Art. XLIX.—Further Contributions to the Ornithology of New Zealand.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 11, 1878, Page 366

Art. XLIX.—Further Contributions to the Ornithology of New Zealand. By Walter L. Buller, C.M.G., Sc.D. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 9th September, 1878.] Hieracidea ferox, Peale—Bush Hawk. In Volume VI of our Transactions, page 113, I pointed out why, in my opinion, Mr. Sharpe was wrong in proposing to substitute Hieracidea australis for the above name, in his communication to ‘The Ibis,’ 1873 pp. 327–330. In his official catalogue of the Accipitres in the British Museum, he not only gives H. australis the precedence, but commits (as I venture to think) the further error of making it a “sub-species,” whatever that may mean, of H. novæ-zealandiæ. The two birds are either specifically distinct, as

I and others at present believe, or they belong to one and the same species, as contended for by Professor Hutton. On this point we are still waiting for further evidence, but unfortunately both the large and small forms are becoming so scarce that there are few opportunities of examining fresh specimens. Mr. Sharpe has adopted Bonaparte's genus for our bird, merely altering the termination for classical accuracy and making it Harpa. He has given a woodcut of the foot, but has not diagnosed the genus. As he has treated the Australian genus Hieracidea in the same manner, it may be inferred that the difference in the arrangement of the scutellæ is the only ground for separating the genera. It seems to me, however, that as a distinguishing generic character this is somewhat uncertain. On comparing Mr. Sharpe's figure of the foot of H. australis with that given by me in Volume VI. of Transactions (facing page 214), it will be seen that there is a considerable amount of divergence. The following very truthful woodcut of the head of our bird will show its close relation to the Australian form, familiar to us as Hieracidea berigora. Mr. Sharpe, at page 420 of his Catalogue, cites Gould, P. Z. S., 1837, page 141, for the genus Ieracidea, of which H. berigora is the recoginzed type. I have not access here to the early proceedings of the Zoological Society, but I find that Mr. Gould himself cites his Syn. Birds of Austr., part III., as the earliest authority for Ieracidea berigora, and the Proc. Zool. Soc. June 25, 1844, for Ieracidea occidentalis. On the subject of the systematic position of our bird, Dr. Finsch has the following remarks, which I have translated from the German of the “Journal für Ornithologie” for March, 1872:—“Falco novæ-zealandiæ must be ranged among the Tree-falcons, and follows next in order to Falco femoralis, having, like the latter, a long tail, which is only half covered by the wings. * * * Third primary longest; second shorter and somewhat longer than fourth; first and fifth equal. Tarsi covered in front with ten sexagonal scutes in double rows. Middle toe very long, being with the claw nearly as long as the leg; lateral toes equal, the points of their claws scarcely reaching to the base of the middle-toe claw. A subgeneric distinction appears justifiable.”

Circus gouldi, Bonap., N.Z. Harrier. It is worth recording that the Harrier will sometimes pursue on the wing. Riding along the road near the Whenuakura river, I observed a kahu pursuing a small bird (apparently a ground lark) high in the air. The pursuit was continued for a considerable time, the hawk making frequent swoops and the small bird eluding its grasp by suddenly altering its course, and thus gaining on its pursuer. When nearly out of sight the hawk was joined by another, both in pursuit of the same bird, from which circumstance I conclude that the raptor was foraging for hungry ones at home. This might account for the eagerness of the pursuit, and for a mode of chase which I have never observed before during a very long acquaintance with this species. Platycercus rowleyi, Buller, Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. VII., p. 220. So many specimens of this small form have been obtained in the South Island (whereas it never occurs in the North) that I think it may safely be admitted into the list of true and accepted species. I have been looking over my notes on the series of this group in the British Museum, and I find that there is an appreciable difference in size between my bird and the type of Gray's Platycercus aucklandicus, which is, I believe, only a small example of P. novæ zealandiæ. As the notes to which I have referred may be useful for reference, I have transcribed them from my pocket diary. British Museum Collection.—My examination of the types gives the following results:—Platycercus aucklandicus not distinguishable from P. novæ-zealandiæ, but smaller than ordinary examples; beak decidedly smaller, being of same size as in P. auriceps, but lighter at the base; ear-spots indistinct; frontal spot less extensive, but of same colour as in P. novæ-zealandiæ. P. malherbii = P. auriceps, but smaller than average specimens of the latter. P. pacificus similar to P. novæ-zealandiæ but much larger, with a more robust bill. P. erythrotis, from Macquarie Islands, = P. pacificus, but with lighter plumage. P. forsteri = P. novæ-zealandiæ with the thigh-spots accidentally absent. There is another specimen marked “Platycercus forsteri,” to which I shall refer again presently, in very different plumage. P. cookii = P. pacificus. P. unicolor, a much larger and very distinct species. (See my remarks in Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. VI., p. 121). P. rayneri, from Norfolk Island, is like P. pacificus, but larger and with a more powerful bill; the frontal spot is more extensive but lighter in colour; ear-spot small and obscure as compared with P. novæ-zealandiæ. I think we may pretty safely conclude that P. rayneri is in reality P. pacificus, although the British Museum specimen is both larger and lighter coloured than ordinary specimens of the latter. Platycercus ulietanus, from the Society

