210 



TUTIRA 



is largely practised, where combined clutches of ten and twelve are 

 not rare. 1 



The social instincts of the species are already highly developed ; at 

 threat of danger the birds flock together for defence ; foundlings, too, 

 are welcomed and protected by individuals other than the true parents. 

 The Pukeko, in fact, is within measureable distance of complete gregari- 

 ousness, yet in spite of what has been said, in spite of its adaptability 

 and great increase during my day, I fear for the species. He offers too 

 large a mark, he loves the open and the sun ; the gorge, the cliff, the 

 inaccessible river-bed will be of no avail in his hour of need, for what 

 are now condoned as peccadillos may in the days to come be classed as 

 crimes. On a large run the damage Pukeko can do is trifling. Circum- 

 stances, however, alter cases ; perhaps if even I myself possessed but a 

 few acres I should feel annoyance at rape of oats, theft of straw, ravages 



amongst green maize, wholesale 

 cropping of clover and grass. 

 As man is constituted, the in- 

 telligence and high ethical stan- 

 dard of the Pukeko may not 

 atone for mischief even on this 

 petty scale. Still, it is hard to 

 believe that amongst the future 

 owners of Tutira one or two 

 will not be found to protect in 

 a semi-domesticated state a few 

 of these splendid water-hens. 



The Harrier (Circus Gouldi), 

 and in lesser degree the falcon, 

 have also gained by the advent 

 of settlement, by the admit- 

 tance of light to the earth's 



surface, by the increase of creatures which live their lives in the 

 open. The diet of the former must have in ancient days been scarce 

 and precarious. It would then consist of lizards, insects, fledgling 

 birds, and eggs. Not only must the quantity of small animals have 

 been scantier over the whole run, but to a clumsy slow-flying species 

 the prevalence of covert must have been particularly baffling. 



1 I have seen a nest containing seventeen eggs, the property, probably, of four or five hens. 



Young Harrier hawks. 



