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LLIED to Aquila, from which it is distinguished by the ulna being relatively shorter and the tarso-metatarsus stouter.

 * Harpagornis moorei Haast, Trans. N.Z. Inst. IV, p. 192 (1872).

ESCRIPTION of femur (from Haast): The cylindrical shaft bent forward, and above the distal extremity it is slightly curved back. The hollow on the top of the head is very large and measures .42 inch across.

The trochanteric ridge is well developed and the outer side is very rough, showing that muscles of great strength and thickness must have been attached to it.

The inter-muscular linear ridges are well raised above the shaft, of which the one extending from the fore and outer angle of the epitrochanteric articular surface to the outer condyle is the most prominent. The pits for the attachment of the ligaments in the inter-condyloid fossa are strongly marked. The femur is pneumatic, the proximal orifice is large and ear-shaped, resembling in form most closely that of the Australian Sea Eagle.

Type locality: Glenmark Swamp.

Habitat: New Zealand.

Type bones: 1 left femur, 2 ungual phalanges, and 1 rib.

For a more detailed description my readers must refer to the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute VI, pp. 64-75 (1874).

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 * Phalacrocorax perspicillatus Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso.-Asiat. II, p. 305 (1827—Berings Island); Gould, Zool. Voy. Sulphur, p. 49, pl. XXXII (1844); Stejneger, Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus., No. 29, p. 180 (1885); id. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. XII, pp. 83-94, pls. II-IV (1889—Osteology); Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXVI, p. 357 (1898).

 * Graculus perspicillatus Elliot, New and heret. unfig. sp. N. Amer. B. II, part 14, No. 3, text and plate (1869).

 * Pallasicarbo perspicillatus Coues, Osprey III, p. 144 (1899).

ALLAS gives the first recognizable description of this bird, which, as translated from the Latin, is as follows: "Of the size of a very large goose. Of the shape of the former (sc. Cormorants), which it also resembles in the white patches on the flanks. The body is entirely black. A few long, white, narrow pendant plumes round the neck, as in Herons. Occiput with a huge tuft, doubly crested. Skin round the base of the bill bare, red, blue and white, mixed, as in a turkey. Round the eyes a thick, bare white patch of skin, about six lines wide, like a pair of spectacles. Weight 12 to 14 pounds. Female smaller, without crest and spectacles. (From Steller.)"

Steller, who was shipwrecked on Bering Island in 1741, was the discoverer of C. perspicillatus, and Pallas took his diagnosis from Steller's notes.

The Spectacled or Pallas's Cormorant is one of the rarest of all birds. It is generally said that four specimens are known, but five are really in existence: Two in the St. Petersburg Museum, one in Leyden, and two in London. One of these latter is perfect, while the other has no tail. Probably all five have been obtained by Kuprianoff, the Russian Governor at Sitka, who, in 1839, gave one to Captain Belcher, and sent some others to St. Petersburg. The careful researches of Stejneger and others on Bering Island have clearly shown that this Cormorant exists no longer. Formerly it is said to have been numerous, but the natives were fond of its flesh, which formed their principal diet when other meat was difficult to obtain. Probably it would not so soon have become extinct if it had not been that their rather short wings resulted in a certain slowness of locomotion on land and in the air. A good description is given in the Catalogue of Birds, and a still more detailed one by Stejneger (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1899, p. 86) from Brandt's manuscript.

Habitat: Bering Island.

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 * Phalacrocorax novaezealandiae var. major Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 189 (1892—no proper description).

R. FORBES only informed us that this shag was of greater dimensions than ''Ph. novaezealandiae (a very closely allied form of Ph. carbo''). It would be interesting to know more about it, and, especially, if this extinct form was incapable of flight, like ''Ph. harrisi'' of the Galápagos Islands.

Habitat: New Zealand.

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 * Plotus nanus Newton and Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII p. 288, pl. XXXIV figs 1-5. (1893).

HE humerus, the pelvis with sacrum, and the tibia were the materials on which our authors founded this new species. They state that all the strongly developed characters in these bones leave no possible doubt as to its being a species of Plotus, and its diminutive size at once distinguishes it from the three known species—P. anhinga, P. melanogaster, and P. novaehollandiae.

The measurements are as follows:—

Distance from acetabular axis to anterior end of sacrum 30 mm.

Distance between ventral inner margins of the acetabula 14.5 mm.

Habitat: Mauritius. (Also recorded from Madagascar.)

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 * Chenopis sumnerensis Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 188 (1892) (Nomen nudum).

HIS appears to have been a very large species, with not very great powers of flight, if not flightless.

Habitat: New Zealand and Chatham Islands.

Bones from Chatham Islands in my collection.

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 * Chenalopex sirabensis Andrews, Ibis 1897, p. 355, pl. IX, figs. 1-3.

HIS species of which skull, sternum, pelvis, the bones of fore and hind limbs, &c., are preserved, appears to be closely allied to Chenalopex aegyptiacus, but has such a number of small differences that Mr. Andrews is, I think, quite justified in separating it; I do not, however, agree with him when he suggests that perhaps it is the same as Newton and Gadow's Sarcidiornis mauritianus, although many of the bones agree. Of course, his line of comparison was strengthened by the fact of subfossil bones of Plotus nanus occurring both in Mauritius and Madagascar; but it does not follow that because in one family of birds the same species occurred in two places the others must do likewise, and, therefore, one must not necessarily regard a certain similarity of osteological characters as proof of identity. I must here again refer my readers to Mr. Andrews' very full description.

Habitat: Sirabé in C. Madagascar.

The measurements are:—

The smaller bones, undoubtedly, belonged to female, and the larger to male individuals.

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LLIED to Chenalopex and Chenopis, but differs from Chenalopex in the form and proportion of its metatarsus, and from all other Anserine forms by the extreme length and slenderness of the shaft of the tibio-tarsus and the relative shortness of the fibular crest. From Chenopis it differs in several respects, and the very long fibular crest of the latter at once separates them.

 * Centrornis majori Andrews, Ibis 1897, p. 344, pl. VIII.

HIS species was discovered by Dr. Forsyth Major and Monsieur Robert in the bed of an old lake at Sirabé, Central Madagascar, in 1896-1897. It was similar in many respects to Sarcidiornis and Chenalopex but differed in its large size and the great length of its legs. Indeed, judging from the slenderness of the metatarsus and femur and the slight degree of inflection of the lower end of the long tibia, it seems probable that this bird was ill adapted for swimming, though a good runner. The wings were long and powerful and armed with a long spur. I must refer my readers for a fuller description to Mr. Andrews, as quoted above.

The measurements are:—

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Habitat: Madagascar.

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KULL short and massive, with beak rounded and stout. Carina of sternum aborted. Limb-bones short and very stout, the ulna being shorter than the humerus, and having very prominent tubercles for the secondaries; cnemial crest of tibia greatly developed. No foramen between third and fourth trochleae of tarso-metatarsus. Spines of dorsal vertebrae tall. The power of flight was absent. The chief differences from Cereopsis were the presence of extra pre-sacral vertebrae, so that two only instead of three ribs articulate with the sacrum; and an elevated pent-roof arrangement of the ossa innominata, which indicate more decided cursorial habits.

 * Cnemiornis calcitrans Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. V, p. 396 (1865).

HE type species. Very considerably larger than the existing Cereopsis novaehollandiae, with the limbs relatively much stouter and shorter" (Lydekker).

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

For full description see Trans. N. Z. Inst. VI, pp. 76-84, pls. X-XII (1874).

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Page:Best Russian Short Stories.djvu/481

Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!

from San Francisco—neither at Naples nor at Capri had anyone remembered his name—was journeying to the Old World for two full years, with wife and daughter, wholly for recreation.

He felt firmly assured that he had every right to take a rest, pleasure, in a prolonged and comfortable journey, and other things besides. For such an assurance he had the good reason, that, in the first place, he was rich, and that, in the second, in spite of his fifty-eight years, he was only just taking his first plunge into life. Before this he had not lived but merely existed—to be sure, not so badly, but none the less putting all his hopes in the future. He had laboured diligently—the coolies, whom he had employed by the thousands, knew well what this meant!—and at last he saw that much had been achieved, that he was now equal to those he had at one time appointed as his models, and he decided to give himself a well-earned rest. It was a custom among his kind of people to begin the enjoyments of life


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 * Cnemiornis gracilis Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 187 (1892) (Nomen nudum).

MOST elegantly moulded goose from the North Island. Unfortunately this is all that has been published about this form!

Habitat: North Island, New Zealand.

 * Cnemiornis minor Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 187 (1892); vide also Trans. N.Z. Inst. VI, pp. 76-84 (Hector).

HIS species appears to be distinguished from Cnemiornis calcitrans by its very small size, being hardly bigger than Cereopsis novaehollandiae.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

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 * Cereopsis novaezealandiae Forbes, Trans. N. Zealand Inst. XXIV, p. 188 (1892).

HIS species was founded on an incomplete skull, and differed from C. novaehollandiae by its slightly larger size.

Habitat: New Zealand.

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 * Sarcidiornis mauritianus Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII, p. 290, pl. XXXIV, figs. 9-10.

HE evidence on which this species is founded is a single left metacarpal and an incomplete left half of the pelvis. Its specific character is the very large size as compared to the two existing species.

Habitat: Mauritius.

In an old work entitled "Memorandums concerning India" by J. Marshall (1668) in the article on the Island of Mauritius, there occurs this passage: "They are many Geese; the halfe of their wings towards the end are black and the other halfe white; they are not large, but fat and good. Plenty of Ducks." As there is no mention of the caruncle on the bill here or in other authors alluding to geese in Mauritius, Oustalet doubted that these geese were this Sarcidiornis, but I believe this merely to have been an oversight of Marshall's and that his description goes far to prove the distinctness of Newton and Gadow's species.

The allusion to the small size also points to the geese of Marshall being the Sarcidiornis. L'Abbé Dubois in "Les Voyages du Sieur D.B." records the fact that on Bourbon were some wild geese slightly smaller than the geese of Europe but having the same plumage. Their bill and feet were red. It is also probable that wild geese were found on Rodriguez. There is nothing to show what these Bourbon geese were, and as no osseous remains of such birds have been found as yet it is impossible to do more than mention the fact of such birds having been recorded.

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 * Anas finschi Van Beneden, Journ. Zool. IV, p. 267 (1875); Ann. de la Soc. Geol. Belg. II, p. 123 (1876).

HIS duck is most peculiar, as it stands intermediate between Querquedula and Dendrocygna in structure, and its nearest known ally seems to be the extinct A. blanchardi of Europe, and of living forms apparently Clangula clangula.

Skull nearest to that of Clangula clangula but wider, nostrils more elongated, eye-sockets smaller, and the whole skull more regularly rounded off. Sternum differs from that of C. clangula by having the notch lower, more faint behind and shorter in front. Clavicle and coracoid resemble those of Fuligula marila. Humerus larger and stronger than in F. marila and C. clangula, as are the femur, tibio-tarsus and tarso-metatarsus, which are almost double as long and thick.

