Potts. — 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 ; ib 

 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 (Goriaria 

 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. 3|^ lines, with a diameter of 

 11 J lines. 



Note. — -December 26th, Piver Waio. In a nest, about 12 feet from the 

 ground, in a bush of Goriaria, 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, Piver 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 2 in. 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 



