534 Mr. J. C. McLean on some 
quite plentiful in the scrubby Tawhera and Nei nei (then 
in flower), and also in the damper gullies of the Tawa 
country, where the native Fuchsia flowered in abundance. 
The Bell-bird is very pugnacious in the pairing-season, 
and a fight which I witnessed between two individuals was the 
severest that I have seen among wild birds. Otherwise it is 
rather timid and is far more afraid of the falcons than 
any other bush-bird. 
A completed nest, placed low down in a bushy-topped 
Tawhera, was observed in the Nei-nei scrub, and its lining of 
the orange fronds of that peculiar trailing ground-plant 
“ Creeping Jenny ” was much admired. 
During the past few years I have heard the Bell-bird 
(“ Kopera” of the east coast Maories) in widely-separated 
localities in this district, where it is not rare. 
14. ProstHEMADERA NOVE-ZEALANDIZ (Gmel.). 
Prosthemadera nove zealandie Grant, Ibis, 1905, p. 591. 
The Tui was—quite unexpectedly—never at any time 
common, and I cannot believe that this bush gave a true 
indication of the bird’s position in the district. Possibly, 
as was the case with the honey-bee, it did not find suf- 
ficient flowers here to warrant its frequenting the locality 
in any numbers. Even when the native Fuchsia (Fuchsia 
excorticata) flowered in spring, it appeared less numerous, 
and at that time was noticed on the flowering birch—really 
a beech (Notofagus) . 
A nearly complete nest was observed late in September, 
but was deserted owing to the felling approaching the site. 
In April the birds were as numerous, if not more so, down 
country, where fair-sized patches of bush still exist; and in 
October, while they were still scarce in the Maungahaumia 
bush, I found them, some ten to fifteen miles off, in great 
numbers. There they were in full song, but the dominant 
note was quite different to that adopted by the bush-con- 
tingent, and some of the notes had not been noticed in the 
main bush. As I rode along through this open country there 
was one continuous pleasant peal and chortle from the trees 
