Plate.

[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 25th November, 1876.]

In my account of the Kaka Parrot, in “The Birds of New Zealand,” I have mentioned ^† a living example which had been in the possession of the Upper Wanganui tribes for a period of nearly twenty years, and presented the curious feature of its over-grown mandibles completely crossing each other—a circumstance which I attributed to its having been constantly fed on soft food, thus depriving the bill of the wear and tear incident to a state of nature.

It would appear, however, that even in the wild state this species is liable to an abnormal development or deformity of growth in this respect, as will be manifest from the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 represents a specimen in the Canterbury Museum; and Fig. 2 another in the British Museum, which was brought under my notice by Dr. Günther. Fig. 3 shews the normal condition of the bill in a healthy bird.