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Art. XIV.—Further Notes on the Birds of the Kermadec Islands.
[Read before the Auckland Institute, 11th December, 1912.]
The report by Tom Iredale appearing in this volume (p. 78) on the birds observed in the Kermadec Islands in 1908 calls for some additional notes, especially with regard to those species concerning which further information has been, obtained or skins procured by Messrs. Roy and King Bell since the return of our expedition.
In concluding that Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands have received the basal elements in their avifaunas by way of New Caledonia, Iredale is in complete accordance with the views I have already given in these Transactions (vol. 44, p. 214, 1912), but he differs in considering the avifaunas more closely related to that of New Caledonia than to that of New Zealand.
Porzana plumbea.
A number of nests were found by Messrs. Roy and King Bell in the swamp in Denham Bay, Sunday Island. From R. Bell's diary I summarize the particulars as follows: From the 10th November to the 3rd December, 1909, five nests of three eggs each, one nest of four eggs; from the 15th November, 1910, to the 3rd January, 1911, four nests of two eggs each, four nests of three eggs each, one nest of four eggs. In addition to these, a nest with one egg was found on the 2nd November, 1909, but was shortly afterwards destroyed, apparently by rats. In the Auckland Museum there are several skins of this species obtained on Sunday Island.
Anas superciliosa.
Nests of the grey duck were found by K. Bell in the crater of Sunday Island in 1910. One, found on the 1st October, contained six eggs; another, found on the 22nd October, contained seven eggs.
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Porphyrio melanotus.
The skin of a specimen shot by K. Bell on the Denham Bay beach on the 27th April, 1909, is in the Auckland Museum. R. Bell notes: “Contents of stomach, quills and bits of feather. From this we may conclude that it has been eating the dead wideawakes.”
Sterna bergii.
The skin on which the first record (l.e., p. 215) of this bird in the Kermadecs was based is that of a young male shot by K. Bell on the 1st April, 1910. The bird was first noticed on Denham Bay beach on the previous day.
Limosa novaezealandiae.
One skin collected by R. Bell on the 4th November, 1909, and eleven others collected on various dates from the 16th October to the 28th November, 1910, are in the Auckland Museum. Bell records that these birds were seen singly or in small flocks, sometimes associating with Charadriua dominicus, in the crater and in Denham Bay.
Prion desolatus.
The skin on which the record (l.e.) is based was taken from a Specimen found by R. Bell cast up by the sea on Denham Bay beach on the 29th July, 1910.
Tringa canutus.
The specimen recorded (l.e.) was taken on Denham Bay beach on the 17th October, 1910.
Heteropygia acuminata.
A skin obtained from a specimen shot by R. Bell on the 29th October, 1910, is in the Auckland Museum.