204 Transactions. — Zoutoiiy. 



their outer facies are more or less covered with kohukohii, a feathery 

 fungus of a pale green colour, hanging like drapery from the branches, 

 while their trunks and limbs are clad to their very tops with the richest 

 profusion of lichens and mosses. The underwood is one mass of cryptogams, 

 and the very ground is carpetted with beautiful mosses. No idea can be 

 formed of the quasi-tropical richness of these woods in this respect by any 

 one who has not actually visited them. On the outskirts small flocks of 

 Zosterops consort together in the underwood, and a few flycatchers and 

 whiteheads share the solitude with the sober tomtit ; but as we enter the 

 woods the stillness becomes oppressive, unbroken even by the chirp of a 

 cricket or the drumming of a locust, and the only sign of animation is an 

 occasional night-moth lazily flapping its wings in the gloomy shade of the 

 forest. 



Sphenceacus punctatus. Gray. — Common Utick. 



During my recent visit to the Lake district, I found this little bhd 

 plentiful in all suitable localities. In the marshy tracts occurring at 

 intervals along the road from Taupo to Ohinemutu its familiar note was the 

 only animate sound in those quiet solitudes ; and it was always pleasant 

 to hear a pair of them singing a duet, theh plaintive notes being always in 

 harmony and responsive. 



Creamon carunculatus, Gmd. — Saddle-back. 



This species is very irregular in its distribution. I have endeavoured 

 to describe its range in my "Birds of New Zealand." I omitted, however, to 

 mention that in one locality north of Auckland — a small wood at Kaitaia 

 called Mauteringi, some three or four miles in extent — this bird is compara- 

 tively plentiful, although rarely ever met with in other parts of that district. 

 Although never seen in the Bay of Plenty woods, it is numerous enough in 

 the Ngatiporou country, where the natives regard it as a bird of omen. A 

 war party hearing the cry of the tieke to the right of then' path will count 

 it an omen of victory, but to the left a signal of evil. It is also the mythical 

 bird that is supposed to guard the ancient treasures of the Maoris. The 

 relics of the Whanauapanui tribe — mere jwimamns and other heir-looms of 

 great antiquity and value — are hidden away in the hollow of a tree at Cape 

 Eunaway, and it is popularly believed that the tieke keeps guard over these 

 lost treasures. According to Maori tradition, among these hidden things is 

 a stone atua, which possessed at one time the faculty of moving from place 

 to place of its own accord, but has since become inactive. 



The natives state that this species usually places its nest in the hollow 

 of a tree, and they point to holes in well-known trees where the tieke 

 has reared its young for many years in succession. A pair is said to be 