Judging from the shape of its leg-bones this bird must have been a strong runner, and probably at the same time was a poor flyer.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

 * Anas theodori Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. XIII, p. 291, pl. XXXIV, figs 11-17 (1893—Mauritius).

ESSRS. NEWTON AND GADOW founded this species on a fragment of a sternum, a pair of coracoids, eight humeri, and a pair of tarso-metatarsi. These are referable to a duck of larger size than Nettion bernieri, and somewhat intermediate between N. punctata and Anas melleri.

The sternum differs from that of A. melleri by the lesser height of the keel and by the shape and direction of the anterior margin of the latter. The coracoid is longer and larger than in N. bernieri, but is much shorter than in A. melleri, though agreeing with that of the latter in shape, and by the plain almost ridgeless ventral surface of the shaft. The seven humeri vary in length from 70-78 mm., and agree in size with those of N. punctata, thus proving our species to be smaller than A. melleri.

The two tarso-metatarsi are in poor condition; the right one measuring 42 mm. in length, thus indicating that A. theodori was a bird with a shorter foot than A. melleri.

Habitat: Mauritius.

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 * Anas labradoria Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 2, p. 537 (1788—"Habitat gregaria in America, boreali." Ex Pennant and Latham.)

 * Anas labradora Latham, Ind. Orn. II, p. 859 (1790).

 * Rhynchaspis labradora Stephens, in Shaw's Gen. Zool. XII, 2, p. 121 (1824).

 * Fuligula labradora Bonaparte, Ann. Lyceum N.Y. II, p. 391 (1826).

 * Somateria labradora Boie, Isis 1828, p. 329.

 * Kamptorhynchus labradorus Eyton, Mon. Anat. p. 151 (1838).

 * Fuligula grisea Leib, Journ. Acad. Sc. Philad. VIII, p. 170 (1840—young bird).

 * Camptolaimus labradorus Gray, List. Gen. B. ed. 2, p. 95 (1841); Dutcher, Auk. 1891, p. 201, pl. II; 1894, pp. 4-12; Hartl. Abh. naturw. Ver. Bremen XVI, p. 23 (1895).

 * Camptolaemus labradorius Baird, B.N. Amer. p. 803 (1858); Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Water—B. N. Amer. II, p. 63 (1884); Milne-Edw. and Oustalet, Centen. Mus. d'Hist. Nat., Notice Ois. éteint. p. 51, pl. IV (1893); Salvadori, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXVII, p. 416 (1895).

HE adult male and a young male, both in my museum, are represented on plate 36, but the young bird became too rufous, through the colour type reproduction, and should be somewhat more mouse-gray. Though first technically named by Gmelin in 1788, this duck was first described in 1785 by Pennant, in the Arctic Zoology II, p. 559, as follows:—

"Pied Duck. With the lower part of the bill black, the upper yellow, on the summit of the head is an oblong black spot; forehead, cheeks, rest of the head and neck, white; the lower part encircled with black; scapulars and coverts of wings white; back, breast, belly, and primaries, black; tail cuneiform, and dusky; legs black. The bill of the supposed female? resembles that of the male, head and neck mottled with cinereous brown and dirty white; primaries dusky; speculum white; back, breast, and belly clouded with different shades of ash-colour; tail dusky and cuneiform; legs black. Size of a common Wild Duck.

"Sent from Connecticut, to Mrs. Blackburn. Possibly the great flocks of pretty Pied Ducks, which whistled as they flew, or as they fed, seen by Mr. Lawson in the western branch of Cape Fear inlet, were of this kind."

The Labrador-Duck is one of those birds, the disappearance of which is not easily explained. As Mr. Dutcher truly said, "we can speculate as to the cause of its disappearance, but we have no facts to warrant a conclusion." Formerly Camptolaimus was of regular occurrence along the northern Atlantic shores of North America, in winter south to New Jersey and New York. It has often been sold on the markets of New York and Baltimore, and nobody anticipated even fifty years ago that they might become extinct, but they

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 appear never to have been very numerous, at least we have no proof of this. It is true that Professor Newton tells us that this duck used to breed on rocky islets, and that "its fate is easily understood," since "man began yearly to visit its breeding haunts, and, not content in plundering its nests, mercilessly to shoot the birds." This, however, seems to be mere conjecture, as we do not know for certain where the breeding haunts of this Duck have been, and that anyone has ever visited them. All information known about the breeding of this bird is that of Audubon, who says that his son was shown empty nests on the top of bushes, which a clerk of the fishing establishment told him were those of the Labrador Duck. This information is certainly too uncertain to draw any conclusions from, but the breeding places might just as well have been much further to the north, and probably were.

 * The number of specimens extant is 48.

 * Amiens, Town Museum: 1 ♂ ad. (Auk. 1897, p. 87).

 * Berlin Museum: 1, bought from Salmin (Hartl. p. 23).

 * Paris: ♂ adult, presented 1810 by M. Hyde de Neuville.

 * London, British Museum: 2, a ♂ ad. and a ♀ ad., neither of them with exact locality or date.

 * Liverpool: 2 ♂ ad., 1 ♀, 1 ♂ jun.

 * Cambridge: 1 ♂

 * Dublin: 1 fine mounted ♂ (Dr. Scharff in litt.)

 * Tring: 1 ♂ ad., 1 ♂ jun. (See below.)

 * Brussels: 1 ♂ ad.

 * St. Petersburg: 1 ♂ ad., purchased from Salmin.

 * Heine Museum in Germany: 1 poor specimen.

 * Munich: The Museum possesses a male from the collection of the Duke of Leuchtenberg.

 * Dresden: 1 ♂ and two doubtful eggs—the latter doubtless wrong I should say.

 * Vienna: 1 ♂ ad., exchanged from Baron von Lederer in 1830. Locality New York; 1 ♀ ad., bought from Brandt in Hamburg in 1846, for 4 Gulden!

 * Leiden Museum: ♂ ♀, from the Prince of Wied.

 * American Museum, New York: 7, three of which formerly belonged to George N. Lawrence.

 * Long Island Historical Society, Brooklyn: 1 ♂ ad.

 * Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. York: 1 ♂ ad.

 * New York State Museum, Albany: ♂ ♀ ad.

 * Cory collection: ♂ ♀ ad.

 * University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont: 1 ♂ ad.

 * Philadelphia: 2 ♂ jun., 1 ♀

 * U.S. National Museum, Washington: 2 ♂, 1 ♀, 1 ♂ jun.

 * Collection of Mr. William Brewster: 1 ♂ jun., 1 ♀

 * Boston Society of Natural History: 1 ♂ jun.

 * Collection of Dalhousie College, Halifax: ♂ ♀

This makes a total of 48 known specimens.

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 The last specimens killed were those shot in May, 1871, at Grand Manan Island, the date of which is absolutely certain, and the specimen bought from a Mr. J. G. Bell in 1879, for the Smithsonian Institution, which is said to have been shot in 1875, but this date seems not quite certain (Cf. Auk, 1894, p. 9). That several other specimens were shot later than 1852 is perfectly certain. As the specimen of 1875, or thereabouts, is a young male, Mr. Lawrence's question about the old birds is certainly justified. As, however, no Labrador Duck has been recorded later than 1871 or 1875 we may suppose that it is now extinct.

My young male was bought in the Fulton Market, New York, about 1860, and probably came from Long Island. It was mounted by John Bell, a bird-stuffer, through whose hands several Labrador Ducks have gone, and is in the finest possible condition. I bought this bird from the late Gordon Plummer, shortly before his death. He died at his home in Brookline, Mass., in November, 1893. (Cf. Auk, 1891, p. 206.)

My adult male is the one of which the history is given in Auk, 1894, p. 176. It is described there in detail and then added: "Shot in the bay of Laprairie this spring (1862) by a habitant, and purchased by Mr. Thompson of this city, who has kindly placed it at my disposal for examination." Mr. William Dutcher of New York City bought this specimen from the widow of the Mr. Thompson, mentioned in the above note as the original owner, and I purchased it from Mr. William Dutcher, who informs me that "the Bay of Laprairie" is simply a name given to a wide part of the River St. Lawrence, just south of Montreal, Quebec. The name is found on good maps of Quebec.

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 * Biziura lautouri Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 188 (1892—nomen nudum).

R. FORBES, unfortunately, gives no description whatever of this bird. It would be interesting to know something about it, and especially if its powers of flight were impaired, as it seems to have been the case in so many extinct birds.

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 * Butors Leguat, Relation du Voyage (1708).

 * Ardea megacephala Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) XIX, 1874, p. 10.

EGUAT'S description, here translated, is as follows:—"We had Bitterns as big and as fat as capons. They are tamer and more easily caught than the 'gelinotes.'" He also says, "The lizards often serve as prey for the birds, especially for the Bitterns. When we shook them down from the branches with a pole, these birds ran up and gobbled them down in front of us, in spite of all we could do to prevent them; and even if we only pretended to do so they came in the same manner and always followed us about."

Milne-Edwards remarks, among other notes, that "This bird is not a true Bittern, but its head is so large and its feet so short that it is easy to understand that Leguat should have called it so."

The bony structure of the head is remarkable on account of its massive and thick proportions; the skull itself is strongly enlarged posteriorly, and the temporal fossae are bordered by very pronounced ridges, especially those on the occipital region. The upper side of the skull is hardly convex, and the interorbital region is large, but only slightly depressed along its middle line. The bill is stout, almost straight, a good deal enlarged at its base and rounded beneath. The nostrils are large and preceded by a large groove, which extends very far towards the tip.

It is impossible to confound this skull with that of any Bittern, the latter having the beak relatively slender and only barely exceeding the skull in length. These also have the skull much constricted at the temporal region. The fossil skull from Rodriguez therefore presents characters essentially those of a Heron, but differs from all known species in its massive appearance. In the Grey, Purple and Goliath Herons, as well as in the Egrettes, the head is narrower, more elongated, the bill less conical and less strong. In Ardea atricollis, now inhabiting Madagascar, the beak much resembles that of our extinct species, but it is longer and less enlarged at the base. The interorbital area is much wider, while on the other hand the hinder portion of the skull is narrower and more elongated, which gives to the skull a totally different aspect.

The feet relatively to the head are extremely short, and from this I conclude that we know no species of Heron which can be compared to that of Rodriguez. Nevertheless, the tarso-metatarsus presents all the characters

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text:
Executive Order 1486

It is hereby ordered that the Minidoka Reservation, Idaho, for the protection of native birds, created by Executive Order dated February 25, 1909, be, and the same is hereby, enlarged so as to include all of the reservoir known as Lake Walcott, together with the smallest legal subdivisions of land adjoining the flow line thereof, as segregated by the broken line and shown upon the diagram hereto attached and made a part of this order. It is unlawful for any person to hunt, trap, capture, wilfully disturb, or kill any bird of any kind whatever, or take the eggs of such birds within the limits of this reservation, except under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Warning is expressly given to all persons not to commit any of the acts herein enumerated and which are prohibited by law.

