IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2928, 27 April 1910, Page 13

IN TOUCH WITH NATURE.

THE STORY OF THE NOTORNIS. j (Bt.James Drummomd, F.L.S., F.Z.S.) : Dr Young, of Invercargill, has supplemented Mr Donald Ross's account 01 the discovery of the fourth Notornis, published a few weeks ago, and has continued the story from the time the specimen was sent by the Ross brothers irom linmsden. When the bird reached Invercargill Dr Young suggested that it should be disposed of to him, as Mr Ross, owing to his isolated position, was at some disadvantage in carrying on negotiations for the sale. Mr Ross agreed to that arrangement, and took no further part in the transactions, except when Dr Young asked tor his advice —a degree of confidence which Dr Young feels is very flattering to , him, and whicn, he adds, few men in these days entertain towards other men, whether it is merited or not. Dr Young's first step was to send the treasure by a special messenger to Professor Benham, .; in Dunedin, with a request that it should be preserved for its owner, and described for science. Mr A. Hamilton, who was then registrar of the Otago University, ■had beard news of the discovery, and arrived :t Dr Young's place in Invercargill 1 a few hours after the bird had been sent away. If he bad been a little earlier he would have been entrusted with its care. Even before Mrs Young left Invercargill with the Notornis in her possession < the news had gone abroad, as a telegram came from the Bluff the same day conveying an offer of £2O. During the next few days telegraphic offers came from all the principal New Zealand towns as far north as Wellington, one being as high as £IOO. Dr Young had only one reply to these offers—the bird was n °t f° r sale. Then letters poured in. Some of them were insolent in tone because Dr Young showed no wish to do business. A well-known gentleman in the North Island wrote that Dr Young had no right to retain the bird, tkinkir.j:. apparently, that his impatience (gave him superior rights in that respect. Dr Young still held his peace, maintaining that his right to hold was at least equal to anyone's right to buy. During the next two months more offers came, the limit reaching £250, but they were all refused, on the ground that the bird had not been offered for sale. . Dr Young then conferred with Mr Ross, : who agreed that the bird should be offered to the New Zealand Government for £250, \ on condition that it remained permanently in the Dunedin Museum Mr Ross was willing to sacrifice the prospects of higher offers, which he knew would be received, but only on the understanding that the specimen wOuld be placed in the Dunedin Museum. Dr Young then submitted an offer on those lines to the Government, limiting the time it should be held good to about a fortnight after the time at which it was expected the session of Parliament would end. Shortly before the term expired, Sir John M'Kenzie, who was then Minister of Lands, telegraphed to Dr Young accepting the offer. A few days later a cheque for £250 was received from the Lands Department. Just previous to the Government's acceptance of the offer, Dr Youns: refused £3OO from a gentleman in Wellington. " These are all the facts known to me except those that Mr Boss has communicated," Dr Young concludes; "and I am very glad to supply them to von. because it is not generally known that the bird was bought by the Government specially for ihe University Museum in Dunedin. I have reason to believe that I could have obtained £SOO in the open market. Mr Ross knew this when he permitted me to sell it to the New Zealand Government for £250. Eighteen years aso, when I was in Dresden, I saw the Notornis obtained by Mr Connor on the Hankinson Brothers' run at Te Anau. It was in fine condition, and was kept under cover, so that it would be out of the light when it was not under inspection. Six months ago I saw it again. It was then locked away wit' some other specimens in a -dark chamber, and seemed to have faded much. The curator, however, still took a iqreat deal of pleasure in showipg it. The Dresden specimen is larger than the Dunedin one." Through the kindness of Dr YouniS, I have been able to obtain from Mr Connor, who now lives at Orepuki, an account of the discoverv of the third Notornis, in 1879. In that vear Mr Connor was manager of the Hankiriions' run. On a part of it, called "The Wilderness," near the Mararoa River, he had employed a man named Robert Scott as a rabbiter. Scott had jusu finished clearing that place, and was about to change his gixrand, when Mr Connor went to see how he was getting on. In conversation, Scoto remarked casually thn-t he had caught a few pukekos and other birds, and amonsst them was a somewhat large one. His dog had caught it' and' he had intended to take the feathers to some friends, but had relinquished the idoa. as it was ha.rdlv worth while. He pulled the bird from the bush where he bad thrown it when he was packing up in order to leave. Mr Connor at once recognised it as a stranger, probably a Notorni-s. It was alive when the doe: took it to Scott, but it was dazed and stuoid. It made no attemnt to run away, and Scott, following the British instinct."* at once wrung; its neck. He had almost forgotten its existence when Mr Connor's conversation recalled the incidents, which to the rabbiter seemed very trivial The bird was taken in hand bv Mr Connor, who carefully skinned it and collected all the bones. He used a preservative that had laft 3+ the homestead bv Mrs Harwell, of Svdnev, an ardentnaturalist, who had visited Te Anau some time previously. The skin was kept in Mr Oonnor'V apartments for many months, but at last he .sent it Home to Messrs Hallet Bros, for sale in London. Before

sealing up the box, however, he submitted the specimen to Professor T. J. Parker, of Dunedin, and Sir Walter Buller, who examined and described it. There was keen competition for the skin at the sale in London. The agent for the Dresden Museum was the successful bidder, and the price he paid was £lO5. Apparently no determined attempt was made to secure the specimen for any museum in New Zealand, as it was nearly two _ years in Mr Connor's possession before it was placed on the London market. If business had not taken Mr Connor to the rabbiter's camp before it was shifted, the specimen probably would never have been heard of. The incident gives rise to some reflections in regard to the number of specimens which may have been found, but which, through sheer ignorance, have been lost to the world.