rainfall had changed but little, there is to-day an almost entire lack of those taller and denser timber areas which were the home of the majority of the more delicate species of Hymenophyllum and Trichomanes, and I venture to suggest that the humidity within those areas that remain is also lower than it formerly was. For instance, in December, 1916, the stream that usually flowed through Le Bon's Bush, though never of large dimensions, had actually dried up, and the forest-floor could scarcely have been described as damp; yet there are evidences that this piece of forest was particularly rich both in wealth of fern-growth and in number of species.

To the wholesale destruction of the bush that accompanied the cutting-out of the timber and the conversion of these areas into pasture the disappearance or partial disappearance of many ferns is undoubtedly due, as, e.g., Gleichenia Cunninghamii and Pteris tremula, both of which appear to have been abundant. Then, again, where cattle have had access to the bush the undergrowth, with its wealth of terrestrial ferns, has disappeared save for a few hardy species that seem able to accommodate themselves very rapidly to new and harsher conditions, as, e.g., Asplenium bulbiferum, Pellaea rotundifolia, Polystichum Richardi, P. vestitum, Blechnum lanceolatum, B. fluviatile, B. discolor.

Most of the larger Hymenophylla seem to have disappeared entirely, though the smaller species may still be found. The reason for this I am unable to state. It has to be remembered, however, that the favourite haunts for these ferns were the valleys between Le Bon's Bay and Damon's Bay, and that the bush has been practically cleared away from these areas. Further, it seems more than probable that these ferns cannot endure wind, which now blows freely through bush where formerly the air was perpetually still.

On the coastal rocks the following ferns are much less common than they apparently were formerly: viz., Gymnogramme leptophylla, G. rutaefolia, Blechnum Banksii, Asplenium Richardi. In fact, no trace of either Gymnogramme was seen by me. Other ferns commonly met with on banks and slopes immediately above high-water mark seem to hold their own against such aggressive exotics as Dactylis glomerata, Agrostis stolonifera, &c., while the pastures have been invaded by Blechnum penna marinum. This fern must, in the district under consideration, have descended from its former subalpine station right down to sea-level, where it is now common in places from which in the past it seems to have been absent. The two species of Gymnogramme formerly grew on steep banks of partially decomposed rock, where introduced grasses have now obtained a footing, and this may, wholly or partially, explain their disappearance.