204 Transactions.— Zoology. 
their outer facies are more or less covered with kohukohu, a feathery 
fungus of a pale green colour, hanging like drapery from the branches, 
while their trunks and limbs are clad to their very tops with the richest 
profusion of lichens and mosses. The underwood is one mass of cryptogams, 
and the very ground is carpetted with beautiful mosses. No idea can be 
formed of the quasi-tropical richness of these woods in this respect by any 
one who has not actually visited them. On the outskirts small flocks of 
Zosterops consort together in the underwood, and a few flycatchers and 
whiteheads share the solitude with the sober tomtit; but as we enter the 
woods the stillness becomes oppressive, unbroken even by the chirp of a 
cricket or the drumming of a locust, and the only sign of animation is an 
occasional night-moth lazily flapping its wings in the gloomy shade of the 
forest. 
SPHEN@ACUS PUNCTATUS, Gray.—Common Utick. 
During my recent visit to the Lake district, I found this little bird 
plentiful in all suitable localities. In the marshy tracts occurring at 
intervals along the road from Taupo to Ohinemutu its familiar note was the 
only animate sound in those quiet solitudes ; and it was always pleasant 
to hear a pair of them singing a duet, their viuis notes bong always in 
harmony and responsive. 
CREADION CARUNCULATUS, Gmel.—Saddle-back. 
This species is very irregular in its distribution. I have endeavoured 
to describe its range in my “ Birds of New Zealand." I omitted, however, to 
‘mention that in one locality north of Auckland—a small wood at Kaitaia 
called Mauteringi, some three or four miles in extent—this bird is compara- 
tively plentiful, although rarely ever met with in other parts of that district. 
Although never seen in the Bay of Plenty woods, it is numerous enough in 
the Ngatiporou country, where the natives regard it as a bird of omen. A 
war party hearing the ery of the tieke to the right of their path will count 
it an omen of victory, but to the left a signal of evil. It is also the mythical 
bird that is supposed to guard the ancient treasures of the Maoris. The 
relics of the Whanauapanui tribe—mere pounamus and other heir-looms of 
great antiquity and value—are hidden away in the hollow of a tree at Cape 
Runaway, and it is popularly believed that the tieke keeps guard over these 
lost treasures. According to Maori tradition, among these hidden things is 
a stone atua, which possessed at one time the faculty of moving from place 
to place of its own accord, but has since become inactive. 
The natives state that this species usually places its nest in the hollow 
of a tree, and they point to holes in well-known trees where the tieke 
has reared its young for many years in succession. A pair is said to be 
Qd M Be heas ats A n E Na a a cu dI Mae a re LE: 
ACCRUE ETE has eee at ER a: T E 
