ART. XI.-Remarks on the Feathers of two Species of Moa. By TAYLOR WHITE.

[Read before the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, 14th December, 1885.] Plates II. and III.

THE accompanying plate (No. II.) contains copies of three Moa feathers, and pieces of egg-shell, found with others in a cave on the shores of Lake Wakatipu, Otago, and mentioned in vol. viii. of Trans. N.Z. Inst.," p. 98.

The feathers are drawn to scale. The larger one is pure white, and was the only white feather amongst those found, and also the longest.

The feather to the right is in colour like the majority of those found, some of which were an inch longer, others longer and slighter; others again much smaller, and nearly all doubleshafted.

In colour, the shaft and centre has a bright transparent yellow, as of gum or resin, changing to dark purple brown on the outer margin of feather. They have probably all been duplicated, the duplicate feather being joined to the principal in what I may call a quill socket, which corresponds with the depth to which the feather entered the skin of the bird; the duplicate feather being slightly shorter, and one-third less in width than the principal.

The left hand feather represents a third type, which were not so numerous, and all of medium length; they were mostly wanting or denuded of the duplicate shaft. In colour, a dark reddish or chestnut purple; the shafts, more opaque than the above-mentioned, were of a lighter and redder colour than the outer and tip.

These were most likely breast feathers.

The colour of the bird must have been of a most delicate mixture, a foundation of shining yellow outwardly, shaded with dark purple brown, the breast a chestnut purple; and, to locate the white feather, say white on the after part of the back, which cannot rightly be called the tail, as the rump would be covered with drooping hair-like feathers.

The bird would, from the slender make of the feathers, have the appearance of being covered with long flexible hair, and not with immovable armour, showing only the outer colour of the feather as in ordinary birds. From this flexibility, I infer that the golden colour of the centre part of the feather would be visible in the plumage. It was probably about 3 feet 6 inches in height; and, from a metatarsus found in the same cave, is considered to have been D. casuarinus,

Several pieces of egg-shell of a light green colour were also found, in what appeared to have been a nest, and are shown on plate II.

The colour of egg-shell is green. This specimen was obtained from sand-drift on the Kawarau River, Otago, and inclines to the presumption that the colour has been bleached out in most of the fragments of egg-shell which are found, any other specimens which I have collected showing no sign of colour. Yet amongst these white shells there is a marked difference in the form of the pit marks or pores of the shell, showing they are different varieties.

Plate III. contains copies of feathers collected from a small cave near Queenstown, Otago, which are mentioned in vol. viii., page 99,"Trans. N.Z. Institute."

These feathers show a considerable quantity of light-coloured down. The longest was a little short of six inches.

They are of at least three classes: First, the longer are narrow and mostly duplicate, a thick light-coloured down extending two-thirds along the shaft; a dark purple brown at tip, the colour lighter at base and along shaft. The second are shorter, wider, and more robust; two-thirds, a thick down, colour darker. A third class, two to four inches long, are probably neck feathers, and are of a more translucent and hairy texture, showing no down and few barbs, the shorter inclining in colour to yellowish brown, others to nearly black.

From the style of these last, the upper part of the neck and the head of this bird were most likely without feathers.

The green egg-shell shown in this plate was found in drift sand on the Kawarau River.

ART. XII.—Notes on New Zealand Ornithology: Observations on Pogonornis cincta (Dubus); Stitch-Bird (Tiora).

By A. REISCHEK, F.L.S.

[Read before the Auckland Institute, 1st June, 1885.]

THE first specimens of these birds I saw in the Canterbury Museum (two males, set up). On inquiring, Dr. von Haast informed me they were very rare. The next brought under my notice was a male specimen, in the Auckland Museum; and Mr. Cheeseman told me Professor Hutton, C.M.Z.S., mentioned them as not uncommon on the Little Barrier or Hauturu Island, in the Hauraki Gulf, for which place I started in October, 1880, accompanied by my friend Mr. E. Firth, for the purpose of