43 
This peculiar form of brevipennate Rail (of which there 
are several species) is not found in any other part of the 
world. It is furnished with ample wings, but they are so 
feebly developed as to render the bird quite incapable of flight. 
The quill-featliers have strong webs but are soft and flexible; 
while the long inner secondaries take the form of a loose 
overlapping mantle. The legs, on the other hand, are very 
strongly developed; and the bird is in some measure com¬ 
pensated for its disability of wing by being able to run 
almost with the swiftness of a rat. It is semi-nocturnal in 
its habits, and during the day usually remains concealed in 
the thick fern or scrub which covers its haunts, or takes 
refuge in a broken log or other natural cavity. 
The New-Zealand Woodhen and the Dodo of the Mau¬ 
ritius are the only two known forms (excepting, of course, 
the Struthiones ) in which the angle formed by the axes of 
the coracoid and scapula is greater than a right angle—a 
feature of such importance that Professor Huxley has adopted 
it as one of the distinguishing characters in his scheme for 
the classification of birds, under the two divisions of Carinate 
and Ratitae . 
2. Ocydromus australis, Sparrm. South-Island Woodhen. 
“Weka” (Case IY. Nos. 5, 7, and 11: adult male, 
female, and chick.) 
This is the Common Woodhen of the South Island. It 
abounds in considerable numbers on all the sheep-runs in 
the lower country; and its thievish propensities render it 
sometimes very troublesome. 
3. Ocydromus brachypterus, Lafresnaye. Buff-marked 
Woodhen. “ Weka(Case IX. No. 35, with nest 
containing eggs.) 
This species is also confined to the South Island, being 
met with generally in the alpine heights, and sometimes on 
the snow-line. 
