214 THE ANIMALS OF NEW ZEALAND 



year round, showing no signs of migrating, and, as Mr. Handly 

 reports that it is also common in ]Marlborough throughout the 

 year, it may be safely affirmed that it does not pass regularly 

 to and fro between Tasmania and New Zealand. Mr. Potts says 

 that it is one of the earlier breeders, whether of the tussock-clad 

 plain or on riverbed spits, in the latter case often selecting a dense 

 patch of raoulia for a nesting place. Sometimes the mottled eggs 

 may be discovered on the bare sand; just screened, perhaps, by 

 an uprooted tussock or other waif that has been washed down 

 stream and stranded on the stony flat. He records the fact that 

 it does not appear to be much disturbed by settlement, as it has 

 been known to breed on farms, sometimes in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the homesteads. The eggs may be found as 

 early as the beginning of August, and the season lasts almost 

 through December, according to locality. It is described as one 

 of the most restless and wariest of birds during the breeding 

 season. On the approach of an intruder, it flies round and round 

 uttering its note of warning; and then, alighting on some rising 

 ground, it steadily keeps watch. During the time it remains on 

 the look out, it has a peculiar habit of jerking its head backwards 

 and forwards uttering its monotonous "twit-twit" at intervals. 



Gcims Thiiwrnis. 



Bill longer than the middle toe with claw. First and second 

 quilLs nearly equal and longest. Tarsus not longer than the 

 middle toe : hind toe wanting. New Zealand and Auckland 

 Islands. 



The Sand Plover. — Kukuruatu. 

 TJn)ionns iwvae-zcalandiae. 



Above greyish brown, with the forehead, cheeks, throat, and a ring 

 round the nape black. Below white. Bill orange, with a black tip. Eye 

 dark brown. In the young the throat and forehead are white, and the 

 bill is yellow at the base only. Length of the wing, 4.7 in.; of the tarsus, 

 1 in. Egg variable in colour, cream or buff, with small dark spots and 

 lines; length, 1.3 in. Xew Zealand and Chatham Islands. 



