Potts. — New Zealand Birds. 173 



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

 Kather 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, integratio 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 rather 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 bear- 

 ing off crustacece from the sea-beach, in which employment the cock birds 

 displayed most activity, usually getting three or four crabs to one picked 

 up by a hen bird, a hen 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 {F. 'punctatus) 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 tunnel invariahly inclined upwards, the entrance at some distance 

 from the ground, four or five feet and upwards. In one instance the hole was 

 not more than two feet from the base of a wall built on rather a steep slope, 

 this is noted to show that the habits of our bird difier from those of its 

 European congener Alcedo ispida. In Wood's "Homes without Hands," p. 519, 

 is a representation of the nest of the English bird, and it may be noticed 

 there that the floor of the tunnel is nearly on a level with the surface of the 

 water ; our bird always ascends in entering, and descends on quitting the nest. 



Note.— October 10th, first egg laid in a nest on our clifl*; second egg laid 

 on the 12th before 10 a.m.; third egg laid on the 14th; fourth egg on the 

 15th; fifth egg on the 16th ; sixth, and last egg, on the 17th. 



Subsequently the nesting place was measured, and gave the following 

 dimensions : — Entrance rather over 2 inches in diameter, tunnel 16 inches in 

 length ; egg chamber, of ovoid form, 7 inches in length, 5| inches in width, 

 with a height from the bottom of 4 inches. The size of the nest may create 

 surprise when one thinks of the space occupied by the eggs, but a roomy home 

 is necessary, for, like those of most troglodytal breeders, the young remain in 



