3898 The Zoologist— March, 1874. 



Notes on the Birds of New Zealand. 

 By T. H. Potts, Esq., F.L.S.* 



(Continued from Zool. S. S. 3024.) 



Kingjisher (Halcyon vagans, Gray).] — This valuable insectiv- 

 orous bird, the "kotare" of the natives and the "kingfisher" of 

 the settlers, is never molested here : it remains with us throughout 

 the year, and in greater numbers than formerly ; constant familiarity 

 has enabled us to acquire further knowledge of the ways of the 

 halcyon. Rather late in August, when the brown-skinned konini 

 begins to deck its bare sprays with pendulous flowers, when the 

 head of the straight-stemmed kowhai is already crowned with 

 racemes of golden blossoms, integralio amoris, or rather the 

 beginning of courtship, seems to occupy a share of the time which 

 is not required to obtain the means of satisfying the cravings of the 

 halcyon's somewhat exacting appetite. Observation has i-ather led 

 us to the belief that the female takes the initiative in these amorous 

 advances. Whilst watching several birds which were busily engaged 

 in snatching up and bearing off Crustacea from the sea-beach, in 

 which employment the male birds displayed most activity, usually 

 getting three or four crabs to one picked up by a female bird: 

 a female would perch herself close to a male after one of his 

 successful darts; all unmoved, he rapped his prey on his rocky 

 stand and proceeded to gulp it down, apparently unconscious of 

 the blandishments of the would-be charmer. Through the month 

 of September we have noticed similar instances of insensibility or 

 coyness on the part of the males, under circumstances when the 

 females have had little chance of being favoured with some choice 

 prey as a gage d'amour. Forwardness on the part of " the sex" is 

 not without precedent; we have noticed that the nuptial plumage 

 of the female spotted shag [Phalacrocorax punclatus) reaches its 

 full development before that of the male ; frequently one may 

 observe the red plume-like stigmas of the hazel on the spray where 

 the male catkins hang immature. During last season we knew of 

 several nests that contained altogether nearly forty eggs. At each 

 breeding-place that had been excavated in a bank or wall the 



* From the ' Transactions of the New Zealand Institute,' vol. v., but kindly 

 communicated by the author. 



+ See an extract about this bird in the 'Zoologist' for 1872 (S. S. 3087). 



