A RARE BIRD.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9113, 12 June 1908, Page 5

A RARE BIRD.

Mr A. Hamilton (Director of tho Dominion Museum), yesterday, received from his son at Dunedin the upper of an extinct bird, which was almost exactly like the English crow. This interesting specimen was found on the t>and hills at Purakaunui. The extinct species was first recognised from bones found at the Chatham Islam's by Professor Forbes, several fairly complete skeletons having been obtained from the Piinil hills at YVaitangi, Clintham Islands, bu- it is only recently that bones of it have been found on tiie mainland of New Zealand. About six ye.irs ago a ge;uie;n;m living at Ngapara, in tli" Oamaru district, found in a cave t-helter some bones of an extinct bird. Mr Hamilton, sen., made a personal examination of the lionPti. when the cavity was opened, i'hc only cow hone f>>und was that of !: • iimnru ?, or and the next bone collected wan the right or correspond in? wing-bone. Tiie finding of thi! beak above referred to is but another proof of the occurrence of this bird on the mainland. A partial skeleton of the crow, obtained from the Chatham Islands, will be found in the Dominion Museum. It was cdlected by Mr Travers. So far none of the remains of the extinct crow ha« been found in tho North Island.