. ,
 * February 21, 1912.

title: Executive Order 1486


text: Talk:Executive Order 1486

title: Talk:Executive Order 1486


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 of Ardea, and is far removed from that of Botaurus. The tibia is big and short; it surpasses in length the tarso-metatarsus by about a third, as is usual in the Herons; but the femur on the contrary is strongly developed, being quite as large as in the Ardea cinerea; which shows us that the body of this creature was of large size, and that the reduction in size of the feet had only taken place at their extremities.

The sternum is puny and small as compared with the creature's size. It is clearly that of a bird not furnished with powerful wings, and is even much less elongated than in the Bittern, but the coracoidal bones are very long and slender. The wings also were short and feeble, the humerus being hardly as big as in Butorides atricapilla. It is conspicuously slenderer and shorter than in the Bittern. The main body of the bone is slightly curved on the outside, and the lower articular condyle is large and flattened. I have not been able to examine any bone of the "manus," but the metacarpal bone shows exactly the same proportions for the wing as does the humerus, as it also barely reaches the size of that of Butorides atricapilla. The measurements are as follows:—

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The anonymous author of the manuscript "Rélation de l'île Rodrigue" (see Ann. Sci. Nat. (6) II p. 133 et seq. 1875) about the year 1830 mentions this bird as follows:—"There are not a few Bitterns which are birds which only fly a very little, and run uncommonly well when they are chased. They are of the size of an Egret and something like them."

Habitat: Rodriguez Island.

2 Humeri, 2 Femora, 2 Tibiae, and 2 Metatarsi in the Tring Museum.

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 * Butors ou Grands Gauziers Dubois, Les Voyages faits par le Sieur D.B. (1674) p. 169.

'ABBÉ Dubois is the only author who has, as far as I can ascertain, told us that the Island of Réunion also had a large almost flightless Heron as well as Mauritius and Rodriguez; and so feeling sure that it, like most other birds of this island, was distinct I name it after him.

The translation of his original description is as follows:—"Bitterns or Great Egrets, large as capons, but very fat and good. They have grey plumage, each feather spotted with white, the neck and beak like a Heron, and the feet green, made like the feet of Poullets d'Inde (Porphyrio, W.R.). This bird lives on fish."

Habitat: Réunion or Bourbon.

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 * Butorides mauritianus Newton & Gadow, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. XIII, p. 289 (1893).

HE bones on which this species is founded are a pair of ulnae, one radius, four metatarsi, and one coracoid. The description is as follows:—"The bones in question are all considerably shorter than the corresponding bones of A. (Nycticorax) megacephala. The metatarsi agree otherwise in every detail with those of the latter species; this relative stoutness indicates that they belonged to a Night-Heron or Bittern like A. megacephala. The two ulnae cannot, unfortunately, be compared with those of A. megacephala; their length, 110 mm., compared with the length of the humerus of A. megacephala, 119 mm., shows, however, likewise that they were those of a considerably smaller bird. The single left coracoid agrees in all the features of its dorsal or scapular half with A. megacephala, but its ventral or sternal half differs considerably, first by the much more strongly marked ridge of the linea intermuscularis on its ventral surface, secondly by the almost straight instead of inwardly curved margin between the processus lateralis and the lateral distal corner of the sternal articulation, thirdly by a very low but very distinct and sharp ridge, which arises from the median margin of the coracoid, a little above its median articulating corner. This roughness or prominent ridge is entirely absent in A. megacephala and in all other Herons which we have been able to examine, but at least a slight indication of it occurs in an individually varying degree in Nycticorax and Botaurus. That this coracoid bone belonged, however, to an Ardeine bird is clearly indicated by its whole configuration, notably by the shape and position of the precoracoid process, the various articulating facets at the dorsal end, and the prominent lip on the visceral or internal surface of the median portion of the sternal articulating facet."

The following are the measurements:—

Habitat: Mauritius.

Although megacephala and mauritiana have been placed in Ardea and Butorides respectively, from the short, stout legs and general build, I am inclined to think that all three of these Herons belong to the genus Nycticorax.

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text: Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Waite, Henry Randall


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HIS genus is, in the Catalogue of Birds, placed in a section with somewhat long tarsus, the latter being longer than the culmen, containing in addition to Prosobonia the genera Tringites, and Aechmorhynchus (see afterwards), and it differs from the latter by its long hind toe, from the former by its square tail. The position of this singular bird is, however, not quite certain. The late Henry Seebohm placed it in the genus Phegornis, though the latter has no hind toe whatever, and it has even—but doubtless wrongly—been suggested that it belonged to the Rallidae, rather than to the Charadriidae. We know only one species. It is true that Dr. Sharpe bestowed a new name on the figure of Ellis, which is said to have been taken from an Eimeo-specimen, but it is hardly creditable that it belongs to a different species. Latham appears to have had three specimens, which were all three different from each other. Both Forster and Ellis, in their unpublished drawings in the British Museum, as well as Latham, evidently considered all three to belong to the same species, and it is not advisable now to over-rule their verdict, given with the specimens before them, merely on account of the different plumages, since we all know that most waders, and especially brightly-coloured ones, differ considerably in plumage, according to age and seasons. We are convinced that "P. ellisi" has been a younger bird. Sharpe attaches importance to the different habitat, but this is no argument in this instance, because Eimeo is, at the nearest point, not more than seven and a half miles from Tahiti, and it is quite against all precedents among Charadriidae and beyond all plausibility that two such closely situated islands have closely allied forms of a Wader.

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 * White-winged Sandpiper Latham, Gen. Syn. III, pt. 1, p. 172, pl. LXXXII (1785—Otaheite and Eimeo).

 * Tringa leucoptera Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 678 (1788—ex Latham!); Westermann, Bijdr. Dierk. I, p. 51, pl. 15 (1854—Figure of the type).

 * Totanus leucopterus Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. d'Hist. Nat. (Ed. II) VI, p. 396 (1817).

 * Calidris leucopterus Cuvier, Règne Anim. I, p. 526 (1829).

 * Tringa pyrrhetraea Lichtenstein, Forster's descr. anim. p. 174 (1844—Otaheiti).

 * Prosobonia leucoptera Bonaparte, Compt. Rend. XXXI, p. 562 (1850); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIV, p. 525 (1896).

 * Tringoides leucopterus Gray, Handl. B. III, p. 46 (1871).

 * Phegornis leucopterus Seebohm, Geogr. Distrib. Charad. p. 452 pl. 18 (1888).

 * Prosobonia ellisi Sharpe, Bull. B.O.C. XVI, p. 86 (1906—"Eimeo").

R. SHARPE'S description, made from the type in the Leyden Museum, is as follows: "Adult. General colour of upper surface blackish brown; the lower back and rump ferruginous; centre tail-feathers blackish, the rest rufous, banded with black, less distinctly on the two next the middle pair; wing-coverts blackish, with a white spot near the carpal bend of the wing, formed by some of the lesser coverts; crown of head blackish, the hind-neck browner, mixed with black; sides of face brown, the lores and ear-coverts slightly more reddish, behind the eye a little white spot; cheeks and under surface of body ferruginous red, the throat buffy white. Length 6.7 inches, culmen 0.9, wing 4.45, tail 2.15, tarsus 1.3 (Mus. Lugd.)"

We know nothing of this bird, but the one specimen in the Leyden Museum, which is the type, or at least one of the types. As no other specimens have been obtained for nearly a century and a quarter, there is every reason to fear that this bird is extinct. My plate has been made up by Mr. Lodge from the unpublished drawings of Ellis and Forster in the British Museum.

Habitat: Tahiti, and the adjacent islet of Eimeo.

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HIS genus appears to be closely allied to Prosobonia, but has a much shorter hind toe. Its colouration is very different, and quite that of a Sandpiper, while the pattern of Prosobonia is most singular. Seebohm placed Aechmorhynchus, together with Prosobonia, in the genus Phegornis.

We know only one species.

 * Barred Phalarope Latham, Gen. Syn. III. pt. 1, p. 274 (1785—Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean).

 * Tringa cancellata Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 675 (1788—ex Latham).

 * Tringa parvirostris Peale, U.S. Expl. Exp., Birds p. 235, pl. LXVI, 2 (1848—Paumotu) Cassin, U.S. Expl. Exp. p. 321, pl. 38, 2 (1858—Paumotu).

 * Totanus (Tryngites?) cancellatus Gray, Cat. B. Trop. Islands Pac. Ocean, p. 51 (1859).

 * Phegornis cancellatus Seebohm, Geogr. Distrib. Charadr. p. 451, pl. 17 (1888).

 * Aechmorhynchus cancellatus Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIV, p. 525 (1896).

"Bill short, straight, and slender; wings long, first, second, and third quills very nearly equal; tertiaries but very little longer than the secondaries; tail rather long, wide, rounded; legs and toes long, the former robust; tibia feathered for more than half its length. A distinct stripe over and behind the eye ashy-white. Entire upper parts umber-brown, unspotted on the top of the head, but on the other upper parts edged and tipped with ashy-white and reddish fulvous. Tail-feathers umber-brown, with irregular and imperfect transverse narrow bands of ashy and pale reddish-white, and tipped with the same. Underparts white, with a tinge of ashy; throat and middle of the abdomen unspotted; breast, sides, and under coverts of the tail spotted, and with irregular transverse bars of brown, the latter most apparent on the sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts. Under wing-coverts ashy-white, irregularly spotted with brown. Bill greenish, darker at the tip; legs dark green. Sexes very nearly alike, female slightly paler. (Cassin.)"

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 I have here given the synonymy of this bird, as it has now been generally accepted by Seebohm, Sharpe, and others. An actual comparison of the types would, however, be very desirable, but, unfortunately, we do not know where the type of Latham is, and if it still exists. Christmas Island lies much to the north of the Paumotu group! As no specimens have been obtained since the U.S. Exploring Expedition, we may safely suppose that the species has ceased to exist for some reason.

Habitat: "Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean and Paumotu Islands."

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 * Gallinago chathamica Forbes, Ibis 1893, p. 545.

VIDENTLY a species allied to G. pusilla, but very much larger. Bill three inches long.

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

Several skulls and a few bones in the Tring Museum. This is a snipe only a little larger than the existing Gallinago aucklandica.

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 * Pacific rail Latham, Gen. Syn. III, pt. I, p. 255 (1785).

 * Rallus pacificus Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, p. 717 (1788).

