NATURAL HISTORY. 
611 
that the severance of the two must belong to a very remote 
period. 
The Fam. Rallidce , is rather an extensive one, though 
several members of it are extinct. The largest kind is the 
ocydromus Australis , the weka , or wood hen of the settlers. 
The breast is of a slate color, the back brown, and speckled ; 
it is strongly made, and about the size of a half- grown fowl : 
it is very abundant in the Middle Island, and the southern 
part of the North Isle ; its name is taken from its cry. 
The jpukeko , or rauhara, fporphyrio melanotus,) is a fine 
bird, about the size of a pullet; it has long red legs and toes, 
with a bill and protuberance above of the same color, some- 
what like the guinea-fowl, the back is black, and the breast 
of a bright mazarine blue, the under feathers of the tail 
are pure white, forming a fine contrast with the black of its 
short tail, which has always a spasmodic movement; this 
bird has a strong shrill cry, resembling its name, flies slowly 
and heavily, and is a great thief, making much havoc in the 
cultivations; it abounds in swamps and along the sides of 
rivers, the flesh is dry and coarse, seldom eaten by the natives, 
but much esteemed by Europeans, who say, that when kept 
it has an exquisite flavor, it is easily domesticated. 
Of this family is the takahe , the notornis mantellii of Owen, 
a large heavy bird of the Middle Island, very rare, of the 
size of a hen, and is the largest known rail in the world, 
with a short thick beak, and strong legs, the back is black, 
and its neck and body of a dark blue, shaded with green and 
gold on the wings, the tail is scanty, and white underneath, 
two specimens only have reached this country, which are to 
be seen in the British Museum. A new one is Radius 
Feather stonily a very fine bird. 
There are several smaller kinds of rails, of these is the 
pojpotai, (r alius assimilis 3 J of a ferruginous color ; the moe 
rild radius Rieffenbachii, is peculiar to the Chatham Isles, 
a fine bird, but extremely rare. 
Katatai, a small rail, about the size of a sparrow, but of 
a very delicate shape ; it is of a light brown color* the back 
spotted with black and white, the breast of a slate color 
r r 2 
