laying generally four rather glossy eggs, of proportional size, 
ovoid, and marked over the entire surface with rounded spots 
of reddish brown. The chick, which is able to run immedi¬ 
ately after exclusion, is covered with thick jet-black down. 
An allied form with a more curved bill (Cabalus dieffen- 
bachii) formerly inhabited the Chatham Islands ; but it is 
now supposed to be extinct. The only known specimen is in 
the British Museum. 
Cabalus dieffenbachii. 
Genus ORTYGOMETRA. (Cosmopolite. ) 
Ortygometra affinis, Gray. (Case IX. No. 20.) 
Occurs in both Islands, but is everywhere a rare species 
and difficult to obtain. 
Genus OCYDROMUS. (Peculiar to New Zealand.) 
1. Ocydromus earli. Grav. North-Island Woodhen. 
* 4 ) 
“ Weka.” (Case IV. Nos. 4, 10, and 13: male and 
female.) 
