Long-tailed cuckoos (Eudynamys taitensis) were studied on Little Barrier Island during three summers. The only species of host was the Whitehead (Mohoua albicilla). Rates of brood parasitism on the island were 18.1% overall, 35.7% at altitudes above 250 m, and 5.4%
at altitudes below 250 m. The breeding season for cuckoos probably lasted for 4-6 weeks from mid-November, suggesting that early nests of the Whitehead escaped brood parasitism. The available information
suggests that the major hosts of the cuckoo are the Whitehead, the Yellowhead, and possibly the Brown Creeper, although other hosts are used occasionally. As adult cuckoos call in small groups during the breeding season, I speculate that Long-tailed cuckoos may have
a lek-type social organisation.
A re-examination of the moa genus Megalapteryx reveals that the two currently accepted species, M. didinus (Owen) and M. benhami Archey, do not differ in the shape of the bones. They represent small and large specimens in an unbroken size continuum. Specimens from northwest Nelson have a larger mean size than those in a sample from Takahe Valley, Fiordland. A series of 14C dates indicates that the largest ‘M. benhami‘ are all of Otiran derivation, whereas M. didinus bones are from Otiran and Holocene deposits. Therefore M. benhami is synonymised with the upland moa, M. didinus (Owen).
A colony of breeding Snow Petrels (Pagodroma nivea) in the Muhlig-Hofmann Mountains, Queen Maud Land, on the Antarctic continent was visited in January-February 1985. The birds were nesting under large boulders on the north-faced, ice-free hillside at Svarthamaren (71°53′ S,
5°1O’ E), about 200 km from the open sea. The colony was roughly estimated to contain 500 pairs (Mehlum et al. 1985). Hatching took place in mid-January. The Snow Petrels at Svarthamaren were on average significantly smaller than those breeding elsewhere in the Antarctic. The irregular geographical distribution of breeding birds of varying size does not immediately provide any support for a sub-specific division of the species into one large and one small form, leaving the systematic and evolutionary status of the species unclear. It remains to be established whether inland breeding selects for relatively small birds.