E.-Male, killed near Akaroa, in the same month (August), has the interscapulars and dorsals margined with rich ferruginous; the yellow edge on the basal part of lower mandible indistinct.

F.-Male, obtained on Banks Peninsula, in March, has the growing secondaries and rectrices black; a sprinkling of the same colour on the auriculars; upper wing-coverts, dorsals, upper and under tail-coverts, ferruginous.

It may be noted, from the description of these specimens of the young state, how much variation may be met with, owing in part to the extended breeding-season perhaps; and it may be that the adult state is not arrived at till the second year. The plumage of the adult bird is deep glossy black; back, wing-coverts, upper and lower tail-coverts ferruginous; bill, tarsi and feet black; irides dark brown; caruncles from yellow to red; bill from gape one inch five lines; tarsus one inch six lines; wing from flexure four inches; tail three inches six lines; total length ten inches; weight two ounces and three-quarters. The tieke abounds in the Westland bush; its note is there one of the common bird-sounds: it finds abundant means of support in the insect-life which exists out of reach of the kiwi. Last season my friend revisited the kahikatea on the bank of the Ahaura, but the saddlebacks had not again resorted to the hole for breeding.

Big Kiwi (Apteryx australis, Shaw); "rowi" of the natives; "big kiwi" of the miners.-Why should there be so much mystery about the habits of birds so well known as kiwis? Their flesh has for years been recognized as forming a part of the bush-food of the prospector or digger in Westland; just as much so, indeed, as that of the pigeon, the weka or the kaka, still we have not any minute history of this quaint-looking creature. There are, in the writer's opinion, probably five or six species of Apteryx; of these all but one are supposed to exist on the South Island, whilst A. Mantelli is now the sole representative of the race in the North Island. The rowi, or big kiwi, of the west coast of the South Island, is far more local in its distribution than is A. Oweni, or even perhaps than A. Mantelli: according to Mr. Docherty, it is known to inhabit certain districts, the well-defined boundaries of which it does not attempt to pass: its range is as isolated and distinctly marked as though impassable barriers existed between its haunts and the surrounding country. We have had many opportunities of watching the mode of progression of three kinds of kiwi, and of judging of

the defensive powers of the bird, supposed to be conferred by the robust tarsus and foot, which have gallinaceous characteristics much more prominent in life than in the best-preserved specimens. The articulation of the tibia with the tarsus is one of great strength; the powerful scale-defended leg is united to a foot furnished with strong claws, with which the bird scratches for its food, after being directed thereto by its powerful olfactory organs. We believe that the beautifully organized bill (which should be observed in life, to understand its delicacy) is used solely for probing into soft humus, moss and decayed wood. When the rowi is irritated it makes a cracking noise by snapping the mandibles together very rapidly. In attempting to defend itself it displays an awkward feebleness rather than a posture of self-protection, by striking forwards with its foot, as in the act of scratching, at a line about its own height, and its only defence against dogs is in concealment. In walking the step is peculiar, the foot is lifted deliberately, and rather high above the ground, its gait reminding one of the movements of a person walking stealthily. Its run is a slinging trot; but in fairness it should be remembered that our judgment of its locomotive powers is based on the blundering efforts of the wretched animal half-blinded by the unaccustomed glare of daylight, or frightened and dazzled by artificial light at night. There are a few other points in its organization which must be taken into consideration. In the first place, the feathers are soft, flocculent and silky towards the base, whilst the distal portions terminate in produced hair-like webs, the plumage consisting simply of clothing feathers, which during the progress of the bird give out no sound of fluttering or rustling. This peculiarity of the plumage confers another advantage by its compressibility, whilst it can be kept far cleaner than the integument of birds having feathers with closer vanes, interlocking barbules or thicker down, as with this hair-like dress a single shake rids the bird of every foreign particle, while the feathers, covering the body like a thatch, effectually keep off the wet of the ever-humid ferns and mosses among which the bird lives. If an Apteryx be plucked, its body will be found somewhat conical from the point of the bill to the thighs a form well devised for gliding through the thick ferny bottoms choked with the heavy fronds of Todea superba or the close-trailing folds of Freycinetia, and enabling the long bill to be used to the greatest advantage in exploring deep but narrow fissures about the roots of trees.