ORSTER'S description is as follows, in translation: "Black with white spots or bars; abdomen, throat, and eyebrow white; hind neck ferruginous; breast grey; bill blood-red; iris red. Bill straight, compressed, narrowed at the top, thicker at the base, and blood-red. The mandibles subequal, pointed; the upper slightly curved, with the tip pale fuscous; gape medium. Nostrils almost at the base of bill, linear. Eyes placed above the gape of the mouth. Iris blood-red. Feet four-toed, split, built for running, flesh coloured. Femora semi-bare, slender, of medium length.

"Tibiae slightly compressed, shorter than the femora. Four toes, slender, of which three point forward (are front toes). The middle one almost as long as the Tibia, the side ones of equal length shorter, the back one short, raised from the ground. Nails short, small, slightly incurved, pointed, and light coloured. Head oval, slightly depressed, fuscous. A superciliary line from bill to occiput whitish. Throat white. Hindneck ferruginous. Neck very short. Back and rump black, sparsely dotted with minute white dots. Breast bluish grey. Abdomen, crissum, and loins white. Wings short, wholly black, variegated with broken white bands. Remiges short. Rectrices extremely short, black spotted with white, hardly to be distinguished from the coverts.

Mr. Keulemans' plate was done from Forster's unpublished drawing in the British Museum, and no specimen is in existence. The legs should, however, be less bright red, more flesh-colour.

Habitat: Tahiti, but evidently long extinct.

This bird, according to Forster, was called "Oomnaa" or "Eboonaa," on Otaheite, and the neighbouring islands.

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IFFERS from Cabalus by the relatively shorter bill; by having the whole culmen convex with the tip sharply decurved, by having a close instead of a loose plumage, and a much less reduced sternum, with a well-developed instead of almost obsolete keel. Type of genus Nesolimnas dieffenbachi (Gray).

 * Rallus Dieffenbachii Gray, Dieffenb., Trav. N.Z. II App. p. 197 (1843).

 * Ocydromus dieffenbachi Gray, Voy. Ereb. and Terr., Birds p. 14, pl. 15 (1846).

 * Hypotaenidia dieffenbachi Bonaparte, C. R. XLIII, p. 599 (1856).

 * Cabalus dieffenbachi Sharpe, Voy. Ereb. and Terr., Birds p. 29, pl. 15 (1875), id., Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIII p. 47 (1894).

 * Nesolimnas dieffenbachi Andrews, Novit. Zool. III. p. 266, pl. X, figs 3-15 (1896).

DULT: "General colour above, brown, banded on the mantle and scapulars, and spotted on the upper back with ochreous buff, these buff markings being margined with black, which takes the form of broad bars on the mantle; lower back and rump uniform brown; upper tail coverts brown, barred across with light rufous and black; lesser wing coverts like the back; median and greater coverts, as well as the primary coverts and quills, light chestnut, barred with black, the inner secondaries spotted and barred with ochre and black, like the back; tail feathers brown, mottled with chestnut near the base; crown of the head and nape uniform brown, followed by an indistinct patch of chestnut on the hindneck; lores dull rufous, surmounted by a broad line of bluish grey, extending from the base of the nostrils to the sides of the nape; rest of the sides of the face bluish grey, extending on to the lower throat; this grey area of the face separated from the grey eyebrow by a broad band of dark chestnut, which extends from the lores through the eye along the upper part of the ear-coverts; chin and upper throat white; lower throat black, barred across with white; fore neck and chest ochreous buff, banded rather narrowly with black, this pattern of colouration

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 extending up the sides of the neck to the chestnut on the ear coverts; lower breast and abdomen black, banded with white, the light bars on the flanks and vent feathers being tinged with ochreous; under-tail coverts broadly banded with black and ochre; under-wing coverts and axillaries blackish, barred with white; under surface of quills chestnut, with broad black bars.

Wing 4.8 inches, culmen 1.35, tail 2.7" (Sharpe).

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

The type and only known specimen is that in the British Museum.

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 * Cabalus Hutton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. Vol. VI p. 108, pl. XX (1874—Type and unique species Cabalus modestus).

APTAIN HUTTON characterized his new genus as follows: "Bill longer than the head, moderately slender and slightly curved, compressed in the middle and slightly expanding towards the tip; nostrils placed in a membranous groove which extends beyond the middle of the bill, openings exposed, oval, near the middle of the groove. Wings very short, rounded; quills soft, the outer webs as soft as the inner, fourth and fifth the longest, first nearly as long as the second; a short, compressed claw at the end of the thumb. Tail very short and soft, hidden by the coverts. Tarsi moderate, shorter than the middle toe, flattened in front, and covered with transverse scales; toes long and slender, inner nearly as long as the outer, hind toe short, very slender, and placed on the inner side of the tarsus; claws short, compressed, blunt.

"The bird is incapable of flight, and the stomach of the specimen, dissected by Dr. Knox, contained only the legs and elytra of beetles."

Captain Hutton also adds, l.c., a valuable description of the skeleton.

One species known.

 * Rallus modestus Hutton, Ibis 1872, p. 247. (Mangare, Chatham Islands.)

 * Cabalus modestus Hutton, Trans. New Zeal. Inst. VI p. 108. (The genus Cabalus established.)

 * Rallus dieffenbachii juv. Buller, B. New Zealand, Ed. I pp. 179, 180; Ed. II p. 121 (1888).

 * Cabalus dieffenbachii (part., juv.!) Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIII p. 47 (1894); corr. p. 331.

 * Cabalus modestus Forbes, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. No. IV. p. XX (Dec. 1892); Salvadori, op. cit. V p. XXIII (Jan., 1893); Forbes, Ibis 1893, pp. 532, 544, pl. XIV, fig. 4, egg; Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIII p. 331 (1893); Buller, Suppl. B.N.Z. I p. 45, pl. III (1905).

 * Ocydromus pygmaeus Forbes, Nature XLVI, p. 252 (1892—nomen nudum! cf. Ibis 1893, p. 544).

APTAIN HUTTON (Ibis 1872, p. 247) described this interesting species as follows: "Olivaceous brown, bases of the feathers plumbeous; feathers of the breast slightly tipped with pale fulvous, those of the abdomen and flanks with two narrow bars of the same colour;

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 throat dark grey, each feather slightly tipped with brown. Quills soft brown, the first three faintly barred with reddish fulvous, fourth and fifth the longest. Tail very soft and short, brown. Irides light brown, bill and legs light brown. Length 8.75 inches, wing 3.15, bill from gape 1.4, tarsus 1, middle toe and claw 1.4.

Young. Uniform brownish black.

A single specimen and young from Mangare; also a specimen in spirits."

The author knew perfectly well what he was doing when he described this excellent species. Sir Walter Buller afterwards (B. New Zealand, Ed. I, pp. 179, 180) declared "after carefully comparing it with the type of Rallus dieffenbachii, and submitting the matter to the judgment of other competent ornithologists, I have no hesitation in considering it the same species, in an immature state of plumage." (Sic!) Unfortunately, Dr. Sharpe, in the Catalogue of Birds XXIII, repeated Buller's error, and, on Plate VI, figured Cabalus modestus under the name of Cabalus dieffenbachii, though the latter is not congeneric with C. modestus, and must be called Nesolimnas dieffenbachii, while the third form included in Cabalus by Dr. Sharpe, viz. sylvestris of Lord Howe's Island, must also be separated genetically from Cabalus.

Formerly Cabalus modestus inhabited Great Chatham Island, as Dr. Forbes proved by bones found by himself at Warekauri, but when the species was discovered it existed there no more, though being plentiful on the little outlying island of Mangare. Unfortunately even there it is evidently extinct now, this island being overrun with cats and rats, besides which, according to Buller, the original vegetation has been ruthlessly burnt down for the purpose of sowing grass-seed, as even this bleak little island has been claimed by an enterprising sheep-farmer. Fortunately a good many specimens have been secured by the late W. Hawkins. I have fifteen in my museum, and there are specimens in the British Museum, in Liverpool, and one in Cambridge. Henry Palmer failed to get specimens when he visited Mangare.

I have also the egg described and figured in the Ibis by Dr. Forbes. It measures 40 by 21.4 mm., and is creamy white, with faint pale reddish and purplish roundish spots.

Habitat: Chatham Islands, east of New Zealand.

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 * Ocydromus sp. Hamilton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXV, p. 103 (1893).

 * Ocydromus minor Hamilton (nec. Forbes) l.c.

HIS species is nearest allied to sylvestris Scl., which has quite erroneously been placed in the genus Cabalus by Dr. Sharpe; sylvestris will have to form the type of a new genus, but until the skull of minor is known I prefer to leave the latter temporarily in Ocydromus.

The present species is known from two pelves, seven femora, six tibiae, and five metatarsi, as well as the front portion of a sternum. The measurements all show that minor was a slightly larger form than sylvestris, but owing to having a much shorter tibio-tarsus it must have been a much stumpier bird.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand. Extinct.

 * Ocydromus insignis Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 188 (1892—insufficient description).

HIS bird "far exceeded in size any of the existing species of Ocydromus." That is all that is published about this bird.

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

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ILL produced, not cut short, rather curved. The nostrils are exposed and situated at the base of the bill. Halluces of the naked fowl-like legs of moderate length. Front of legs apparently scutellated. Wings abortive, no rectrices apparent.

 * A Hen Sir Thomas Herbert, A relation of some years' Travaile (1626).

 * Velt-hoenders Reyer Cornelisz, Van der Hagen's voyage (1646).

 * Poules rouges au bec de Becasse Cauche, Rélations véritables et curieuses de l'Isle de Madagascar (1651).

 * Apterornis bonasia Edm. de Sélys-Longchamps, Revue Zoologique, p. 292 (1848).

 * Didus herberti Schlegel, Vers. Med. Ak. Wetensch., II, p. 256 (1854).

 * Didus broecki Schlegel, l.c.

 * Aphanapteryx imperialis Frauenfeld, Neu aufgef. Abbild. Dronte, p. 6 (1868).

 * Aphanapteryx broeckii Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5), X, pp. 325-346, pls. 15-18 (1868).

 * Pezophaps broeckii Schlegel, Mus. Pays-Bas, Struthiones, p. 4 (1873).

HERE give a translation of Frauenfeld's original diagnosis: "Of the size of a fowl, of a uniform brown red all over. Bill and legs dark. Iris yellowish. Feathers decomposed, as in the Apteryx, somewhat lengthened on the nape."

This description was made by Frauenfeld from a drawing by G. Hoefnagels, in the Imperial Library, Vienna, executed about the year 1610, and, together with that of the Dodo, apparently drawn from life in the Imperial Menagerie at Ebersdorf. This drawing proves Van den Broecke, Herbert, and Cauche's descriptions to have been correct, though their drawings are somewhat startlingly different in shape. Only known from these four drawings and osseous remains. 18 fragments of beaks, 5 pelves, 35 tibiae, 1 sacrum and fragments, and 1 vertebra in the Tring Museum.

Habitat: Mauritius.

