216 



TUTIRA 



in these solitudes the species named are plentiful. There they will re- 

 main undisturbed till the day of judgment. These two highly interesting 



ground birds are safe on Tutira 

 should the whole of the rest of 

 New Zealand be turned into 

 cabbage-gardens cultivated by 

 Chinese. 



There also on creek beds 

 unchanged with time, and rich 

 with water insects and fly, will 

 the Blue Duck (Hymenolcemus 

 malacorhynchus) forever main- 

 tain himself. Into every ravine 

 I have attempted to enter, signs 

 of his presence are plentiful ; 

 where penetration is impossible 

 and the gorge not too deep for 

 Young Tuis tamed. sound, his delightful call may 



be heard far below. 



Another recluse, the Pied Tit (Petrceca toitoi), will also survive 

 about the shrub-fringed edges of the gorge. 



The Pigeon ( Carpophaga 

 NOVCB Zealandice) and Tui or Par- 

 son Bird (Prosthemadera NOVCB 

 Zealandice) are certain also to 

 become rare birds. Elsewhere on 

 the run food-supply and breeding 

 accommodation alike will have 

 been swept clear. A few pair 

 of each will nevertheless maintain 

 themselves in the gorges. The 

 Tui will then as now haunt the 

 homestead and shelter-belts when 

 in mid-winter the eucalypts break 

 Brown Duck. into flower. At other times of 



the year kowhai and hill -flax 



(Phormium Cookianum) will provide nectar, wild fuchsia, poroporo (So- 

 lanum avictdare), and other native plants, seeds and berries. The 



