208 Transactions. 



helping themselves to the nectar, while every now and then the parent 

 appears with a supply of insects. Early in December the bush is full of 

 young bell-birds learning to sing, their first efforts falling far short of per- 

 fection. 



Rifleman (Acanthidositta chloris). 



The rifleman is still plentiful in most Southland bushes. I have found 

 the nest on several occasions, and it was always situated in the hollow of 

 a tree, within a few feet of the ground, the entrance being so small that a 

 finger could hardly be introduced. 



Parrakeets (Cyanorhamphus). 



Parrakeets are getting very scarce in the south. It has been suggested 

 • that the starling has interfered with their nesting habits by appropriating 

 almost every hollow tree ; but, though this may have been the case in 

 those localities where the starling is plentiful, it does not account for the 

 diminishing numbers of the parrakeet in extensive wooded districts where 

 the starling does not occur. 



I once found a nest of the yellow-fronted parrakeet (C. auriceps), con- 

 taining five young birds, on the 22nd July. 



Kakapo (Stringops habroptilus). 



In the elevated country lying between Lake Hakapoua and the Kiwi 

 Burn the kakapo is not uncommon. Near the coastal mining claims the 

 bird is not now to be found, having been killed out by the miners' dogs. 



Bush-hawk (Nesierax australis). 



Mr. Jules Tapper furnishes some interesting notes on the hunting habits 

 of the bush- or sparrow-hawk : "A short time ago I witnessed the killing of 

 a skylark by a sparrow-hawk. The skylark took wing and began ascending 

 in its usual manner, giving forth its glorious song. After it had reached a 

 good height a sparrow-hawk came on the scene, and in circles also began 

 ascending. When the lark noticed its enemy it stopped singing, but still con- 

 tinued its upward flight, with the sparrow-hawk in its wake. At last the 

 skylark saw its chance, and took a sudden headlong dive, but the hawk, 

 . with a quicker movement, struck it, raising a small cloud of feathers, and, 

 alighting in a patch of tussock, commenced its dinner." 



The sparrow-hawk displays a deal of cunning when on the hunt. I was 

 on one occasion driving in a gig, and at a certain spot was surprised to 

 notice a sparrow-hawk flying low close behind. This position it kept up 

 for a hundred yards or so, when it shot forward and caught a sparrow, 

 which with others had been feeding in the middle of the road, before it 

 could reach the shelter of the gorse hedge which grew alongside. 



Wekas {Ocydromus). 



Thirty years ago the weka was quite common in the neighbourhood of 

 Invercargill, but now, as far as Southland is concerned, it is almost extinct. 

 It is, I think, probable that sawmilling operations have had a large share 

 in the extermination of the weka. The curiosity and pilfering habits of the 

 bird led it to frequent the camps of the bushmen, and the bushman's dog 

 found it an easy quarry. Poisoned grain laid for rabbits would also, no 

 doubt, prove a deadly factor ; but the weka had disappeared from some 