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HIS genus is closely allied to Aphanapteryx and Erythromachus, but, on the whole, is nearer to Aphanapteryx. It differs from both these genera and Ocydromus in the large protuberances on the basi-temporal region of the skull, and the tarso-metatarsus was much shorter than in Aphanapteryx. For complete diagnosis of this genus see Andrews in Novitates Zoologicae, Vol. III, pp. 73-76 (1896).

 * Aphanapteryx hawkinsi Forbes, Nature XLVI, p. 252.

 * Diaphorapteryx hawkinsi Forbes, Bull. B.O.C.I. p. XXI, 1893.

HE remains of this bird were first sent to Dr. H. O. Forbes in 1892 by the late W. Hawkins, from the Chatham Islands, 500 miles E.S.E. of New Zealand. It appears to have been confined to the Island of Wharekauri. Dr. Forbes subsequently went to the Chathams himself and collected a large number of bones of various extinct birds, including those of Diaphorapteryx. In 1895 I received a consignment of bones through the agency of Mr. Dannefaerd, from the Chathams, such as has never been equalled from any deposit elsewhere, for literally there were many hundreds of thousands of bones of a considerable number of species of birds. From this collection Mr. C. W. Andrews was able to draw up a most minute description of the skeleton of Diaphorapteryx, founded on several practically complete skeletons, some thirty or more skulls, and several thousand individual bones of various portions of the skeleton. This description, published in Novitates Zoologicae, Vol. III, pp. 73-84, is too long for reproduction here, and so I must refer my readers to it.

This bird, as well as the Palaeolimnas, shows an apparent relationship between the Chatham Islands and the Mascarene Islands; but I believe that

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EGS stout, made for running, and from a quarter to one-fifth shorter than in Ocydromus, the three anterior digits well developed and the hallux very small. Body less massive than in Ocydromus, with the wings slightly more developed, but not serviceable for flight. Head small; bill red, straight, pointed, and about 60 mm. = 2.4 inches. A red naked patch round the eye; plumage pale grey."

 * Gelinote Leguat, t. II p. 71 (1708).

 * Erythromachus leguati Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) XIX, pp. 6, 7, pls. XI, XII (1874).

 * Aphanopteryx leguati Günther & E. Newton, Phil. Trans. Vol. 168, pp. 431-432, pl. XLIII (1879).

F the older writers only Leguat appears to have described the Rodriguez flightless rail. There are several references to "Hens," "Veld Hoenders," &c., but all appear to refer to the Mauritius bird Aphanapteryx bonasia. Leguat's description is as follows:—

"Our 'gelinotes' are fat all the year round and of a most delicate taste. Their colour is always of a bright grey, and there is very little difference in plumage between the two sexes. They hide their nests so well that we could not find them out, and consequently did not taste their eggs. They have a red naked area round their eyes, their beaks are straight and pointed, near two and two-fifths inches long, and red also. They cannot fly, their fat makes them too heavy for it. If you offer them anything red, they are so angry they will fly at you to catch it out of your hand, and in the heat of the combat we had an opportunity to take them with ease."

Quite extinct. Only known from descriptions and osseous remains. One tibia in the Tring Museum.

Habitat: Rodriguez Island.

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 * Pennula Dole, Hawaiian Alman. 1879 p. 54 (Reprint in Ibis 1880 p. 241).

BELIEVE that the genus Pennula should be placed near Porzanula, but its wings are softer, the rectrices are next to invisible, but can be felt, as they have stiff shafts and are about 13 mm. long, though being entirely hidden by the soft tail-coverts. The tibia is bare for about 7 mm., the metatarsus covered in front with nearly a dozen transverse, very distinct scales, and distinctly reticulated behind. The bill much as in Poliolimnas and Porzanula.

Two species can be recognized: Pennula millsi, with a uniform upper surface, and Pennula sandwichensis, with a distinctly spotted upper side. Both forms are now extinct.

 * Pennula millei (misprint for millsi) Dole, Hawaiian Almanac 1879 p. 54 (reprint in Ibis 1880 p. 241. "Uplands of Hawaii: named in honour of Mr. Mills, spec. in Mills's Coll., nearly extinct"); Rothsch., Avif. Laysan, etc., p. 241 pl. LXXVI.

 * Pennula ecaudata apud Wilson & Evans, Aves. Hawaii., part V, text and plate.

LL we know of this bird are the five specimens caught by an old native bird-catcher named Hawelu for the late Mr. Mills of Hawaii. Two of these are now in my Museum, one in Cambridge, and two in the Bishop-Pauahi Museum in Honolulu. There can be no doubt that this bird is now extinct. All recent attempts to find specimens have been futile. Mr. Palmer, whom I sent a specially trained dog, also failed to find even traces of it. It lived formerly in the country between Hilo and the volcano Kilauea, in places where thick grass, Vaccinium and Dianella, forms the thickest cover possible. In former times the "Moho" was a dainty on the tables of the Hawaiian kings, but its disappearance is probably due to the introduction of the obnoxious mongoose and to bush fires.

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 * Rallus Sandwichensis Gmelin, Syst. Nat I p. 717 (1788—ex Latham! "Habitat exilis in insulis Sandwich").

 * Pennula Wilsoni Finsch, Notes Leyden Mus. XX p. 77 (1898—Finsch explains that the specimen in the Leyden Museum is not the type of Latham—and therefore of Gmelin's name—and therefore renames it).

 * For full synonymy and explanations of name, etc., cf. Avifauna of Laysan, p. 239, 240 and 243, also plate LXXVI.

ATHAM'S description—from which Gmelin's diagnosis was taken—distinctly says that the feathers were "darkest in the middle," and in the Index Ornith. "supra maculis obscuris." Moreover, the unpublished drawing of Ellis, well reproduced in Mr. Scott Wilson's book, shows beyond doubt the identity of the bird of the old authors with the specimen in the Leyden Museum.

The Leyden specimen is all we are acquainted with, and of the history of this bird we know nothing but Latham's statement that it came from the Sandwich Islands.

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 * Tribonyx roberti Andrews, Ibis 1897, p. 356, pl. IX, figs 4-7.

HIS bird is described from an imperfect pelvis, a perfect left tibio-tarsus and a femur. The pelvis differs from that of T. mortieri in not having the deep depression in the ilia in front of the acetabulum and above the pectineal process. It also differs in having a rather wider pelvic escutcheon and wider renal fossal, and the supra-acetabular ridges of the ilia are smaller than in the Australian bird. The beautifully-preserved left tibia differs from that of T. mortieri in having the intercondylar groove wider and shallower, the inner condyle less massive, thus making the difference between the inner and outer condyle more marked; T. roberti also has the shaft immediately above the extensor bridge wider, the bridge itself less oblique, and the fibular crest is longer.

The measurements are:—

Habitat: Sirabé in C. Madagascar.

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198 with a journey to Europe, to India, to Egypt. He proposed to follow their example. Before all, of course, he desired to reward himself for his years of hard toil; nevertheless, he was happy also for his wife's and daughter's sakes. His wife had never been distinguished for any particular susceptibility to fresh impressions, but then all elderly American women are ardent travellers. As for his daughter, a girl no longer young and somewhat ailing, the journey would do her positive good: to say nothing of the benefits her health would derive, was there not always the likelihood of happy encounters during journeys? While travelling one may indeed, at times, sit at the same table with a millionaire; or enjoy looking at frescoes in his company.

The itinerary planned by the gentleman from San Francisco was an extensive one. In December and January he hoped to enjoy the sun of Southern Italy, the monuments of antiquity, the tarantella, serenades of strolling singers, and another thing for which men of his age have a peculiar relish, the love of young Neopolitan women, conferred—let us admit—not with wholly disinterested motives; he planned to spend the Carnival in Nice, in Monte Carlo, toward which the most select society gravitated at this season, that society upon which all the blessings of civilization depend; not alone the cut of the smoking jacket, but also the stability of thrones, and the declaration of wars, and the welfare of hotels—where some devote themselves with ardor to automobile and sail races, others to roulette, while a third group engages in what is called flirting; while a fourth in shooting pigeons which, emerging from their shelters, soar upward


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IFFERS from Porphyrio by the secondaries being nearly as long as the primaries, and the wing-coverts more or less elongated, sometimes nearly hiding the quills.

Type: Notornis mantelli.

 * Notornis mantelli Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III, p. 377, pl. LVI, figs. 7-11 (1848).

HIS species was founded on a nearly entire skull, collected by Walter Mantell at Waingongoro, North Island, New Zealand. This skull is more than twice the size of that of Porphyrio melanotus. The basisphenoidal surface, however, is flatter, the anterior angle projects below the base of the presphenoid, and there is a slender ridge continued from each paroccipital to the lateral angles of the platform, the posterior angles being hemispheric tubercles as in Palapteryx.

The occipital region inclines forwards as it rises, while the same is more vertical in Porphyrio. The post-frontal is broader than in Porphyrio. The chief distinction from that of Porphyrio is, however, the almost regular four-sided figure of the skull. The breadth of the anterior part is almost exactly that of the occipital region, and the extent of the sides is not much more than that of the front and back part. The parieto-frontal region of the skull is very unlike that of Porphyrio, being convex and oblong, and Notornis also lacks cerebral or hemispheric convexities. Owen gives a large number of other differences, but I refer my readers to the original article as above, pp. 366-371. I, however, must state here, as is already mentioned by Mr. Hamilton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 176, 1892, that the Dinornis skull, with which Professor Owen compared Notornis, referred by him to D. casuarinus is really that of Aptornis defossor (vide Trans. Zool. Soc. III, pl. 52, figs. 1-7), and, therefore, it is quite natural that Professor Owen found a great likeness to Dinornis in Notornis, as the skull he compared it with was really that of the Ralline Aptornis, and not the Struthious Dinornis at all.

Habitat: North Island, New Zealand.

Dr. H. O. Forbes, Trans. N.Z. Inst., discusses at length measurements of tibiae and femora of Notornis, provisionally naming the skeleton in the Otago Museum Notornis parkeri, as a new species, but I consider we must wait for confirmation till we get an associated skeleton of N. mantelli.

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 * Notornis Hochstetteri A. B. Meyer, Abbild. Vogelskelett, Lief. IV & V, p. 28, pl. XXXIV-XXXVII (1883—South Island, New Zealand); Zeitschr. ges. Orn. II, p. 45, pl. I   (1885—figures of the bird).

 * Notornis mantelli (non Owen 1848!) Gould, P.Z.S. London, 1850, pl. 21; Trans. Zool. Soc. London IV, pl. 25 (1850); Gould, B. Austr. Suppl., pl. 76 (1869); Buller, B. New   Zealand, pl. (1873); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXIII, p. 208 (1894).

HE name Notornis mantelli having been based on a cranium and some leg-bones from the North Island, and the bones of a specimen from the South Island, showing marked differences, Dr. A. B. Meyer was fully justified in describing the latter form as different, under the name of N. hochstetteri.

