BuLLEK. — Further Nolcs on the Oniiiholoijij of Xew Zealand. 205 



still breeding iu the hollow of the famous tree at OmaruteaBgi, known all 

 over the country as " Piitatieke.'"'' The bu'd is accordmgly regarded with 

 some degree of superstitious reverence by the Arawa, who will not allow it 

 to be wUfully destroyed. Those who have read Maori history will be familiar 

 with the story of Ngatoroirangi and his sacred tiekes of Cuvier Island. 

 Hence the proverb, " Manu mohio kei Eeponga," commonly applied to a 

 man wise in council, and used in the sense of our own proverbial saying 

 " Old birds are not to be caught with chaff." 



As the question of the specific value of Creadion cinereus is still un- 

 settled, it may be mentioned here that Captain Mair, who has been familiar 

 with the bird for years, has never seen one in the lolumage of the so-called 

 cinereus, supposed at present to be the immature state of C. caruncidatus. If 

 this form is in reality the young of the ordinary species, it is astonishing 

 that it has never yet been met with in the North Island, although common 

 enough in the South. 



Glaucopis wilsoni, Bonap. — Blue-wattled Crow. 



During the autumn months this bird is comparatively plentiful in the 

 Mangorewa forest between Tauranga and Edtprua, The traveller at this 

 season frequently meets with it hopping about along the road or among the 

 bushy branches of Solanum on either side. 



There is a fine albino specimen in the Colonial Museum, obtained in the 

 Eimutaka ranges and presented by Mr. G. EUiotte, who had it alive for 

 several months. 



PoRPHYEio MELANOTUS, Temm. — Swamp-hen. 



I have before mentioned that the swamp -hen is one of those native species 

 that increase with the progress of settlement. This is very noticeable 

 in many of our farming districts. Captain Mair informs me that at 

 Whangarei (north of Auckland), during a period of fifteen years — from 

 1850 to 1865 — he never saw one in that district. After that date they 

 began to make their appearance, and now they are comparatively plentiful, 

 being met with in flocks of twenty or thirty together. In the Lake district 

 they are everywhere abundant. At the warm lake of Eotomahana several 

 hundreds may be seen in a single flock. They build their nests on the 

 silica terraces, not in groups or colonies, but singly and without much 

 attempt at concealment. Captain Mair has found as many as fourteen 

 eggs in one nest, and eleven in another. At Tokano (at the southern 

 extremity of Lake Taupo) the natives snare thousands of them in June and 



* Putatieke : A renowned hiuau tree in tlie Urewera country. It is su23posecl to 

 possess miraculous attributes. Sterile women visit it for the purpose of inducing 

 conception. They clasp the tree in transport, and repeat certain incantations by way of 

 invoking the atua. 