Islands, is very distinct in appearance from all those enumerated above. The so-called “P. forsteri,” referred to above, labelled as from the main island Otaheiti, appears to hold an intermediate position between P. ulietanus and P. pacificus. It has the general plumage of P. pacificus but of much duller tints, mixed with brown on the upper parts and clouded with a colder green on the under parts. It wants the crimson vertex; but there is a frontal patch of brownish black corresponding to the colour of P. ulietanus which changes to crimson in front of the eyes; behind which, also, there is a small obscure spot of dull crimson. It has the concealed nuchal patch of yellowish white, which is found in P. pacificus; while, on the other hand, it has the bright crimson rump which is characteristic of P. ulietanus. The tail has a dingy, washed-out appearance, and the colours of the plumage generally are very undecided. The bill and feet are exactly as in P. ulietanus, of which species this bird may be an accidental variety, or possibly, a hybrid. There is a specimen of our P. novæ-zealandiæ, exhibiting much bright yellow mixed with the green on the abdomen and under tail-coverts. It likewise has the thigh-spots very large and bright; the rump stained, and the tail obscurely banded on the upper surface with dull yellow. Another (collected by Strange) has a single bright yellow feather on the abdomen, and, according to the collector, the irides also were yellow. Nestor meridionalis, Gray.—Kaka Parrot. A curious circumstance in the natural history of the kaka has lately come to my knowledge. At a certain season of the year, when this bird is excessively fat, large numbers of them are found washed ashore in Golden Bay, or on the Spit which runs out from it. They are generally dead, but if not, are so exhausted as to be unable to take wing. The apparent explanation is that the kakas in their migration across Cook Strait, which is widest at this part, are unable to maintain the long flight, owing to their fat and heavy condition, and fall into the sea. The set of the current being towards Cape Farewell, the bodies of the perishing birds are swept in that direction, and finally cast ashore. Halcyon vagans, Gray.—N.Z. Kingfisher. On driving round Porirua harbour on the 19th July last, I noticed an unusual number of kingfishers perched on the rocks along the beach, and on the telegraph wires stretched across the numerous little bays. They were evidently attracted by the shoals of little fish that were frequenting the shallow water at the time; and at one spot I had an ocular demonstration of my argument with Captain Hutton,* Trans. N.Z. Inst., Vol. VI., p. 129. which I should like him to have witnessed. “Ten little kingfishers sitting in a row” were in possession of

a short span of telegraph wire overhanging the water, and, one after the other, they were dipping into the shallow sea-water in pursuit of fish. Sometimes two or even three of them would dip at the same moment, raising a tiny splash all round, and then mount again to the wire or fly off to the shore with their finny prey. In further illustration of the piscivorous habits of this bird it may be mentioned that Mr Brandon, of this city, has an indictment to file against the kingfisher for robbing the fountain in his garden of goldfish. I am not aware that our kingfisher is ever nocturnal in its habits; but on a recent occasion, when travelling by coach along the banks of the Manawatu River, about 2.30 a.m., it being a cloudy night and quite dark, I heard the loud call-notes of this bird with startling distinctness. Probably it was a sleeper disturbed by the passing of the coach; although under these circumstances birds, as a rule, betake themselves off in silence to another roosting place. Heteralocha acutirostris, Buller.—The Huia. To the long list of albinoes among New Zealand birds already recorded, I have now to add a very remarkable one. I have received from Captain Mair some feathers which have much the appearance of the soft grey plumage of Apteryx oweni, although of course the structure is different, but which are in reality from the body of a Huia. I hope to receive the skin for examination, but in the meantime I will give a quotation from the letter forwarding the feathers:—“Old Hapuku, on his death-bed, sent for Mr. F. E. Hamlin, and presented him with a great taonga. This has just been shown to me. It is the skin of a very peculiar Huia, an albino I suppose, called by the Hawke's Bay natives ‘Te Ariki.’ I send you a few feathers. The whole skin is of the same soft dappled colour, but the feathers are longer and softer. The bill is nearly straight, strong, and full length. The wattles are of a pale canary colour. The centre tail-feather is the usual black, while the four on each side are the beautiful grey colour. These birds are well known to the Huia-hunting natives of Hawke's Bay, and to possess an ‘Ariki’ skin one must be a great chief. The specimen I have described was obtained in the Ruahine mountains.” Eudynamis taitensis, Sparrm.—Long-tailed Cuckoo. The range of this species has been extended to the Friendly Group, Dr. Finsch having identified a young male in the spotted dress in a collection of birds from the Island of Eua. The long-tailed cuckoo remains with us from October to February, and breeds in this country; but we have yet a good deal to learn about its peculiar habits and nidification. It is very pleasant to hear a pair of these birds answering each other for hours together from the lofty tops of neighbouring trees. Indeed, I have

