492 Transactions. 



The tomtit and the robin, two well-known birds, the latter 

 almost the tamest in our islands, have no doubt almost " gone 

 under " for this very reason. An additional factor is the method 

 of nesting, which is generally in a broadleaf stump, under an 

 overhanging rock, or beneath a fern-bush — all situations easily 

 got at by weasel, mouse, or rat. It is eminently satisfactory 

 to find from Mr. Drummond's Bulletin that the North Island 

 robin is reported as present in nearly a dozen places on the main 

 land to-day, to say nothing of being common on Kapiti and 

 the Barriers ; in the South he is very common in the Maruia 

 Forest, where, however, weasels have obtained a fair footing ; 

 he is reported at Hokitika, Wyndham, Tautuku, Tuapeka, 

 Waihemo, Riccarton, Ashburton, and as being fairly common 

 on Banks Peninsula. Tomtits are reported as uncommon, but 

 present, in numerous places in both islands. Robins are also 

 reported at Wainuiomata, Waipa, Greytown, Raglan, Rama- 

 rama, Wairoa, Wanganui, Waitotara, Tararuas, Te Peke, and 

 other places in the North Island to-day, although Sir Walter 

 Buller's last volumes assert that the bird is extinct. 



The ground-lark, once swarming on all downs and tussock- 

 clad hills, is still fairly common, especially on the Canterbury 

 Plains. He is blamed by the farmer for the destruction of his 

 tender shoots of grain, and consequently shares the penalty of 

 the feathered members of the community known as the " bird 

 nuisance." In spite of cultivation, he holds his own. His 

 nest is carefully concealed, and is very hard to find. His insect- 

 food abundant, supplemented by grain and grass ; his natural 

 enemy, the hawk, largely diminished ; his two or three broods 

 of four or five chicks reared well out in the field or tussock land, 

 far from danger, and allowing of a wide sweep of vision and 

 time for concealment before the enemy can come near — our 

 ground-lark holds his own with the best of them, and can be 

 seen on the Town Belt or golf-links almost any day of the week. 

 Reports sav that he is holding his own in many localities ; he is 

 increasing notably in trie Wairarapa, at Dannevirke, Wimbledon, 

 Waikaka Valley, and elsewhere. 



The thrush, one of our finest whistlers and singers — a hand- 

 some bird — is now very rare throughout the Islands. Formerly 

 common at the Taieri, by the seventies he had gone from that 

 locality entirely, and no one I can find remembers him near 

 Ljunedin. He still exists at Milford Sound and among the 

 fastnesses of the West Coast. In 1895 I saw over a dozen at 

 Milford Sound, and in the bush around we heard the whistling 

 of many more. Later on Mr. George Fenwick reported that 

 thrushes were common, though he did not see them himself. 



The black and pied fantails (t iwakauaka and piwakawaka) 



