l6 M'Lean, Bush-Birds of New Zealand. [i,^Til ' 



usually under 3 feet in circumference, and, of course, in the end 

 were felled, the young, as a rule, suffering in the fall. It was 

 noticed that the young in some nests varied much in size, and 

 there can be little doubt that this bird is an intermittent layer. 

 In one case of five young it was estimated that there was a 

 difference of at least 10 days between the ages of the largest and 

 the smallest. The two oldest could, with wings, beak, and feet 

 make fair progress ; two others were of medium size, while the 

 youngest was much less feathered. The two big birds were 

 taken by the bushmen to the camp, about a quarter of a mile 

 away. Next morning the parents were about our tents, and 

 would, I feel sure, have fed their two caged offspring ; but the 

 male was promptly shot. Much wanton destruction is done with 

 the pea-rifle in the bush — practice, it is called. However, to 

 finish the story of this unfortunate family The three remaining 

 young were killed either in the fall or afterwards — they were 

 dead when I examined them — and the two which were caged 

 succumbed a few days later, while enclosed in a billycan, to a 

 rough ride on a pack-horse. 



One nesting site was in a kai-kawaka (Liboccdnis) amid the 

 tawari trees (Plate IV.) ; another was in a hinau. Notofa^its 

 solandcri is, however, the tree most frequently resorted to for 

 nesting in. One nest I knew of was about 40 feet up in one 

 of these smaller birches, which did not measure more than 18 

 inches in diameter. On 26th April I had discovered this nest 

 through the behaviour of the old birds, and on the same day saw 

 them entering the hole, while, during their absence, two young 

 came out and climbed about the creeper for a while. When, 

 three days later, we went to get the young, they had flown. The 

 entrance, on the north-east side, was at an ojd branch-knot, 

 2 inches in diameter. This hole increased inside to a diameter 

 of 3 inches, and led downwards for 9 inches to a cavity about 

 8 inches high and 5 in diameter, at the bottom of which a handful 

 of dry leaves and decayed wood formed the nest. In the back, 

 as it were, of this chamber was a diamond-shaped opening where 

 a gale had sliced off a limb, leaving the cavity exposed to the 

 rainy quarter. The birds had filled up this opening ^with moss 

 and leaves, and had taken advantage of the slender rata-vines 

 and ferns which overran the trunk to make this work secure. 

 I judged the birds had done a little enlarging of the nesting 

 chamber. Thus the Parrakeets were late in nesting this year. 

 I believe, from information gathered, that young are some- 

 times obtained late in the season. Of course, I cannot say 

 whether this, in 1906, was general in the locality or whether the 

 bulk of the birds in this bush had nested so. Still, five nests were 

 examined by myself and several others reported by the men ; 

 and the old birds, accompanied by their young, were frequently 

 seen in April and May Possibly their food supply was scanty 

 during the usual nesting season (I am taking it for granted that 

 April is not the season), and they were retarded. But in bush 



