64 BIEDS OE THE WATER 



of many years' accumulation. The fifth 

 also was impervious to all weather, hol- 

 lowed out against the very stem of a fern 

 tree, whose dead, drooping fronds, slightly 

 projecting and overlapping one another, 

 hung to the very ground. By them the 

 bird was protected from every drop of 

 rain, and as effectually as by a shingle 

 roof the rooms beneath. 



The hill-rush nests had three exits to 

 each; the nest built on the limestone shelf 

 was less well off for escape, but was so 

 perfectly hidden that perhaps the birds 

 deemed a back door superfluous. They 

 could moreover, if pressed, have leapt over 

 the low edge. 



The whereabouts of the Weka's nest is 

 largely determined by the food supply of 

 the vicinity, and in springtime, if a beast 

 has been bogged or a fat sheep got trapped 

 in an '^ under runner," it is quite worth 

 searching for a nest in the neighbourhood. 



Even after the flesh is no longer fit to 

 eat, a great supply of maggots, beetles and 

 grubs, attracted by the carrion, provide for 

 Wekas an ample food supply. 



