Henky. — 0/i Dusky Sound. 51 



so exceedingly poor that sometimes I thought she would die ; 

 yet her young ones are just balls of fat until about the end of 

 May, when many of them are as heavy as the largest old 

 males. But soon after she ceases to feed them they rapidly 

 become poor. The fruit that they have been fed on is nearly 

 all done, and I think that many of them die before they learn 

 to forage for themselves. All this time the old males are very 

 fat, which shows that they did not exert themselves to feed 

 the young — more likely they took the best of everything for 

 themselves. Eesolution as a whole is not a good place for 

 kakapos, because tutu and fuchsia are scarce ; but there are 

 many places on it where colonies will do well, where fig-trees 

 are plentiful. I noticed that there were no " gages " 

 where the kakapos were ; in fact, I have seen none on 

 the mainland, but plenty on all the islands, where there 

 are no kakapos ; and if the birds eat them they will 

 have plenty on Eesolution. I will have most trouble to 

 get grey kiwa, for I have heard very few in all this place. 

 When camped on Cooper Island w^e heard grey kiwi there — 

 and it is a big island, perhaps eight square miles in extent ; 

 and, though it comes near the mainland at its eastern end, 

 there is mostly a swift tide running there that will disturb the 

 calculations of a swimmer. In November, kakas, tuis, and 

 mokos were here in great numbers feeding on the honey of 

 the rata-blossoms, but no pigeons until lately, wdien they have 

 come for the berries, and the kakas are nearly all away. 

 There was a kaka's nest, with two young ones, near our 

 house on Pigeon Island. When we came here, in July, 

 there were colonies of crested penguins at nearly every easy 

 landing, and sometimes in caves, all busy nesting. They all 

 went away for a while with their young, but came back in 

 January and February for their moulting, and then cleared 

 out again, and I do not think there is one left in Dusky. But 

 many of the little penguins seem to remain here, and are 

 always out fishing in the daytime, coming ashore at night and 

 sleeping in holes under rocks and trees. We never saw one 

 per cent, of the crested penguins out either day or night, and 

 I do not understand them at all. Woodhens are on all the 

 islands, and attend closely on the penguins when the young 

 are just hatched, so that may have something to do with the 

 penguins staying at home so much. Grey ducks are numerous 

 at the head of Dusky, where they have a splendid breeding- 

 place among creeks and swampy islands in the mouth of a 

 great valley coming in from the north, and there are no 

 swamp-hawks. 



There is a fine river coming in from the east to Supper 

 Cove. I went up it about three miles to a gorge, wdiere I 

 was stopped by a dangerous but passable place. There are 



