THE



Avicultural Magazine


THE JOURNAL OF THE

AVICULTURAL SOCIETY



Fourth Series. —Vol. XIII.—-No. 7.— All rights reserved. JULY, 1935



THE NEW ZEALAND TOMTIT


(.Myiomoira toitoi)


The bird represented in the accompanying plate is, in spite of its

trivial name, in no way related to the true Titmice (Paridse), but belongs

to that large group of Australasian Flycatchers, which includes the

lovely genus Petroica.


The photo has been lent by Mr. Porter, and the plate should properly

have accompanied his article on the species in “ Notes on New Zealand

Birds ” published in the Magazine for January, 1934. The reason

for including it now is that it seems to us a pity not to make use of

,so excellent and unusual a photograph, giving, as it does, an almost

exact representation of the bird, the colour of its plumage being black

and white. Moreover, the small white patches on each side of the

beak are clearly shown, although normally they are hidden unless

the bird is excited.


The species is confined to the North Island, but the closely allied

M. macrocephala macrocephala is found in the South Island, while

M. m. dieffenbachii and M. m. marrineri are confined respectively

to the Chatham Islands and to the Auckland Islands.


There can be little doubt that a bird which in the wild state “ becomes

exceedingly familiar, very much like our own robin ”, would make a

charming and intelligent addition to aviculture.


A. C.



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