PONDS, PADDOCKS, AND AVIARIES 83 



plantation near Cosgrave's house, and it was some 

 time before it was caught and clipped. In the mean- 

 time old Grip carried up a lot of stones and arranged 

 them about the walls of the nest ; now, though they 

 both keep about the tree in which the nest is, they 

 seem to have given up all attention to their edifice." ' 



"February 2^rd, 1895. 



" The ravens have built a huge nest in the same 

 place as last year, and are busily employed in lining it, 

 though Cosgrave seems persuaded that the substitute 

 for the deceased mother of last year is a male." ^ 



"June 2nd, 1896. 



" I am not quite sure if Aperyx oweni * has ever had 

 an egg in this country before, or not ; I know that 

 «/f. mantelli has done so. I should, however, think 

 that ours is the first instance of an egg of zApteryx 

 laid in this country in perfectly natural circumstances." ^ 



^ To A. Thorburn, Esq. 



^ To the same. 



' To the same. 



* The Apteryx (Kiwi of the Maories) is a wingless bird peculiar 

 to New Zealand. Itself no larger than a common fowl, it is related 

 to the gigantic extinct Moa {Dhiornis). Its feathers, like those of 

 the Emeu, are pendulous, and have no ' aftershaft.' It has a long, 

 curved bill for probing the earth, and is strictly nocturnal in its habits, 

 showing shrinking and resentment when disturbed in its hiding-place 

 during the daytime. The bird in question laid its egg at the end 

 of a burrow by the side of the garden pond where the flamingoes were. 



