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Miscellaneous.
The numbers of the two sexes obtained, including both immature and adult birds, were 114 males and 125 females. This is a sex ratio of 91.5 males to 100 females.
The breeding females had a large bare brood-patch, about 120 × 65 mm. Laterally the knees were bare and the apterion extended up to the axilla. Seven females were received having the brood-patch, one apparently in the middle of laying. One male (15/1/40) had what appeared to be the remains of a brood-patch, and was assumed to be a female until it was dissected.
Six eggs were received, their measurements being as follows:— 33.6 × 28.8, 33.9 × 29.6, 34.7 × 29.0, 35.6 × 28.7, 35.8 × 29.0, 37.6 × 28.7 mm. The first two came from one nest, the rest from another. These measurements are within the limits given by Witherby for 67 British eggs.
Some of the birds were measured. The wing was measured by laying it along a ruler and straightening and flattening it as much as possible, the length being taken from the carpal bend to the tip of the longest primary. The tarsus was measured from the upper side of the base of the middle toe to the back of the heel, the measurement being therefore somewhat greater than the length of the tarsal bone itself. The middle toe was measured from the upper side of the base to the tip of the claw. The beak was measured from the tip to the cere, a region referred to below as the culmen, and from the tip to the feathers, a distance referred to as the beak.
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| Number Measured. | Mean. | Limits. | Standard Deviation. | ||
| mm. | mm. | ||||
| Wing | ♂ | 45 | 166.7 | 157 -179 | 55.90 |
| ♀ | 45 | 169.1 | 158 -180 | 17.97 | |
| “Tarsus” | ♂ | 44 | 39.9 | 38.0- 42.0 | 1.050 |
| ♀ | 43 | 39.8 | 38.0- 42.0 | 1.145 | |
| Toe | ♂ | 47 | 30.6 | 27.0- 33.0 | 1.220 |
| ♀ | 45 | 30.6 | 29.0- 32.0 | 0.283 | |
| Beak | ♂ | 45 | 19.3 | 17.0- 21.0 | 0.238 |
| ♀ | 41 | 19.2 | 18.0- 20.0 | 0.175 | |
| Culmen | ♂ | 39 | 14.8 | 13.5- 16.0 | 0.197 |
| ♀ | 36 | 14.6 | 13.0- 16.0 | 0.189 |
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The details of all these series of measurements are shown in Table VI. The male is in each case more variable than the female. The variation is especially marked in the case of the wing, where the distribution of lengths shows little or no resemblance to the normal distribution curve. It is possible that immature birds may have been included though they were omitted whenever recognisable. There appears to be no difference in size between the two sexes as shown by the mean lengths of these various parts, the greater length of the female wing being obviously not significant. (Actually the probable error of the difference is 5.8, while the actual difference is only 2.4). Witherby gives the following measurements from British specimens: Wing—male 153–165 mm. and female 156–165 mm., there being 20 and 18 specimens respectively. Beak—male, 18–21 mm. The upper limit of the New Zealand wing measurements is considerably higher and the lower limit slightly so, but the numbers are small, and the difference may be accounted for by a slight difference in the method of measuring.
For comparison it may be stated that Hicks, studying the variations of a large number of Starlings, S. vulgaris vulgaris, in Ohio found that the males had a somewhat greater range of size variation than the females for all measurements. Out of 10,000 birds, he found that 5.35% had physical deformities. Only one abnormal owl was found in the present investigation. In it the hind claw, instead of being curved and about 10 mm. long, was quite straight and 7.5 mm. long.
Only one diseased bird was found. It appeared to be in good condition, though perhaps moulting late, and was heavy for the time of year, but the liver and spleen were pale and much enlarged and thickly covered with fatty-looking nodules. There was a good deal of soft yellow fat in the region of the post-hepatic septum, and a fatty adhesion on the right side, apparently at least partially obliterating the thoracic air sac. The testes were rather larger than usual for the time of year but looked normal, as also did the intestines and kidneys. Dr Sutherland, of the Department of Pathology, kindly examined this specimen and reports that it was suffering from tuberculosis, large numbers of tubercle bacilli being visible in the lesions.