44 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



SNIl'K 8 NEST. 



In open seasons nests belonging to 

 this species may be found as early as 

 March, and on one occasion I met with 

 one containing fresh eggs as late as the 

 end of July. The nest consists of a few 

 blades of dead grass, or bits of rush, 

 placed in a hollow under an overhanging 

 tussock of coarse grass, or in a bunch 

 of rushes on swampy marsh-land. The 

 four pyriform eggs are olive green to 

 greyish yellow in ground colour, boldly 



marked with varying shades of brown 

 and grey. The young ones commence 

 to run about directly after they are 

 hatched. 



One cold May morning I quite acci- 

 dentally came upon the two chicks 

 figured in the picture at the foot of this 

 page. Seeing that they were unable to 

 travel very far on account of the rough 

 character of the ground and their chilled 

 condition, I erected a hiding tent, which 

 a boy was carrying for me at the time, 

 retired inside with my camera, and 

 speedily exposed a number of plates 

 upon their mother in the act of brooding 

 them. Presently a long bill was nerv- 

 ously thrust through the rushes behind 

 the crouching bird and instantly dis- 

 appeared again. This was repeated at 

 intervals of about a minute for quite a 

 while, then the head of the male appeared, 

 and finally he came forth into the open 

 with a small piece of food of some kind 

 between his long mandibles. This was 

 given to one of the chicks, and after- 

 wards male and female each brooded 

 a member of their small family, and I 

 photographed them in the act. 



