WOOD AND WASTE 151 



and its tilt all told of a brood safely 

 reared. 



There were, therefore, in all probability 

 eggs in this nest on the 23rd, and they had 

 hatched out and gone by the 11th, and, of 

 course, possibly even earlier. 



I got another nest on the 26th November 

 containing a single egg, and on the 11th of 

 December there were young in the nest. How 

 many of the young were at that time 

 hatched, and what their age might then have 

 been I cannot tell, as again I was satisfied 

 with the knowledge that they were out of 

 the shell and feared to disturb the parent 

 birds. 



Late in November and early in December 

 is the height of the Tui's breeding season. 

 About that date we knew of five or six 

 nests, and four of them were in one patch 

 of bush about a couple of acres in extent. 

 I got a nest on January 1st, with a fresh egg 

 just broken, and McLean got the last nest 

 of the season, with four eggs, on the 7th. 



The Tui sometimes builds in a '^cup" of 

 small branches, often selecting a thick 

 clump of side shoots for a site. Oftener 



