,i fp till stained bv the bird’s feet during incubation, 
smooth or finely granulate surface, perfectly white, till stained by f 
and measuring 1*9 inch in length by 1-5 ; my largest example measures 2 by 1 6. At first g 
they appear to be disproportionately small for the size of the bird; but they are not so in reali y 
for the body of this Hawk, when stripped of the feathers, is almost ridiculously small Ate 
being blown, if held up against the light, the interior of the shell presents a suiface of a b 
clear green. 
Before passing on to the next group, I may mention that in a case of mounted Raptores which I 
had the pleasure of presenting, some years ago, to the Colonial Museum there is a ^ specimen of 
the White-bellied Sea-Eagle (. TcMhyaetus leucogaster), which I received from the late Mr. Gould 
having been obtained in New Zealand. This species has been observed along the whole southern 
coast of Australia, from Moreton Bay on the east to Swan River on the west, including Tasmania and 
all the small islands in Bass Strait ; and as it is a powerful flier there is no physical reason whj it 
should not occur sometimes as a straggler on the New-Zealand coast. Mr. Gould had satisfied him- 
self that this specimen was obtained there, although unable to ascertain the precise locality. In 
corroboration of its presumed occurrence, I may mention that an officer of the 14th Regiment, w o 
was a good sportsman and a tolerable naturalist, assured me that he had actually seen and filed upon 
a “ Sea-Eagle” on the rocks near the entrance to the Wellington harbour. 
Two other species of Accipitres, the Falco subniger (a rare bird inhabiting South Australia) and 
the Mims isurus , or Australian Kite, have had New Zealand assigned as their habitat on the 
authority of Mr. J. H. Gurney, who, in a letter to ‘The Ibis’ (1870, p. 536), offers the following 
explanation — “ My authority for quoting New Zealand as a habitat for the former (Falco subniger) 
was the veteran ornithologist, M. Jules P. Verreaux, who informed me that a New-Zealand specimen 
had passed through his hands. With regard to the latter (Milvus isurus ), the Norwich Museum 
spec men, which I obtained from Mr. A. D. Bartlett, who assured me, at the tune, that he 
had received it from New Zealand, and had satisBed himself that it had been killed rn that country. 
Probably both these species, if not indigenous to New Zealand, may occasionally occur there as 
accidental visitors from the Australian continent.” In support of Mr. Gurney s surmise, I may state 
that the account sent to me, many years ago, by Sir Julius von Haast, of a Hawk observed by him 
in the Southern Alps, although unfortunately not secured, seems to accord with that grven by Captain 
Sturt of the Australian Falco subniger. 