observed that it is habitually stationary, for it may often be heard uttering its long, plaintive scream for a whole day in the same tree, but always quite out of view. During the quiet summer nights of December its far-off cry may be heard at intervals till break of day, varied only in the earlier watches by the solemn hooting of the morepork. Zosterops lateralis, Reich.—Silver-eye. Referring again to the migration of Zosterops from the South Island in 1856, it may, I think, be assumed that the large flights which came across the Straits made the island of Kapiti in their passage, and tarried there for a time before they reached the North Island. It will be remembered that the flocks which afterwards spread over the province appeared first at Waikanae and Paekakariki, on the lee shore from that island. I found Zosterops excessively abundant at Kapiti during my visit in April. Every bush swarmed with them, and sometimes fifty or more would crowd together in the leafy top of a stunted karaka, warbling and piping in chorus, producing sylvan music of a very sweet description. They appeared to be feeding on a species of Coccus that afflicts that tree. The large numbers of these birds that appeared in flocks at Waikanae and Otaki in the early part of June last would seem to indicate another incursion from the South Island at that date. Gerygone flaviventris, Gray.—Grey Warbler. A nest of this little bird in the Canterbury Museum, of rather larger size than usual, presents the uncommon feature of several soft Emeu feathers, as well as some bright coloured feathers of the domestic fowl, worked into the felting, among the ordinary substances (see fig. 1); another in the same collection is ornamented with the long dry leaves of the red gum (Eucalyptus), around and among which the round structure is most cleverly built (see fig. 2). There is another, showing very conspicuously the porched entrance, described in a former paper (see fig. 3). The form of the nest appears to be generally adapted to circumstances of locality, etc., and the accompanying woodcut will show how variable it is. Hylochelidon nigricans, Gould.—Australian Tree Swallow. Mr. Cook has added to his former communication the following (under date Blenheim, 23rd August):—“I have no further notice to give of the

appearance of the Tree Swallow, except that I saw what I believe to be the same bird about half a mile from where I saw it before, a month after its first appearance. Although I have kept a good look out for it since, I have not again seen it. If I mistake not, I have often seen the Tree Swallow on the Wimmera, in Australia. Its nesting place was in hollow logs; sociable in nidification; a dozen or more nests of clay, bottle shaped, and built touching one another.” My correspondent's remarks on the nesting habits refer evidently to the Australian martin, which builds bottle-shaped nests of the kind he describes; sometimes in the cavities of decayed trees, often in clusters attached to the perpendicular banks of rivers, the sides of rocks, or other prominences, and generally in the vicinity of water. The Tree Swallow, on the contrary, as Mr. Gould informs us, breeds in the holes of trees, forming no nest but depositing its eggs, from three to five in number, on the soft dust, or pulverised wood, generally found in such places. The species has a rather wide range, being migratory over the southern portion of Australia and Tasmania, arriving in August and retiring northwards on the approach of autumn. Mr. A. R. Wallace brought specimens from the Aru Islands; and other localities have been recorded. It visits the towns, in company with the common swallow; and I remember seeing it comparatively numerous in and about Sydney, during a visit there in August, 1871. Himantopus albicollis, Buller.—White-necked Stilt. Through the kind attention of Mr. C. H. Robson, I have received from Cape Campbell a Plover clearly referable to the above species. From the enlarged condition of the tarsi below the joint, it is evidently an immature bird, and this will account for the crown and hind neck being tinged or faintly mottled with grey, these parts being wholly white in the adult. The flanks, rump, and under tail-coverts are clouded with black; tail-feathers on their inner web and towards the base white; the rest of the plumage as in my type. Anas superciliosa, Gmel.—Grey Duck. As an instance of how the grey duck may be tamed by protection, I may mention that, on October 26, I saw a pair with eleven young ones within a few yards of Travers' Bridge, Avon, almost in the heart of Christchurch, and several other pair in the vicinity. It has generally been found almost impossible to domesticate this bird owing to its tendency to revert to the wild state. But lately, when riding between Woodville and the Manawatu Gorge, I saw, at a “cockatoo homestead,” a flock of domestic ducks on the roadside, and with them a perfectly tame Anas superciliosa, apparently a bird of the first year. It was distinguishable at a glance from the rest, by its manner of walking, carrying its head low or in a crouching attitude. Its smaller size and more slender form also betrayed it, before I came near enough to examine the plumage.

