43 
Notes on the Ornithology of the Gold Coast. 
as that of the female is the winter dress of both sexes. The 
plumage of the sexes is similar in all Cormorants. This bird 
is quite as abundant at Napier and in the Firth of the Thames 
as in any part of the South Island. 
Apteryx mantelli. 
This bird is not so scarce in the North Island as Dr. Buller 
imagines. In 1866 I heard it at the Waikato coal-mines; 
and a few months previously a surveying party killed five at 
Taupiri, on the opposite side of the river. The natives also 
told me that it was common on the Piako ranges. In 1868 
I heard of four being killed at Howick, and two in the Wai- 
takerei ranges, both places being within a few miles of Auck¬ 
land ; and I have on several occasions had eggs brought me 
from Pirongia. 
Wellington, New Zealand. 
20th June, 1873. 
Y.— Notes on the Ornithology of the Gold Coast. 
By Herbert Taylor Ussher, C.M.G., C.M.Z.S., &c. 
(Plate II.) 
The following rough notes have been put together at the 
request of my friend Mr. Sharpe, who has described in this 
Journal the collections made by me during my residence in 
Fantee. I am induced to offer them to the readers of f The 
Ibis' as a supplement to his papers; and as so little is known 
respecting the economy of West-African birds, I trust they 
may not be devoid of interest. The nomenclature employed 
is that of Mr. Sharpe's papers in this Journal*, or of his cata¬ 
logue of African birds. Dr. Hartlaub's well-known work being 
quoted where the birds are not referred to in the above-men¬ 
tioned lists. 
1. Neophron pileatus (Burch.) : Hartl. Orn. Westafr. 
p . 1 . 
Very plentiful on the Gold Coast, especially in and about 
large towns and villages, where it is the common scavenger, 
* Ibis, 1869, pp. 186, 381 j 1870, pp. 52, 470; 1872, p. 66. 
/* 4 
