142 A NEW ZEALAND NATURALIST'S CALENDAR. 



the grey warbler,* which usually begins building this 

 month. As mentioned before (at p. 39), a pair used to 

 build in a Deutzia bush just a few feet from my study 

 window, and for three years they nested in the same 

 spot. The nest, which is a well-built cosy little structure, 

 lined with moss or feathers, hangs on a branch or in the 

 fork of a bush, and has the entrance slightly domed over 

 Within this flask - shaped structure are laid about four 

 delicate little eggs, which are nearly white in colour, but 

 always more or less spotted or marked with pink or 

 reddish specks. The birds must rear two or three broods 

 of young each season, for it is nearly always in the nest 

 of this songster that the cuckoos both the long-tailed 

 and the shining species lay their eggs, and this takes 

 place usually in December or January. 



The pied fantails also begin building this month, but I 

 have not known of them nesting about the Belt for some 

 years, though they probably do so in the thicker portions 

 furthest away from roads and houses. A score of years ago 

 they used to nest close to the High School Rectory, and 

 whenever the windows of the dining hall were open they 

 came into the room, and not only cleared off the small flies 

 from the window panes, but used to search the woodwork 

 of the lofty roof for spiders. The nest is a beautifully 

 built cup-shaped edifice, and the eggs, in number, size, and 

 colouring, resemble those of the grey warbler. 



The grey lark or pipit, a very common ground-bird in 

 the open country, regularly begins nesting during this 

 month. Like all birds of its kind, it makes a shallow 

 nest of grass, usually at the foot of a tussock, and lays 

 three or four greyish eggs, which are generally more or 

 less streaked with darker markings. 



Occasionally the miro-miro or yellow-breasted tit makes 

 its nest in August, but usually it waits till the spring is 

 more advanced. The late Mr T. H. Potts, who was a most 

 observant naturalist, recorded this species as nesting in all 

 sorts of queer localities, not only among the branches and 



* Gerygoneflaviventris. 