Anas chlorotis, G. R. Gray.—Brown Duck. An albino form of this duck, the whole of the plumage being of a dull cream colour, with obsolete markings, was shot in the Horowhenua Lake in June last. The brown duck is far more plentiful than is generally supposed; but, being a nocturnal feeder, it is not so commonly seen as the grey duck and the “black teal” or pochard. It always retires up the creeks in the woods during the day, or conceals itself among the sedges and vegetation which usually fringe the inland watercourses and lagoons. At Horowhenua, for example, where they are particularly abundant, you rarely surprise one, except by means of a dog, during the heat of the day. But after sunset they begin to collect on the surface of the lake, emerging in pairs from their concealment, swimming down to the mouth of the bush creek, and then taking wing to the place of rendezvous. They then form into flocks, sometimes of considerable size, and are on the alert, feeding about the lake all night long. When hunting for its food, it makes a peculiar and rather musical sniffing noise. Querquedula gibberifrons, Bonap.–Little Teal. This duck is very plentiful in some of the sulphur springs at Ohinemutu, and likewise at Rotomahana, where, as Captain Mair informs me, he once killed as many as eleven at a single shot on the water. It sometimes swims in pairs, but usually associates in small flocks of a dozen or more. It is easily distinguished from all the other species by the conspicuous white bar on the wings. Stercorarius antarcticus, Gray.—Southern Skua. The living example of this fine Skua-gull, referred to in last year's volume, is still an inhabitant of my garden, where, after much preliminary persecution, it now tolerates the companionship of a grey sea-gull (Larus dominicanus). The history of this bird is somewhat remarkable. About a year and a-half ago it was captured somewhere in the vicinity of Kapiti, and came into the possession of the Hon. Wi Parata, who kept it in his marae till it became quite tame. Being injured in the wing it was unable to fly, but having made its escape, it travelled some ten miles up the coast, and was recaptured by some natives at Otaki. It remained there some three months, and then made a fresh start northwards. Its next stage was Horowhenua, where it was caught and taken inland to Hector McDonald's homestead. Here it became an inmate of the farm-yard, and appeared to get quite reconciled to its changed mode of life. It fraternized with the dogs and poultry, sharing their food and occasionally devouring a chicken. But one day, after a fight with a rival turkey, in which it appeared to come off second-best, it travelled to the coast, a distance of some four miles, and

then turned its head northwards again. A week or two later it was found near the mouth of the Manawatu River, and carried inland to Foxton. It commemorated its arrival by swallowing some ducklings and chickens. It was then passed on to a settler “up in the bush,” where it killed and devoured a well-grown pullet. I arrived just in time to prevent its being sacrificed to the anger of the good housewife. Thence it was deported by coach to Wellington, making its escape on the Manawatu sands, en route, and detaining Her Majesty's mails while being recaptured. After keeping the bird caged for a few days I turned it loose in the garden, where it has remained for upwards of six months without any attempt to get away. Christened “Peter” by the children, he has become quite tame and familiar, answering to his name and taking food from the hand. He has selected a sunny spot on high ground, as an outlook station by day and as a sleeping-place by night. He wanders over the place freely, looking for worms and grubs, and during the heat of the day seeks the shade of some bushy shrub. He is almost omnivorous, but gives the preference to fish and meat. On a dead bird being offered him he runs off with it in his beak, then holding it down with his feet, plucks the feathers off and devours the flesh. On throwing him a blight-bird (Zosterops lateralis) he bolted it, feathers and all. His capacity for swallowing fish is something astonishing, his crop becoming greatly distended. He has the power of regurgitating his food, and will sometimes reproduce from his throat a bone of marvellous size, the wonder being how he ever managed to swallow it. Although not habitually a nocturnal bird, he sometimes gets very excited after dark, hurrying about the garden with outstretched wings and uttering a peculiar cry as if being suffocated. At other times he emits at intervals a note like the crowing of a pheasant. During the day Peter is noiseless, except when quarrelling with the sea-gull or disputing possession of a bone with the dog, when he has a short peevish note, quickly repeated. His first encounter with a tame cockatoo in the garden was quite ludicrous. He first played the role of assailant, but the moment his opponent erected his crest, Peter quailed and ran away. After this they established friendly relations with each other, often basking together in the sun, and drinking from the same fountain. I have mentioned before that this capture is the first known instance of the occurrence of the Southern Skua in the North Island. I have lately, however, met with another on the West Coast. Travelling by coach we found one, apparently a fine male in full plumage, on the sandy beach, not far from the Otaki river. He was evidently worn out with fatigue, and would not rise till the coach was within a few yards of him; then rising with a slow and laboured flight, he proceeded a few hundred yards and alighted