According to the describer there are considerable differences in the cranial bones, but the comparison of the leg-bones shows such differences in size that these alone would be sufficient to separate the North and South Island forms. The femur of N. hochstetteri measures 109, that of N. mantelli 122, the tibia of the former 165, the tarso-metatarsus 109, the tibia of the latter 200, the tarso-metatarsus 129 mm. For further measurements see A. B. Meyer, Abbild. Vogelskelett I, p. 30.

The upper surface is olive-green with some slaty-blue shading, the quills are black with purplish blue outer webs; rectrices blackish, green on the outer webs. Head, neck, and under surface purplish blue, thighs more blackish. Under tail-coverts white, frontal plate and bill bright red, yellow towards the tip of both mandibles. Feet red.

Although this bird is evidently not extinct, a specimen having been captured as late as 1898, it seems that not many examples live at present in New Zealand, as they have been sought after a good deal, and yet only four have been taken so far, i.e., the two in the British Museum, one in the Dresden Museum, and the last-mentioned one.

Full accounts of the capture of this last specimen have been given in the Trans. New Zealand Institute, XXXI, pp. 146-150, and in Sir Walter Buller's Supplement to the Birds of New Zealand, I, pp. 66-74, where, however, the year of the capture is not mentioned, though one can guess that it must have taken place shortly before the articles on it appeared.

Habitat: Middle Island, usually called South Island, apparently nearly extinct.

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 * White gallinule, Voy. of Gov. Phillip to N.S.W., p. 273, cum tab. (1789).

 * Porphyrio stanleyi Rowley, Orn. Misc. I, p. 36, pl. IX (1875).

 * Porphyrio melanotus (part.) Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. XXIII, p. 205 (1894).

 * Porphyrio alba G. R. Gray, List Birds N.Z., &c., Ibis 1862, p. 214.

HE first to point out the differences between the bird now in the Liverpool Museum and the specimen in Vienna was Mr. Dawson Rowley. The original description of the anonymous author of Phillip's Voyage is as follows:—

"This beautiful bird greatly resembles the purple Gallinule in shape and make, but is much superior in size, being as large as a dunghill fowl. The length from end of bill to that of the claws is two feet three inches. The bill is very stout, and the colour of it, the whole of the top of the head and the irides red; the sides of the head round the eyes are reddish, very thinly sprinkled with white feathers; the whole of the plumage is, without exception, white. The legs the colour of the bill. This species is pretty common on Lord Howe Island, Norfolk Island, and other places, and is a very tame species. The other sex, supposed to be the male, is said to have some blue on the wings."

Gray states under Porphyrio alba, in Ibis 1862, p. 214: "It is stated that a similar kind was found on Lord Howe Island which was incapable of flight. The wings of the male were beautifully mottled with blue."

Dr. H. O. Forbes, in the Bulletin of the Liverpool Museums, Vol. III, No. 2, pp. 62-68 (1901), gives an exhaustive account of Rowley's type, in which he comes to the conclusion that the bird is not a Porphyrio but a Notornis, and that it is also probably a specimen of Notornis alba. That it is a Notornis I equally believe; but I think the length of the wing-coverts in the type of N. alba, puts it out of the question that the two birds could be the same. Moreover, the two original pictures of Phillip and White show this difference of the wings very well. I have therefore kept the two separate, and I feel sure if we had other specimens with exact data we should find this a parallel case to that of Nesonetta aucklandica of the Auckland Islands and Anas chlorotis of New Zealand, and that Notornis alba of Norfolk Island was a still further degenerate form to the already flightless N. stanleyi of Lord Howe Island. Wing nine inches.

Habitat: Lord Howe Island.

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 * ? White gallinule Callam, Voy. Botany Bay (1783?) (teste Gray).

 * Fulica alba White, Journ. Voy. N.S.W., p. 238 and plate (1790).

 * Gallinula alba Latham, Ind. Orn. I, p. 768 (1790).

 * Porphyrio albus Temminck, Man. d'Orn. II, p. 701 (1820).

 * Porphyrio melanotus var. alba Gray, Voy. Ereb. and Terror, Birds, p. 19 (1844).

 * Porphyrio melanotus Gray, Voy. Ereb. and Terror, Ed. II (1846), p. 14.

 * Notornis ? alba Pelzeln, Sitz. k. Akad. Wiss. Wien. XLI, p. 328 (1860).

 * Notornis alba Salvin, Ibis 1873, p. 295, pl. X.

HERE has been considerable confusion in connection with this bird and the following species, owing to the fact of White not having given any locality for the specimen on which Latham founded his Gallinula alba, and which is now in the Vienna Museum. That the Vienna specimen is really White's bird is proved because it was bought at the sale of the Leverian Museum, and White expressly states that all his birds were deposited in the Leverian Museum.

It is quite impossible to say with certainty which of the two forms, Notornis alba or N. stanleyi, came from Norfolk Island, as we have no indication of the origin of the Liverpool specimen. But seeing that in the anonymous work, "The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay," the first mentioned habitat is Lord Howe Island, and the figure shows a bird with the shorter wing-coverts of N. stanleyi, I think I am justified in taking the bird with longer wing-coverts—viz., Notornis alba, to be the bird from Norfolk Island.

White's description is as follows:—"White Fulica, with bill and front red, shoulders spined, legs and feet yellow." White's figure clearly shows the long wing coverts characteristic of the genus Notornis. Von Pelzeln says in his account of this bird that there is a label on it bearing the number 102, and giving as place of origin Norfolk Island, but White makes no mention of this. There are traces of a bluish shade, and two or three dark spots on the plumage, which has led many ornithologists to consider N. alba an albino. Gray, in "A List of Birds from New Zealand, &c.," remarked that some Norfolk Island specimens had blue between the shoulders, and the back spotted with the same colour. He also states that the young are said to be black, then become bluish grey, and afterwards pure white. From these and other authors' similar remarks I believe we have not here a case of albinism, but a bird which was in a stage of evolution towards becoming a fixed white species. Wing 9 inches (measured by myself in the Vienna Museum).

Habitat: Norfolk Island.

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Rh March! The Devil's none so black as 'e is painted!

Cheer! We'll 'ave some fun before we're put away.

'Alt, an' 'and 'er out—a woman's gone and fainted!

Cheer! Get on—Gawd 'elp the married men to-day!

Hoi! Come up, you 'ungry beggars, to yer sorrow.

('Ear them say they want their tea, an' want it quick!)

You won't have no mind for slingers, not to-morrow—

No; you'll put the 'tween-decks stove out, bein' sick!

'Alt! The married kit 'as all to go before us!

'Course it's blocked the bloomin' gangway up again!

Cheer, O cheer the 'Orse Guards watchin' tender o'er us,

Keepin' us since eight this moriiin' in the rain!


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170 Stuck in 'eavy marchin'-order, sopped and wringin'—

Sick, before our time to watch 'er 'eave an' fall,

'Ere's your 'appy 'ome at last, an' stop your singin'.

'Alt! Fall in along the troop-deck! Silence all!


text: Author:Henry Carey Baird

title: Author:Henry Carey Baird


text: The Seven Seas/Birds of Prey March

title: The Seven Seas/Birds of Prey March


text:
The New International Encyclopædia/Parker, Theodore

PARKER, (1810-60). An American preacher, scholar, and reformer. He was born in Lexington, Mass., August 24, 1810. His father was farmer and mechanic, and the son

shared actively in his occupations in the intervals of study at the district school and Lexington Academy. He entered Harvard College in 1830 and took the full course of study privately, passing all the examinations, but getting no A.B. degree because he had paid no tuition fees. In 1840 the degree of M.A. was given him. By that time he had mastered several languages which the college did not teach. In 1833 he entered the Harvard divinity school, from which he graduated in 1836. He was ordained Juue 21, 1837, and the same day installed pastor of the West Roxbury Unitarian Church. May 19, 1841, he preached in South Boston an ordination sermon, “The Transient and Permanent in Christianity,” which attracted much attention and elicited violent opposition. With Channing's “Baltimore Sermon” of 1819 and Emerson's Divinity School Address of 1838, it is accounted one of the three epoch-making sermons of the Unitarian development. It was virtually a rejoinder to Andrew Norton's “Latest Form of Infidelity,” which, replying to Emerson's address, contended that no man can be a Christian who accepts the teachings of Jesus for any other reason than that of their miraculous attestation. The sermon did not deny the miraculous in Christianity, but men's present need of it. Invited to preach in Boston, his first important sermons were gathered into a book, A Discourse on Matters Pertaining to Religion (1842), which increased the controversial heat. There were Unitarians who wished formally to expel him from their fellowship, and did achieve his virtual exclusion. In 1846 the Twenty-eighth Congregational Society was formed in Boston and he became its minister, preaching in the Melodeon until 1852, and for the next seven years to a congregation of several thousands in Music Hall. To much controversial preaching, he added more of the kind represented by his Lessons from the World of Matter and the World of Man (1865). He had inherited a tendency to consumption, and in January, 1859, was attacked with severe illness. He was taken to Santa Cruz and there wrote his Experience as a Minister (1859). From Santa Cruz he went to England and thence to Italy, and died, May 10, 1860, at Florence, where he is buried in the Protestant cemetery. Theodore Parker's Christianity was anti-supernatural: his philosophy intuitional, transcendental; his theology theistic, affirming God, the moral law, and immortality as certainties of consciousness. His conception of Jesus was purely humanitarian and his criticism of the Bible anticipated the results of more recent orthodox scholarship. He was one of the most conspicuous leaders of the New England abolitionists, uniting a great personal admiration for Garrison with some differences from his views and aims. His works have been published collectively (edited by Frances Power Cobbe, 14 vols., London, 1863-70: 10 vols., Boston, 1870). Consult also his Historic Americans (Boston, 1870); Discourse on Matters Pertaining to Religion, with introduction by Hannah E. Stevenson (New York, 1871); Prayers, with memoir by F. B. Sanborn (Boston, 1882); Views of Religion, with introduction by James Freeman Clark (ib., 1885); West Roxbury Sermons (ib., 1892). For his life, consult Weiss (New York, 1864), Frothingham (Boston, 1874), and Chadwick (with full bibliography, ib., 1901).


text: Template:Kai

title: Template:Kai


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IFFERED widely from Didus and Pezophaps in its long beak, which resembles a little that of a woodcock, but is much stronger. These birds were high on the leg, ran swiftly, and were far removed from pigeons like the Dodo and the Solitaire, but to which they had a certain resemblance, owing to their rudimentary wings, apology for a tail, and the disposition of their digits."

The above is a translation of de Selys-Longchamps' diagnosis of the genus, but owing to his inclusion therein of Didus solitarius and Aphanapteryx bonasia, it does not fit when restricted to the "Oyseau bleu" of Le Sieur D.B. It might be described as: Resembling Aptornis, but with shorter bill and feet, thus more approaching Notornis.