It is probable that the rowi pairs for life, for there appears to exist between the sexes a lasting companionship. For a nestingplace it selects a hole in some huge tree or log, or amongst roots; sometimes the hole is excavated in a soft bank, where the soil is light; but in every case care is taken that the site shall be on a ridge or dry ground. We examined a nesting-place on the 17th of December last, which was tunnelled in a mound of light earth, probably formed by the uprooting of some forest giant: the entrance was nine inches in diameter; a chamber was found to be excavated to the left of the entrance; from this to the back of the chamber was a depth of three feet, with a height of fifteen inches. This retreat had been abandoned by the family, but we picked pieces of egg-shell from the floor. The breeding-season extends over some months, from October to February. Two eggs are usually laid, on which the old birds rather lie than sit. The mode of roosting is very peculiar: they squat opposite each other, with their legs bent under them, each with the head tucked under its scanty apology for a wing; if there are young in the hole they also assume a similar position, on either side a young bird between the two parents: thus the result of this singular arrangement of the family is a nearly perfect hemisphere of feathers. They often appear torpid or very drowsy when surprised in their homes, sometimes remaining quite undisturbed by noise, and are very rarely discovered except in a hole. In good condition a bird will average from five to six pounds in weight. Their cry is much harsher than that of the kiwi, sounding something like "cr-r-r-ruck, cr-r-r-ruck," and is not uttered till after sundown: from timed observations in the bush, we noticed that when the sun set about 7.30 we did not hear the rowi till from 8.15 to 8.30. The young are well clothed when they leave the shell; with them the bill is not curved; following the ridge of the upper mandible it is slightly depressed about the middle of its length. The general colour of A. australis is grayish brown, streaked with black in the young and adult state; in some fine old birds a glint of golden chestnut edges part of the plumage. Not unfrequently specimens have the aural feathers of dull yellowish white or gray, the same hoary tone of colour being sometimes found on the occiput, chin, neck and front of the thighs: these marks are not confined to sex. In giving measurements of species, where an extensive collection yields an ample series from which selections can be made, care should be taken not to give dimensions of extraordinary

SECOND SERIES-VOL. IX.

T

specimens unless that fact is duly noted. A fairly average pair of A. australis from the Canterbury Museum afford the following

These specimens were obtained by Mr. Docherty, together with a large number of others, both of A. australis and A. Oweni, from the West Coast near Okarita. We cannot conclude these notes on the big kiwi (A. australis) without expressing our sorrow at the impending fate of this interesting bird. It is rapidly becoming

rare, from the demand for specimens for collections: the number of skins and skeletons received at the Canterbury Museum alone is very great, and nothing but prompt action will save the rowi from extermination.

Ornithological Notes from North Lincolnshire.
By JOHN CORDEAUX, Esq.

(Continued from S. S. 3859.)

JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1874.

Turnstone.-January 16. We always meet with a few all through the winter on this coast, although the bulk of the autumn arrivals go farther southward. I got an immature bird to-day from the shore near Cleethorpes.

Godwit.-A few bartailed godwits remain to winter on this coast, the blacktailed godwit never.

Redshank.-January 27. Observed this morning many small flocks between Tetney and North Cotes, one of these containing over thirty birds.

Twite and Snow Bunting.-Very numerous on the fitties along the coast, where they come each day to feed upon the seeds of various salt-loving plants. I see also flocks of the common or corn bunting in the same localities. The blackheaded bunting is likewise largely represented, but does not congregate like the other small birds, keeping more in small family parties.

Wild-fowl on the Lincolnshire Coast.-January 27. There were this afternoon very considerable numbers of wigeon, common wild

ducks, and a few sheldrakes swimming off the entrance to the Grainthorpe Haven, and farther out, in the direction of the Haile Sandlooking not unlike patches of floating wrack-hundreds of black

scoters.

Golden Plover.-February 1. Spring note of golden plover.

Pintail. February 20. I got to-day a very fine specimen of this elegant and graceful duck. It was an old male in full breeding plumage, shot on this coast near Cleethorpes. The gizzard, which is very powerful and muscular, contained only the seeds of one of the Cruciferæ-I believe of the common scurvy grass (Cochlearia officinalis).

Coal Tit.-February 21. Spring note heard.

Misseltoe Thrush.-February 21. Have returned in pairs to their nesting-haunts in the garden.

Ringed Plover.-February 23. Spring note first heard on flats. Wigeon.-February 24. The wigeon have paired, males and females swimming together, but keeping at the same time in large flocks. The male is now in full breeding plumage. I found the gizzard of an old male skinned this evening crammed with fine white sand, full of little black specks like coal-dust. Under the microscope, these black spots resolved themselves into the seeds, apparently, of some species of Carex. The sand had evidently been swallowed in scooping up the seeds.

Pinkfooted Goose.-Several small flocks have recently visited the Humber. I have seen altogether about eight geese that have been killed during the winter within this district, and in every case found that they belonged to this species.

Great Cotes, Ulceby, Lincolnshire.

March 3, 1874.

JOHN CORDEAUX.

Ornithological Notes from Devonshire, Cornwall, &c.
By JOHN GATCOMBE, Esq.

(Continued from S. S. 3912).

FEBRUARY, 1874.

7th. To-day I examined a common guillemot, which had already assumed the perfect breeding-plumage; there were also five fine shovelers, three old males and two females, in the Plymouth Market,