Part 22

It is thus evident that Bloxam considered both forms to be distinct, and Messrs. Wilson and Evans were perfectly justified in naming the extinct Oahu form.

We are not aware of any specimens being preserved in any Museum, though Bloxam obtained a skin. Messrs. Wilson and Evans (l.c.) write:--"All the specimens obtained by Mr. Andrew Bloxam, properly prepared and labelled, were placed at the disposal of the Lords of the Admiralty, as shewn by a copy of the letter he wrote to their Secretary, and probably all were sent, as some certainly were, to the British Museum; but no other trace of this unique specimen of a vanished species, which may be properly called Phaeornis oahensis, is now forthcoming."

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BOWDLERIA RUFESCENS (BULLER).

(PLATE 5, FIG. 3.)

Sphenoeacus rufescens Buller, Ibis 1869, p. 38.

Megalurus rufescens Gray Hand-l. B. I, p. 206. No. 2913. (1869.)

Buller's original description is as follows: "Upper parts, sides, and tail dark rufous brown, brightest on the crown and hind-neck; the feathers of the shoulders and sides centred with black. Quills dusky black, margined with rufous brown. Streak over the eye, throat, breast and abdomen pale fawn colour; sides of the head and ear-coverts marked with black. Bill light brown with the ridge black, feet dark brown." Buller's type probably had been preserved in spirit, as the colouration of fresh specimens is very different to his description. The general colour above and on the flanks chestnut rufous, most feathers with darker or black centres; chin, throat, breast and abdomen pure white; crissum and under tail-coverts whity buff or buffy brown. Wing 2.6 inches, tail 3.9 inches, culmen 0.65 inch.

Habitat: Chatham Islands.

Cats, rats and weasels have exterminated this fine species, which is now quite extinct. Messrs. Travers and Dannefaerd have supplied the specimens in most colonial museums, while Henry Palmer collected the 14 at Tring. A few in Liverpool and two in the British Museum are all known to me in Europe, in addition to those at Tring.

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TRAVERSIA ROTHSCH.

See description below. Only one species known.

TRAVERSIA LYALLI ROTHSCH.

(PLATE 5, FIG. 3.)

Traversia lyalli Rothschild, Bull. B.O.C. IV p. X (December 29th, 1894); Nov. Zool. 1895, p. 81.

Xenicus insularis Buller, Ibis 1895, p. 236, pl.

Traversia insularis Buller, Suppl. B.N.Z. II p. 109, pl. X (1906).

In 1894 I described this remarkable little bird as follows: "Traversia, gen. nov. Xenicidarum. Differs in several important points both from Xenicus and Acanthidositta. Bill much larger and stouter, very little shorter, if at all, than the tarsus; the latter about as long as middle toe without claw, or the hind toe and claw, while in Xenicus and Acanthidositta it is about twice as long as the hind toe. The principal difference, however, is the weakness of the wing, which suggests flightlessness, as does also the very soft and loose character of the entire plumage, and the very Ralline aspect of the bird. There are only ten tail-feathers, and the scutellation of the tarsus is like that of Xenicus. These two points determine its position in the Xenicidae at once (cf. Sclater, Cat. B. XIV, p. 450).

"The type is: Traversia lyalli, sp. nov.

"Male. Above dark brownish olive-yellow, each feather with a brownish-black border. A narrow distinct yellow superciliary line. Wings and tail umber-brown, the inner webs darker; wing-coverts like back. Chin, throat, and breast chrome-yellow, each feather slightly edged with greyish brown. Flanks, abdomen, and vent pale brown, centre of feathers paler.

"Female. Upper surface umber-brown, each feather bordered with very dark brown; wings and tail similar. Under surface buffy grey, the feathers edged with pale brown. Total length about 4 inches, culmen 0.6, wing 1.8 to 1.9, tail 0.8, but much concealed, tarens 0.75, middle toe 0.65, hind toe without claw 0.5. {24}

"Habitat: Stephens Island, New Zealand. Discovered by Mr. Dr. Lyall, lighthouse-keeper, and sent to me by Mr. Henry H. Travers."

I received nine specimens of this new bird, and was not aware that any others had been taken at that time. As I was unable to attend the December meeting, 1894, of the British Ornithologists Club, I asked Dr. Hartert to exhibit the birds in my name. When he had done so and had read the description, the Chairman, Dr. P. L. Sclater, said that the bird had also been received for illustration and description in the Ibis, from Sir Walter Buller, and he asked Dr. Hartert if I would not withdraw my description. Dr. Hartert said that this was unfortunate, but he had no authority to withdraw my description, and he and Dr. Sharpe thought that the proceedings of the meeting should be printed without consideration of any manuscripts which might refer to the same bird. No doubt this was hard luck on Sir Walter Buller, but it would have been equally hard luck for me if he had forestalled me with the new bird. He had only one specimen, I had nine, of both sexes, and I had paid a high price for them, as types of a new bird. My type is in Tring, and, as everybody knows, available for study by any competent ornithologist, while Buller's type was not in any museum, and it was uncertain to whom he would sell it afterwards. I suppose it is now in the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, to which Buller's third collection, 625 specimens, was sold for a thousand pounds, as Buller himself tells us in his Supplement II, p. 167, under the heading of Glaucopis wilsoni! On the same page Sir Walter Buller also tells us that his "second collection" was sold to me, but he makes a mistake about the price, as I certainly did not pay a thousand pounds for it.

I mentioned these unimportant details, because Buller rather bitterly and severely complained about my describing the Stephens' Island Wren, on p. 111 of his supplement. I may only add that of course my name, being published in December, 1894, has the priority over his, which was not published before April, 1895.

The history of Traversia lyalli is perhaps the most extraordinary of any bird known. All the specimens I am aware of, viz., the eight now in my collection, the type of "Xenicus insularis" in Buller's former collection, one in the late Canon Tristram's collection, one in the British Museum (ex Tring), and two or more offered some years ago by Mr. Travers, were brought in by the lighthouse-keeper's cat. Evidently this feline discoverer has at the same time been the exterminator of Traversia lyalli, and many may have been digested by that unique cat, as in letters received from Mr. Travers I {25} have been told that no more specimens could be obtained, and Buller (l.c.) says: "Very diligent search has been made on Stephen Island for further specimens of the Island Wren, but without success, and there is too much reason to fear that this species has almost immediately after its discovery become extinct."

Habitat: Stephen Island, a small, partly wooded islet, about a square mile in extent, in Cook Strait. It is almost impossible that this bird has only existed on Stephen Island. It must have been overlooked on d'Urville Island or the "mainland," where it probably became extinct--through rats and cats, and similar pests--long ago.

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