Pottrs.— New Zealand Birds. 181 
moss, picking the seed of some trailing Veronica. Its progress on the ground 
is usually deliberate ; it hops with both feet together, a slight flutter of the 
wings, and a flirt of the tail accompanying each motion ; when approached 
too closely, it leaves its perch, always descending at first, as though safer 
when near or on the ground; if it would rise on the wing, a momentum is 
gained by a succession of hops. In some of its habits one is reminded much 
of the wattle-bird ; its usual associates, at any rate during ‘the summer 
months, are tuis, parroquets, and robins, 
Not much secretiveness is displayed in the choice of a site for its nest ; it 
may be found at varying distances from the earth, from four feet to twelve 
and upwards, usually at seven or eight. The structure is firmly and compactly 
built, with small sprays for the foundation, on which moss is abundantly inter- 
woven with pliant twigs ; the lining is usually of fine grass bents ; some nests 
are finished off with soft tree-fern down ; it is usually placed in tutu (Coriaria 
ruscifolia), sometimes in Coprosma, or manuka, From the neighbourhood of 
its home, rivals of its own species as well as other birds are driven off. 
Probably it breeds twice in the season, although we have not observed 
more than two eggs to a nest ; yet we have found four eggs tolerably forward 
in the ovary of a female killed at Christmas time. The full complement of 
eggs is probably four. The egg is of ovoid, sometimes elongated form, pure 
white, spotted with blackish brown or black, purplish at the edges of the 
spots; sometimes it is of a delicate pinkish tinge, just staining the white, 
spotted with brownish grey, with purplish blotches at the larger end. 
From a nest found at Arahura we have an egg that exactly resembles in 
its colour and markings that of Oriolus gallula, of Europe. In size this 
specimen measures through the axis 1 in. 34 lines, with a diameter of 
114 lines, 
Norre.—December 26th, River Waio. In a nest, about 12 feet from the 
ground, in a bush of Coriaria, the eggs, two in number, were of elongated 
form, and measured in length 1 in. 7 lines by nearly 1 inch in width. 
December 27th, River Waio. A nest in a small-leaved Coprosma (pro- 
bably rhamnoides) ; hen incubating a single egg; she remained on the nest 
till pushed off. The cock bird was summoned by a jarring call, and both 
birds joined in a bold defence. 
Near Lake Mapourika, in a very swampy situation, we found a nest with 
the walls very thickly built of moss and manuka sprays interwoven, it was 
placed about 15 feet above the ground in a tall manuka. Dimensions of the 
- nest across the top from outside to outside of wall about 7 in., diameter of 
cavity about 3 in., with a depth of 2in. We find this a fair average after 
looking at scores of nests. The young when they emerge from the shell have 
a covering of dark down. We think the eye of the pio-pio gleams with much 
