104 Transactions. — Zoology. 



and will not take poison while they can get live prey. Rabbits 

 are much easier destroyed by shooting, netting, or bagging 

 with ferrets, when the land becomes more closely settled. I 

 feel sorry that in this colony there is not more interest taken in 

 nature and its resources ; I do not mean that people should 

 follow it as a pursuit, but more as a recreation, in leisure time. 

 Through the extermination of forests, birds are forced to dis- 

 appear ; and it is a waste of timber, where the soil is too poor 

 for agriculture and pasture, to burn and destroy the young 

 trees for the purpose of getting a few large ones, or kauri gum, 

 all of which might be secured without this wanton destruction, 

 and thus save the bush and its useful inhabitants, of which we 

 could learn a great deal by observation. 



Looking at the building of nests, how artistically some are 

 made, as that of the (Jeryyone (Warblers), through which 

 rain cannot penetrate ! When building, the male of most 

 birds carries the material, and the female builds the nest ; 

 and if not contented they pull it to pieces, and begin 

 afresh. In hatching they assist each other, and as soon 

 as the young are out of the eggs, the parents show 

 great pleasure and anxiety. From sunrise to sunset they 

 collect insects to feed their brood, and they destroy a vast 

 number in a single day. Then, their language : each sound has 

 a different meaning. When the young in the nest chirp, 

 hearing the warning sound from their parents, they are 

 immediately quiet ; and when out of the nest, at the approach 

 of danger, the old birds hide their young, which remain quiet 

 and still till the parents decoy their enemies away. I noticed 

 this to be often the case with Anthornis (Bell-bird). When 

 the young are able to feed, the parents show them how to 

 procure food. Birds of prey take their young, and teach them 

 various evolutions in the air, how to swoop on their prey, 

 and make them very precautious against enemies. I saw old 

 birds often punishing their young, if they did not listen to their 

 call. Insectivorous birds show their young how r to procure 

 insects, by investigating every crevice, turning over refuse on 

 the ground to procure grubs, or picking them out of rotten 

 wood. As soon as the young are old enough, they have to 

 look out for themselves. They all have to work for their 

 existence, and are not selfish. I saw, often, over a hundred 

 birds, of four or five different species, feeding together, and very 

 seldom noticed one deprive another of its food. In conclusion, 

 I should respectfully urge the necessity of effort to preserve the 

 useful birds of New Zealand, which are of so much importance 

 to the colony; and if this paper is the means of inducing 

 anyone to interest himself in that direction, I shall be well 

 pleased. 