One species.

 * Oyseaux bleus Le Sieur D.B., Les Voyages aux Isles Dauphine and Bourbon, pp. 170, 171 (1674).

 * Apterornis coerulescens Selys-Longchamps, Rev. Zool. 1848, p. 294.

HE original description of the Sieur D.B. (Dubois) is as follows (translated):—"Oyseaux bleus: As big as the Solitaires; they have the plumage entirely blue, the beak and the feet red and made like those of fowls; they do not fly at all, but run extremely quickly, so that a dog can hardly catch them; they are very good."

Habitat: Bourbon or Réunion.

Dubois gives the size of these birds as the same as that of a big goose and the feet as being like those of a fowl: I have, therefore, in reconstructing the plate of this bird, had it made intermediate in structure between the New Zealand Notornis and Aptornis, which were evidently its nearest allies.

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IFFERS from Dinornis, Palapteryx and Notornis in having an articular surface for a very strong hind toe, and the tarso-metatarsus of a conformation more nearly resembling that found in the Dodo, but shorter and thicker than in the latter. In addition, the strong calcaneal process, perforated by a complete bony canal for the tendon at the back part of the proximal end of the tarso-metatarsus; the perforation above the interspace between the condyles for the middle and outer toes; and the more posterior position for the condyle for the inner toe all prove the distinctness of this genus.

Type: Aptornis otidiformis.

 * Dinornis otidiformis Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. III, p. 247, pls. XXV and XXVI, fig. 5 (1844).

 * Aptornis otidiformis Owen, ibidem p. 347 (1848).

HIS is the North Island form, and I must refer my readers to Owen's description, only remarking that Mr. Hamilton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXIV, p. 179, says the vertebrae assigned by Owen to Cnemiornis all belong to Aptornis.

Locality of type tibia: Poverty Bay, North Island, New Zealand; collected by Rev. Wm. Williams in 1842.

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text: Author:John White Chadwick

title: Author:John White Chadwick


text:
Page:Rothschild Extinct Birds.djvu/182

 * Aptornis defossor Owen, Trans. Zool. Soc. VII, pp. 353 to 366, pls. 40-44 (1871).

HE skull differs from that of A. otidiformis by the vertical surface of the descending part of the occiput being less deeply concave, the occipital foramen relatively smaller. The hind part of the base of the alisphenoid is more produced and tuberous outside the end of the hyoid process of the paroccipital in A. defossor.

The chief other differences in size, according to Owen, are as follows:—

Locality of type: Oamaru.

Habitat: South Island.

A nearly perfect skeleton in the Tring Museum, collected by Mr. W. S. Mitchel in limestone cave on Oreti River, Southland.

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IFFERS from Fulica by the much more curved shape of the skull, the deeply marked glandular impressions over the eyes, and the great pneumaticity of the frontal bones.

 * Fulica chathamensis H. O. Forbes, Nature, vol. XLVI p. 252 (1892).

 * Fulica newtoni H. O. Forbes, l.c. (non Milne-Edwards).

 * Palaeolimnas newtoni H. O. Forbes, Ibis 1893, p. 544.

 * Palaeolimnas chathamensis Milne Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (VIII) 2, 1896 p. 130.

R. FORBES says in Nature "I procured from the same beds which contained Aphanapteryx a certain number of bones of a Fulica which much resemble those of Fulica newtoni; like the bones of Aphanapteryx (should be Diaphorapteryx, W.R.) they vary much in size, some being equal to, while others were considerably larger than similar bones of Fulica newtoni. This variation is so great that I am inclined to consider them as belonging to different species, or at least different races. I have given the name Fulica chathamensis" to the larger species.

Later, in the Ibis, Dr. Forbes says, "The limb-bones and pelvis correspond so closely to those of F. newtoni that I am not able to separate them. The head of the type is, however, unknown."

Professor Milne-Edwards, however, points out numerous differences. In the humerus the sub-trochanterial groove is bigger, and particularly wider than in typical Fulica. The iliac grooves are larger than in Fulica newtoni, the pelvic knob is more extended, and the sciatic foramen is larger. The first sacral vertebrae are stunted below the median sinus, while in the Mauritius species one observes a very stout one, occupying the four first vertebrae of the pelvis. The feet were also larger and stronger than in the latter.

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

An almost complete skeleton and numerous bones in the Tring Museum, and an almost complete skeleton in the British Museum.

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 * Poules d'eau Sieur D.B., Voyages 1674.

 * Fulica newtoni Milne-Edwards, Ann. Sci. Nat. (5) VIII pp. 194-220, pls. 10-13 (1867).

HE translation of the Sieur D.B.'s (Abbé Dubois) description is as follows:—"Waterhens which are as large as fowls. They are always black, and have a large white crest on the head." For the anatomical description I must refer my readers to Professor Milne-Edwards.

Habitat: Bourbon.

Milne-Edwards gives so many details in which Fulica newtoni agrees with Palaeolimnas chathamensis that I feel convinced that the former is not a true Fulica, and, until we know its skull and can decide for certain, I think it is best to include it in the genus Palaeolimnas. 16 tibiae, 30 metatarsi, 8 humeri, 2 sternums, 4 fragments and an entire pelvis and sacrum, and 3 cervical vertebrae in the Tring Museum.

 * Fulica prisca Hamilton, Trans. N.Z. Inst. XXV, p. 98 (1893).

HIS bird was nearly as large as Notornis, but with a very small head and with a frontal shield. It was probably a poor flier, though not flightless, as Fulica chathamensis was. It was smaller than the latter. Measurements, according to Hamilton:—

Habitat: Middle Island, New Zealand.

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ODY not larger than that of a goose; wings rather short but still fitted for flight; feathers of the legs reaching down almost to the top of the tarso-metatarsus; toes long and completely free, middle toe almost as long as tarso-metatarsus. Bill with a naked shield reaching back beyond the eye. Height about 6 feet.

 * Le Géant Leguat, Voyages (1708), p. 171, English edition.

 * Leguatia gigantea Schlegel, Versl. Med. Akad. Wetensch. Amst. VII, p. 142 (1858).

EGUAT'S description is as follows: "... and many of those birds called giants, because they are six feet high. They are extremely high mounted, and have very long necks. Their bodies are not bigger than that of a goose. They are all white, except a little place under their wings, which is reddish. They have a goose's bill, only a little sharper; their claws are very long and divided." This bird was apparently confined to the island of Mauritius.

Professor Newton asserts that Leguat's "Géants" were Flamingos, principally because bones of Flamingos have been found in Mauritius and not a single bone has ever been got of the "géant." This argument is, in my opinion, insufficient, and no evidence at all. We know that a Didine bird and a gigantic rail existed on Réunion, but no bones are yet known of these. I think, like Professor Schlegel, that Leguat's figure and description cannot be meant for a Flamingo and that they prove the former existence of a gigantic ralline bird in Mauritius.

The figure is made up from Leguat's description. The bill is drawn like that of a gigantic moorhen, and so are the feet.

Habitat: Mauritius.

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 * Penguin Hore, in Hakluyt's Coll. Voyages III p. 129 (Ed. 1600—ex Hore).

 * Anser Magelanicus s. Pinguinus Worm, Museum Wormianum, Lib. III, Cap. 19, p. 300, 301 (1655—Figured from a specimen from the Faröe Islands).

 * Penguin Willoughby, Orn. Lib. III p. 242 pl. 65 (1676).

 * Northern Penguin Edwards, Nat. Hist. Uncommon B. etc., III p. 147 pl. 147 (1750—First good coloured plate, from a specimen from Newfoundland).

 * Geyervogel Linnaeus, Fauna Suecica p. 43 no. 119 (1746).

 * Alca impennis Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. X p. 130 (1758—Ex fauna Sueciva no. 119, Mus. Worm. l.c., Willoughby l.c., and Edwards l.c.); Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. XII, I, p. 210 (1766); Naumann, Nat. Voy. Deutschl. XII p. 630 pl. 337 (1844); Dresser, B. Europe VIII p. 563, pl. 620 (1880); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. III p. 371 (1885).

 * Alca borealis Forster, Syn. Cat. Brit. B. p. 29 (1817—nomen nudum).

 * Plautus impennis Brünnich, Zool. Fundamenta p. 78 (1772); Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Water Birds N. Amer., II p. 467 (1884); Grant, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. XXVI p. 563 (1898).

 * OR FULL DESCRIPTIONS, LITERATURE, HISTORY, LIST OF REMAINS, SEE:—

 * Japetus Steenstrup: Bidrag til Geirfuglens Naturhistorie etc., Kjöbenhavn (Copenhagen) 1857 (In Naturh-Forening. Vidensk. Meddel. 1855, nos. 3-7).

 * Alfred Newton: Abstract of Mr. Wolley's Researches in Iceland respecting the Gare-fowl. (In Ibis, 1861, pp. 374-399).

 * William Preyer: Ueber Plautus impennis. (In Journal f. Orn. 1862 pp. 110-124, 337-356.)

 * Alfred Newton: The Gare-fowl and its Historians. (In Natural History Review XII, 1865 pp. 467-488); id. in Encycl. Britannica Ed. IX vol. III; id. Dict. B. p. 220-221.

 * Wilhelm Blasius: Zur Geschichte von Alca impennis. Journ. f. Orn. 1884 pp. 58-176.

 * Symington Grieve: The Great Auk, or Garefowl. Its History, Archaeology, and Remains. London 1885; Supplem. note on the Great Auk; in Trans. Edinburgh Field Nat. Soc. (1897) p. 238-273.

 * Wilhelm Blasius: Der Riesenalk, Alca impennis L. (In the New Edition of Naumann Naumann, Naturg. d. Vögel Mitteleuropas) Vol. XII p. 169-208, plates 17, 17a-17d (1903).

ROBABLY the first mention of Great Auks is that in André Thevet's book "Les singularitéz de la France antarctique ...," Anvers 1558, where a large bird was mentioned under the name of "Aponars," Apponatz or "Aponath." But evidently this name covered several other sea-birds, and it is at least doubtful if it was solely applied to the Great Auk. The same applies to the remarks by Jacques Cartier, as translated in R. Hakluyt's collection of voyages. On the other hand there is no doubt that the "Penguin" mentioned by Robert Hore in 1536 (Hakluyt, Collection of Voyages III, p. 129—1600, and other Editions) was actually the Great Auk. In fact "Penguin" has been the name usually applied to the Great Auk

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text:
Page:The Seven Seas (Kipling, 1896).djvu/226

204 'Ow did 'e get 'is buggy?

Gawd, you needn't ask!

'Made 'is forty gallon

Out of every cask!

Watch 'im, with 'is 'air cut,

Count us filin' by—

Won't the Colonel praise 'is

Pop—u—lar—i—ty!

We 'ave scores to settle—

Scores for more than beer;

She's the girl to pay 'em—

That is why we're 'ere!

