208 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



it exhil)its an intensity of slyness that is almost supernatural. 

 Usually it breeds in our river-beds, on the sandy spits, without 

 any other shelter than what may be afforded by some drift flax, 

 grass, or stick, near which it makes, or discovers, a slight depres- 

 sion in which to deposit its eggs. These are usually three in 

 number. The young are grey, with a dark longitudinal stripe 

 on each side aljove the wing. The}' are very active, and are 

 early led by the old birds to the margins of the water-holes or 

 pools. On l)eing alarmed, the old liird sidles off the nest quietly, 

 takes advantage of any broken ground that helps to conceal its 

 movements from observation, and makes a long detour. A close 

 scrutiny Avill very frequently enable the observer to detect the 

 head of the bird carefully peering out behind some vantage 

 ground watching all his proceedings." 



In the winter the oyster catchers assemble in large flocks on the 

 coast, but, when the breeding season comes on, they retire in pairs 

 up the river-beds, sometimes far into the mountains. 



The Red Bill. — Torea-pango. 

 Haematopus unicoJor. 



Greenish black; bill and legs crimson; eye crimson. Length of the 

 wing, 10.5 in.; of the tarsus, 2 in. Egg — Greenish brown, thickly 

 spotted with black and brown; length, 2.45 in. Australia and New 

 Zealand. 



The red-bill is rarer than the oyster catcher. It is found chiefly 

 in the soiuids and inlets of the west coast of the South Island. 

 Its food is molluscs and crustaceans, left on the sea shore among 

 the tangled masses of brown sea-weed. It generally breeds near 

 the sea, and only occasionally in river-beds, its nest being a few 

 twigs and grass-culms. The eggs are either two or three in 

 numl)er. The young are very active, and run about freely with 

 the parent birds. Like many of the wading tribes that share the 

 same gift, this bird, it is stated, displays wonderful capacity for 

 taking care of its oft'spring, espying danger from afar, warning 

 its young, and instantly adopting schemes for misleading 

 intruders. In these attempts at preservation the young ones 



