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breeding-season, sometimes in countless numbers ; and after the duties of incubation and rearing their 
young are accomplished, these colonies disperse at large over a vast tract of ocean, to assemble again 
the following year. Thus, then, for a considerable portion of the year birds of closely-allied species may 
be found flying together ; but they separate to their respective breeding-quarters at the proper season. 
From this it may be gathered that the fact of two or more closely-allied Petrels found together on 
the open ocean is not by any means so strong a proof of their specific identity as would be the case 
in most other birds. It is by the uniformity or otherwise of birds when assembled at their breeding- 
stations that characters of real specific value are to be traced.” 
At page 24 (Vol. I.) I have stated my reasons for not including the Kermadec Islands in this 
work ; but as any information relating to the birds of this group must be of interest to the student of 
New-Zealand ornithology, especially in regard to the subject of geographical distribution, I have 
much pleasure in quoting the following observations recorded by Mr. T. F. Cheeseman, Curator of 
the Auckland Museum, who has lately visited those islands in the Government steam-boat ‘ Stella.’ 
Much of the information was obtained from Mr. Bell, a resident on Raoul Island, which is the furthest 
of the group, being about 640 miles from Auckland, or midway between New Zealand and Tonga. The 
following New-Zealand species are, he states, the commonest birds on the Kermadecs, namely, the 
Harrier {Circus gouldi), the Kingfisher vagans), the Tui {Prosthemadera novce zealandice), the 
White-eye {Zosterops cmrulescens), the Pipit {Anthus novce zealandice), the Red-fronted Parrakeet {Platy- 
cercus novce zealandice), the Pukeko {Porpkyrio melanonotus), and the Grey Duck {Anas sujperciliosa). 
Mr. Bell states that both the Long-tailed Cuckoo {Eudynamis taitensis) and the Shining Cuckoo ( Chry- 
sococcyx lucidus) are yearly visitants ; and that a large Fruit-Pigeon, supposed to be identical with the 
New-Zealand species, was abundant till it had been exterminated by the introduced cats. A similar 
fate has befallen the Red-fronted Parrakeet on Sunday Island ; but this bird is still plentiful on Meyer 
Islet, an outlying wooded rock, whilst on Macaulay Island it is to be seen in great numbers, going 
about in flocks of from twelve to fifty, hopping amongst the short grass, and apparently feeding on the 
seeds of Erigeron and Gnaphalium. Mr. Cheeseman adds : — “ So tame was it and so unused to man’s 
presence, that I caught two by simply walking quietly up and suddenly putting my hat over them while 
they were walking on the grass. Several more were caught by the sailors in a similar way.” As might 
have been expected, many of the Petrels belonging to the New-Zealand avifauna are to be met with 
among these islands; but Mr. Cheeseman writes of a Puffiims: — “A species of this genus, clearly 
different from any of the New-Zealand forms, breeds on Sunday Island in September and October, 
laying its eggs on the bare ground among the trees on the hill-sides. The young birds, wRen cured, 
form no inconsiderable portion of the food of the residents, and are by no means bad eating. The 
old birds had only just commenced to arrive at the time of our visit, but during the middle of the 
season they are present in enormous numbers. Large portions of the island are then entirely covered 
with them, and the noise and confusion is said to be almost indescribable ... A fine Gannet, 
differing from the New-Zealand species in wanting the buff-coloured feathers on the head, was not 
uncommon, but I was unable to obtain a specimen.” Subsequently, in a letter to myself, he says : — 
“ Since I wrote, Captain Fairchild has made another trip in the ‘ Stella ’ and has kindly brought 
me living specimens of the Gannet referred to in my paper. I believe it to be Sula cyanogms 
(Ramsay), but have not yet fully compared it with the descriptions. 1 have also received skins and 
eggs of the Tropic bird {Phaethon ruhricauda), which breeds there yearly in great numbers, also of 
Gygis Candida. Mr. Bell writes me that the Gygis breeds in the branches of Metrosideros poly- 
