

120 



Obs. In this and the other closely allied species the feathers of the body have loose or disunited filamentous 



barbs, and are very soft in texture, especially on the upper parts 



Note. 



form 



Myioscopus of Reichenbach, the name of Miro 



am unable 

 by Lesson 



having a prior claim in regard to date. 



This species is confined to the North Island, where it is very common in all the wooded parts of 

 the country ; but it is represented in the South Island by a closely allied and equally common 

 species, the Miro albifrons. There is a specimen of the North-Island Robin in the Auckland 

 Museum said to have been obtained at Nelson ; but I have never found this bird south of Cook's 

 Strait, and vice versa as regards the South-Island Robin. The two' species may therefore be 

 regarded as true representatives of each other in the North and South Islands respectively. 



Generally speaking, in New Zealand it is only on the outskirts of the woods that we meet 

 with insessorial birds in any number. As we penetrate into the heart of the forest, the birds 

 become fewer, till at length they almost entirely disappear. But there is one species whose 

 range seems to be quite without restraint : common enough in the open coppice, it is to be 

 found also in the gloomiest and most secluded parts of the forest. This bird is the subject of our 

 article— the "Toutouwai" of the natives and the "Robin" of the colonists. 



I have been assured by officers who accompanied the celebrated Taranaki Expedition under 

 Major-General Sir Trevor Chute, in 1866, that during that long and irksome march the Robin 

 was the only bird that gave any sign of life to those interminable and gloomy forests through 

 which the army passed. The lively twitter and song of the smaller birds had ended with the first 

 day's march, the harsh cry of the Kaka {Nestor meridionalis), which had attended them far into 

 the bush, had gradually ceased to be heard, and the Wood-Pigeon [Carpophaga novw-zealandiw), 

 whose range extends to the summits of the low wooded ridges of the interior, was no longer 

 to be met with. An oppressive silence reigned around them, broken only by the shrill chirp 

 of the startled Robin as the advanced guard cut a path for the troops through the hitherto 

 untrodden forest. Indeed the presence of this little bird was the only exception to the utter 

 absence of animal life, and almost the only relief to the monotony of the march. Perched on 

 a low branch, it might frequently be seen looking gravely down, as if in silent wonderment, 

 on the weary ranks, as they toiled their way through this virgin forest in the very heart of the 



enemy's country ! 



As the popular name implies, it is naturally a tame bird ; and in little-frequented parts of 

 the country it is so fearless and unsuspicious of man that it will approach to within a yard of the 

 traveller, and sometimes will even perch on his head or shoulder. It is the favourite companion 

 of the lonesome wood-cutter, enlivening him with its cheerful notes ; and when, sitting on a log, 

 he partakes of his humble meal, it hops about at his feet, like the traditional Robin, to " pick up 



the crumbs," 



Like its namesake in the old country, moreover, it is noisy, active, and cheerful. Its note is 



generally the first to herald the dawn, while it is the last to be hushed when the evening shades 

 bring gloom into the forest. But there is this noticeable diff"erence between the morning and the 



veiling 



do\vn 



to 



of the fe 



chirpini 



sometim 



deepene 



It 



( 



among 

 the woo 

 It 

 compac 



the soft 

 against 



and suj 

 which i 



riably i 

 elevatic 



usually 

 in brea 

 brown, 

 zone. 



SI 

 the uti 

 utterin 



# 



