'^°'_- _^'- 1 M'Lkan, Bush-Birds of New Zealand. 225 



a common l)ir(l. and could he seen even on the tops of the 

 highest ridges. In March and April it was generally met with in 

 couples ; but occasionally small parties of four or five, no doubt 

 late broods, were noticed. In winter and spring it was in- 

 variably found ])aired — the male distinguishable by his somewhat 

 brighter garb. So far as was ascertainable, its food consisted 

 almost wholly of minute insect life, which it gathered chiefly from 

 the moss that grew in such profusion on the trees about its 

 haunts. However, some acquired a taste for other food. One 

 pair, whose home was in a small gully near my first camp, regularly 

 visited the place to see what pickings were to be obtained among 

 the scraps. They were often watched at close quarters, and have 

 been seen to take small shreds of cooked meat from bones ; but 

 they never stayed more than a few moments at this food. At my 

 third camp, too, a pair was in the habit of fossicking near the 

 tents in the same way, and from what I saw it was possible that 

 this habit was indulged in in another part. The home of the 

 Rifleman (Plate XXII.) is in the dense and damper parts of the 

 forest, and, unlike other birds, it does not seek the warmer, sunny 

 spots ; while the weather, no matter what it be — rain or snow or 

 sun — has little influence on its dafly routine. During the heavy 

 snowfall of July, 1906, it was much in evidence about my camp, 

 where two or three pairs could be seen, apparently the only cheerful 

 beings in the locality ; and at the " trig." of the southern side, at an 

 elevation of about 3,500 feet, from which, in winter, the mist 

 seldom rolled away, where no other species cared to dwell, I found 

 this little bird at home, hunting diligently about the dripping, 

 moss-clad fuchsia and other smaller trees, or skipping, in sprightly 

 manner, along the dewy stretches of that handsome sub-alpine 

 fern Todea siiperba, which formed a soft and springy carpet on 

 the ground below. They are most industrious little birds, being 

 continuously on the move from dawn to sunset ; and the pair 

 may be seen, with slightly drooped and ever-flicking wings, daily 

 working over the same ground in the vicinity of their home, from 

 which they never wander far, and to which great attachment is 

 shown, for, when the bush was felled, many pairs remained about 

 these spots — some to nest — and, no doubt, were unfortunately 

 destroyed by the fire. Although its wings are rarely still, its 

 powers of flight are possibly limited. Direct flight is seldom 

 witnessed, and then only for short distances, and its mode of 

 progression is generally bj^ a succession of short, quick flights of 

 a few inches at a time. But, by a system of its own, the Rifleman 

 rapidly examines the timber and moves from tree to tree in such 

 a way that true flight is practically dispensed with, or rarely 

 required. One soon remarks the consistent method by which the 

 bird searches for food — a search in which, unlike some other birds, 

 it never loiters or diverges from its path, and never wanders aim- 

 lessly about a tree. Starting low on the bole of some larger tree, 

 it climbs the mossy trunk with short hops to the accompaniment 

 of its flicking wings. Up it goes in its perpendicular path in 



