18 Mr. E. Gibson on the Ornithology of 
aloha Nar dyedite. ght ie Me maa ; 
ment of 1,3, x #3. The variation in size is very great, ranging 
through about 6. The eggs are rather pear-shaped, and 
quite white in colour. 
22. AMBLYRHAMPHUS HOLOSERICEUS. 
This handsome bird is only abundant while the maize (of 
which we annually cultivate two or three acres) is ripening— 
March, April, and part of May. During the remainder of 
the year it is confined to the swamps, and is there not only 
local in its habits, but extremely rare. My journal for the 
last two years does not contain over a dozen notices of it, 
except during the above-mentioned months, when, indeed, 
such entries occur as “ May 17th. Counted flock of thirty- 
six in maize-patch, of which about ten were in immature 
plumage; also saw a pair in a swamp, accompanied by three 
young.” 
Once, to my surprise, I saw two or three in one of the 
woods at the end of August, a circumstance so unusual that 
I took a special note of it. 
The young, or those in immature plumage, I have only 
observed in the autumn. 
To see such a flock as is mentioned above, or to watch a 
pair in one of our fens, gives me the keenest pleasure. In 
the latter case the tall dark green rushes (on the tops of which 
the birds are perched) contrast beautifully with the jetty 
black and mandarin-orange of the plumage, while the loud 
alarm-notes soon come to be recognized by the ornithologist 
when associated with a feathered creature so charming. 
It is never very shy, least of all so when gathered in flocks, 
and may be easily approached within shot; but if only 
wounded, there is no bird quicker in making its escape among 
weeds and brushwood, winding its way through them like the 
Corn-Crake or Landrail. 
The flight is fairly strong, though not rapid or otherwise 
particularly noticeable. 
Besides the above-mentioned note of alarm or warning, this 
bird has a singularly melodious whistle, very rarely uttered, 
and which, indeed, I have only heard some three times. It 
