Stead acquired a detailed knowledge of the birds of
Canterbury, as well as of New Zealand's offshore islands through many field trips. He built up an important collection of skins and eggs which was bequeathed to the
Canterbury Museum. He wrote many papers for the
Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand and other journals, as well as a book,
The Life Histories of New Zealand Birds, published in 1932. He named two new subspecies of
fernbird and a new subspecies of
bush wren from
Stewart Island (Stead's bush wren,
Xenicus longipes variabilis). His field studies and contributions to
natural history and ornithology were recognised in 1948 by his election as a
fellow of the
Royal Society of New Zealand. ==References==