again on the beach, repeating the operation again and again till the coach reached the Paikakariki, a distance of some twenty miles. Any bird of ordinary intelligence would have made a circuit and got behind the pursuing coach. But the Skua ashore was evidently out of his latitude; and this was made more apparent by the manner in which the sea-gulls (of both species), his hereditary victims at sea, pursued him in the air and buffeted him. As is well known this bird usually subsists by plunder, pursuing the gulls and compelling them to disgorge their food. Here, however, the conditions were changed, as I myself had an opportunity of observing from the box-seat. The skua had alighted in a shallow beach-stream and was ducking its body in the water when a fine old hawk (Circus gouldi) with hoary white plumage, suddenly appeared from the sandhills and swooped down upon the intruder. The skua, without making any show of resistance, instantly disgorged from its crop the entire body of a diving petrel (Pelecanoides urinatrix) The hawk, balancing himself for a moment with outspread tail, dropped his long talons into the stream and clutched up his prey without wetting a feather of his plumage, and then disappeared among the sand-hills, while the terrified skua hurried off, only to be pursued again by the clamorous sea-gulls. Thus we have examples of “retributive justice” even among birds. The flight of this bird is heavy, and performed by slow regular flappings of the wings, with the shoulders much arched. It possesses, however, the faculty of turning quickly in the air, as I observed when the gulls were in pursuit. On the wing the white mark across the primaries is very conspicuous, but it is not sufficiently apparent to distinguish the bird when the body is at rest. Prion vittatus, Lacép.—Broad-billed Dove Petrel. As already stated in my paper on Prion banksii, after boisterous weather in July, I found the sea-beach between Waikanae and Manawatu strewn with the dead bodies of Prion turtur and P. banksii, the former species preponderating. Having occasion to make the journey again after stormy weather in the early part of the following month, I found the strand strewn with even a larger number of bodies, but, strange to say, nearly all belonging to the very broad billed species, Prion vittatus. Out of twenty-four specimens picked up in succession, there were only three of Prion turtur and none of P. banksii. Scores of others which I was able to determine from the box of the coach, belonged to P. vittatus, with here and there a P. turtur, but not a single example could I find of the intermediate form so plentiful a month before. It may be inferred from this singular fact that the species do not intermingle, but fly in separate communities. I have observed flocks of Prion turtur on the wing together numbering many

hundreds. Prion vittatus and Prion banksii, in like manner no doubt, keep to themselves, for it is evident that the flocks in the vicinity of our coast when caught in the fatal storm, on the occasion I have referred to, were composed almost exclusively of Prion vittatus. I opened a large number of these birds for the purpose of ascertaining on what they had been feeding. As might have been expected with storm-tossed fugitives, the stomachs of many were quite empty. In others there was a black mass of comminuted matter, and in two or three of them I detected among this matter what appeared to be the beaks of a very minute cephalopod. Phalacrocorax varius, Gml.—Pied Shag. Captain Mair writes me, under date 20th November:—“I went to Whale Island ten days ago. The sea-birds building there are very interesting. There are some colonies of white-breasted shags on this island as well as at Rurima—only the one species. I found the young in every stage, from partly developed ones in the egg to young birds just ready for flight, all with white breasts and bellies. I am going to Rotoiti in a few days to have a look at the shaggery there. “On the island I saw some thirty crane (Ardea sacra), and I found a number of their nests in a cave. Those that were fully fledged were a beautiful light blue colour, with bright yellow legs. It was very funny to watch them flying into the high trees, perching among the shags, and looking very gawky; then, presently, the shags, with loud guttural noises, would sally forth, chasing them far and wide. “I may add that, although there are no tuis on the islands, korimakos (Anthornis melanura) are very plentiful. It was really delightful to see and hear them again. They abound in numbers in the shrubbery, and hearing them sing at daylight, carried one back in spirit to one's boyhood, at the North, thirty years ago!”