in New Zealand. 
283 
which he had recently snared, for a little tobacco. It 
was a most graceful creature, and, as far as I am aware, 
an entirely new and undescribed species. Its general 
colour was dark, almost black; head, grey, and without 
a frontal shield; fore-neck and breast, ferruginous red; 
wings, barred with white; bill, produced and sharp; 
feet and legs, glossy olive; toes, beautifully and largely 
festooned at the edges; eye, light-coloured and very 
animated. It was very fierce, and never ceased attempt¬ 
ing to bite at everything within its reach. I kept it 
until we landed, intending to preserve it, but—as it was 
late, and neither material at hand nor time to spare, 
and the animal, too, looking so very lovely that I could 
not make up my mind to put it to death—I let it go; 
it swam, dived, and disappeared. From its not pos¬ 
sessing a frontal shield on the forehead (which is one 
of the principal generic marks of the Linn, genus, 
Fulica ), it may possibly hereafter be considered as the 
type of a new genus, serving to connect the genera 
Fulica and Rallus . Not a doubt, however, in my 
opinion can exist, as to its being naturally allied in 
habit and affinity to the Fulicce; I have, therefore, 
named it Fulica Nova-Zealandice. In size, it was some¬ 
what less than our European species, F. atra. 
I gained not any botanical specimens this day, save 
the Myriophyllum already mentioned; although I had 
every reason to believe, that many new and interesting 
plants would doubtless be found, in the dense and ever- 
humid forests on the immediate banks of this noble 
river: time, however, would not permit my delaying 
for that purpose. 
At an early hour the next morning I re-commenced 
my voyage down the Waikato. I found the river to 
