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NUMBER 89
population, if such existed, must have been eliminated in prehistoric
times.
Gallirallus minor (extinct Weka): Several authors have reported
bones of this species. Olson (1975:76) remarked that the
presence of this species in the Chathams would be "a highly
unlikely occurence" and indicated that at least the bones mentioned
by Falla (1960) are well within the size range for G. dieffenbachii.
Gallirallus minor is a species that has never been
satisfactorily defined and may eventually prove to be no more
than a smaller variant of G. australis.
Strigops habroptilus (Kakapo): Travers (1873) mentioned
that kakapos (as well as kiwis and wekas, see above) were
known to the Maori on the Chathams, and the record was followed
by several subsequent authors. Although this statement
was later disavowed, Forbes (1892c, 1893a) continued to accept
the unsubstantiated myth. Dawson (1959), in a detailed
analysis, concluded that the only material evidence for the
former presence of Strigops rested with a single bone in the
Travers collection, which perhaps had not come from the
Chathams at all. Subsequently, Dawson (1960) discovered two
further bones of Strigops, among uncataloged material in the
British Museum, that had allegedly been collected by or for
Forbes in the 1890s. Because these three bones are the only
ones ever identified among the many thousands of bones obtained
from the Chathams, it seems most likely that their locality,
too, was incorrectly recorded, although there remains a
possibility (in my view, highly implausible) that Kakapo were
at some time taken to the islands from New Zealand by the
Maori.
Nestor notabilis (Kea): The occurrence of fossil bones
identified as those of the Kea was mentioned in several papers
by Forbes (1892c, 1893a). Oliver (1955:542) obviously followed
Forbes when remarking that "in pre-European times [the
kea was present] on the Chatham Islands." Dawson (1959),
however, considered all the Chatham Island bones of Nestor
obtained by Forbes to belong to N. meridionalis (Kaka). My
own research has shown that the Chatham Islands Nestor (Figure
10) is a new, undescribed species, poorly volant and now
extinct, but it is structurally more like N. meridionalis than like
N. notabilis.
Sceloglaux albifacies (Laughing Owl): Forbes (1892c) noted
that among his Chatham Island material were bones that he
identified as those of the Laughing Owl. Neither Dawson (in
1958) nor I (in 1984), however, recognized any bones attribut-
FlGURE 10.—Pelves of Nestor spp. (dorsal views). Left to right: Nestor notabilis (MNZ 23161); Nestor, species
undescribed (NMZ S29990, PRM sample #152/91), from Te One, Chatham Island; Nestor m. meridionalis
(NMZ 22504). (Scale bar=30 mm.)
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