204 



states that he was unable to obtain any information respecting its nidification. 

 more fortunate in New Zealand, as the following account will testify. 



We 



Mr 



OiiPEB 



GB>^ 





l! 



according to his experience, it usually commences to breed in October ; and I have found newly 

 hatched young ones as late as the first week in January. It forms a very rude nest, if, indeed, it 

 deserves that name, and sometimes deposits its eggs on the bare ground, a mere depression on the 

 surface being selected for the purpose. The eggs are usually four in number, decidedly ovoido- 

 conical in form, measuring 1*7 inch in length by 1-2 in breadth, and are of a warm yellowish 

 brown, handsomely marked and spotted over the entire surface with brownish black. 



The young can run nimbly almost immediately after quitting the shell. They often elude 

 capture by squatting close to the ground ; and their colours so exactly harmonize with their sur- 

 roundings that it is almost impossible to discover them. One which I had found, after an 

 hour's diligent search, squatting on the sand near the edge of a sea-pond, remained perfectly 

 motionless till I had taken it up in my hand, when it struggled to escape and uttered a feeble 



cheep ^ cheep. 



I have observed that the Stilt sometimes feigns lameness to draw intruders away from the 

 vicinity of its nest ; and on the occasion to which I have already referred, when I captured the 

 chick the old bu'ds became excited, flew round me in circles, and repeatedly darted up to 

 within 2 feet of my head, uttering all the time a sharp yelping cry. 



Jlim 



ffinic 



) 



' 



Ad, ptii ^& 



mgi 



Ad. ptiL hi 



dors 



Juv. simili* 



sori' 

 bru' 

 rect 







Adult in 



and 

 ish 



extc 



clav 



^dult in 

 bao' 



r* 



oung^ 



croi 

 ful. 



and 

 ^v-ia 



of I 



CkicJi^ 