See the chaplain thinkin'?

See the women smile?

Twig the married winkin'

As they take the aisle?

Keep your side-arms quiet,

Dressin' by the Band.

Ho! You 'oly beggars,

Cough be'ind your 'and!


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 and is even now used for it by the French, while in most other languages it has been transferred, from an early date, to the Antarctic flightless birds, the Spheniscidae.

All the first reports are from Newfoundland and thereabout, and even Clusius (Exoticorum libri decem, Lib. V, p. 103—1605), who gives a rather poor but perfectly recognizable figure, describes it first (p. 103) as a native of America, under the name of "Mergus Americanus." Later on, however, in the "Auctarium," on p. 367, he mentions it, on the authority of Henricus Hojerus, as found in the Faröe Islands, under the name "Goirfugel." Hojerus was also the authority for the account given in Nieremberg, Hist. Nat., etc., p. 215 (1635). The first comparatively good figure was published in 1655, in the "Museum Wormianum," on p. 301, from a specimen brought alive from the Faröe Islands. Curiously enough the figure shows a white ring round the neck, which no Great Auk, of course, possesses.

Linnaeus, when first bestowing a scientific name on the Great Auk, in 1758, l.c., gave the following short diagnosis and references:—

 * "Alca rostro compresso—ancipiti sulcato, macula ovata utrinque ante oculos. Fn. Svec. 119.

 * Anser magellanicus. Worm. mus. 300 t. 301.

 * Penguin. Will. ornith. 244 t. 65 Edw. av. 147 t. 147.

 * Habitat in Europa arctica."

ROM referring to the literature he quotes, there can, of course, be no doubt as to what species he refers.

The most detailed descriptions are probably those given in the New Edition of Naumann (see above), where also a list of literature and figures is given, fully seven folio pages long! As regards the difference in the sexes little is known, because very few specimens exist of which the sex has been ascertained. We find, however, some with the grooves and ridges on the bill more marked, and the grooves purer white, while others have the grooves of a dirtier white and less strongly developed; as these latter are apparently mostly smaller, I think they must be females, the former males. In this case my two specimens would be females, and the one now in Professor Koenig's possession an adult male. Probably somewhat similar seasonal changes took place as in Alca torda, and Professor Blasius (l.c.) has described them. It must, however, be remembered, that the date of capture is known of but a few examples, and that by far the majority of all those that exist in collections have been killed in spring, on their breeding-places.

Nobody can doubt that the Great Auk is extinct. The last specimens were obtained on Eldey, near Iceland, in 1844, and the seas and islands

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 where the great bird used to live are frequented by vessels every year. It is true that a certain Lorenz Brodtkorb told that in April, 1848, he saw four Great Auks, of which he shot one, near the Varanger Fjord, east of the North-Cape, but Professor Newton and Wolley have, in 1855, had an interview with Brodtkorb, and came to the conclusion that he saw and shot the Great Northern Diver. This is the more likely to be the case, as the occurrence north of the Arctic Circle is as yet uncertain, the finding of Great Auks both on the island of Disco (west-coast of Greenland) and on Grimsey and Mevenklint on the north coast of Iceland being open to doubt.

From sub-fossil and prehistoric finds, we know that the Great Auk formerly inhabited Norway and Sweden, Denmark, with Seeland, Sejerö and Havnö, the British Islands (Cleadon Hills in County Durham, Scotland, Ireland), the east coast of North America from Labrador to Florida.

In historic times we know of the occurrence on the islands near Labrador, Greenland—where it certainly used to breed on the east coast, but was probably only of rare and exceptional occurrence on the west coast—Iceland, the Faröe Islands, Fair Island between the Orkney and Shetland Islands (doubtful), Orkneys (Papa Westra), St. Kilda, Skye, and Waterford Harbour in Ireland. But as breeding stations within historic times the following only are absolutely certain:—

 * 1) Funk Islands near Newfoundland.
 * 2) Iceland (Geirfuglasker, Grimsey, Eldey).
 * 3) Faröe Islands.
 * 4) St. Kilda.
 * 5) Orkney Islands.

While we know of regular occurrence and may assume that the bird has been breeding on the north and west side of Newfoundland, and in east Greenland (opposite Iceland).

The remains of the Great Auk and its eggs in collections are more numerous than one would think, considering the enormous prices paid for mounted specimens and eggs. There are at present known 79 or 80 skins, 26 or 27 skeletons, a great quantity of detached bones, and about 73 eggs.

1. One adult female, formerly in the collection of the late Comte de Riocour at Vitry-le-François, in France. I bought this specimen from the late Alphonse Boucard, together with the bulk of the birds of the Riocour collection. It is evidently an adult female, having the white lines on the bill not very much developed, and showing a distinct grey tinge on the flanks. This shade is present in both my Great Auks; the feathers of the flanks, just under the wing, are nearly white, with a conspicuous, very light grey border. This grey tinge is present in all females, but appears to be absent in adult males. My bird is apparently in worn breeding plumage. As it was not very well mounted and the feet slightly damaged, I had it reduced to a "skin."

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cromwell, Richard


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 2. Another adult female. I purchased this from Mr. Rowland Ward, who had it from Mr. Leopold Field in London, in 1897. According to a letter, dated Paris le 20 Jan., 1890, written by the late A. Boucard, who sold it in that year to Mr. Field, the history is as follows: "This bird was captured in Iceland in 1837, did first belong to Mr. Eimbeck of Brunswick and afterwards in the collection of Mr. Bruch from Mayence." We must accept this information by the late A. Boucard as correct, though it is difficult to understand that in the most painstaking and exact list of remains of the Great Auk, by Prof. Wilhelm Blasius of Braunschweig, or anywhere else, no mention is made of a specimen in the possession of the late Eimbeck, or the late Bruch. Moreover, we have no explanation where this Auk has been between the time of Bruch's death and 1890, when Boucard sold it to Mr. Field in London.

This specimen has been described as "immature," but this is a mistake. Evidently it arose from some white speckles being visible on the neck in the photograph (see Symington Grieve, Trans. Edinburgh Field Nat. and Micros. Society, explanation to plate III, on page 269). The specimen itself, however, shows no white speckles, but only worn feathers, out of which the illusion arose in the photograph. This error has also been transferred to the admirable treatise on the Great Auk in the New Edition of Naumann. The grey shade "on the body lower than the wing," mentioned by Mr. Symington Grieve, is not a sign of immaturity, but appears in all adult females, though it is said to be absent in males.

Some years ago an extraordinary rumour was current in Germany about the Great Auk in the Brehm collection; it was said to have been exchanged by the widow of Pastor C. L. Brehm for a rare Dresden cup, and that its present resting-place was unknown. I do not know who invented this story, or how it arose, but suffice it to say, that the Auk which was in the Brehm collection was sold to the late King of Italy, in 1868 or 1869. The business was concluded by Dr. Otto Finsch, and the money was used for the benefit of a brother of the late Dr. A. E. Brehm, as it had been the wish of his father, Pastor Brehm. The specimen was re-stuffed by the late taxidermist Schwerdtfeger in Bremen and forwarded to a professor in Florence. It was kept for years at the "Veneria Reale," and recently, when the collection at that castle was dissolved, was placed in the Museum at Rome. It is one of the finest Great Auks known.

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 * Procellaria jamaicensis Bancroft, Zoological Journal V, p. 81 (1835—Nomen nudum!).

 * Pterodroma caribbaea Carte, P.Z.S. 1866, p. 93, pl. 10 ("Blue Mountains in insula Jamaica").

 * Aestrelata caribbaea Giglioli & Salvadori, Ibis 1869, p. 66.

 * Fulmarus caribbaeus Gray, Handlist B. III, p. 107 (1871).

 * Aestrelata jamaicensis Ridgway, Man. N. Am. B., p. 67; Cory, Cat. West-Indian B., p. 84 (1892).

 * Oestrelata jamaicensis Salvin, Cat. B. Brit. Mus, p. 403 (1896).

T is surprising that the name jamaicensis has generally been adopted for this species, as Bancroft gave no description whatever. The first description is that of Carte, in 1866, which is as follows:—"Head, neck, back, and wings of a uniform dark sooty brown; vertex and external webs of the primaries a shade or so darker; abdominal feathers and under tail-coverts a shade or two lighter than those of the back; upper tail-coverts and basal portion of tail-feathers of a light grey or dirty white. The light-coloured patch on the rump is conspicuous when the wings are expanded, but completely concealed when they are closed. Irides dark hazel. Tarsi, toes, webs, and nails jet-black.

"Length about 12¾ inches; expanse of wings 34 inches; length from carpal joint to tip of first primary 10¾ inches; length of bill, measured from gape, 1⅝ inches; length of nasal tubes 5⁄16 inch; length of interval between nostrils and commencement of apical curve of upper mandible ¼ inch; length of tarsi 15⁄10 inches; length of toes, outer and middle, sub-equal 2 inches; length of inner toe 1⅝ inches. First and second primaries sub-equal, and about ½ inch longer than the third. Tail about 4½ inches long and round at extremity. The closed wings extend about 1½ inches beyond the tail. Hallux small, and in shape triangular."

"With respect to the habits of the bird, Mr. March has most kindly furnished me with the following interesting details:—

"It is a night-bird, living in burrows in the marly clefts of the mountains at the east and north-east end of the island. The burrows form a gallery 6 to 10 feet long, terminating in a chamber sufficiently commodious to accommodate the pair; from this they sally forth at night, flying over the sea in search of food (fishes), returning before dawn. It is often seen on moonlight nights and at sunrise running about the neighbourhood of its domicile, and sometimes crossing the road, regardless of the labourers going to their work. I know nothing of its nidification."

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 The type of "Pterodroma caribbaea" is preserved in the Dublin Museum, and three specimens are in the British Museum. This bird is one of the rarest in collections, and all modern collectors have failed to obtain specimens. Quite recently (1906) Mr. B. Hyatt Verrill published a pamphlet entitled "Additions to the Avifauna of Dominica." In this unpaginated essay he said under the heading "Aestrelata jamaicensis": "Not uncommon (on Dominica), but seldom seen during the day. Breeds at La Bime, Pointe Guignarde, and Lance Bateaux, as well as at Morne Rouge and Scott's Head. In many of the above localities the musky odour of these birds is very pronounced when passing the cliffs, wherein they breed, on a calm evening. At dusk they may often be seen flying about the cliffs in company with myriads of bats that spend the day in the fissures and crevices. They are very difficult to procure, and although shot at repeatedly only two specimens have been obtained."

From all former evidence we might have well considered this species to be extinct, but if Mr. Verrill's statement is correct it would be far from exterminated. I do not, however, know if the Dominica specimens have been compared with Jamaica examples, and if Mr. Verrill's determination (apparently made on Dominica) is therefore correct.

Habitat: Jamaica.

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