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which it may be inferred that crabs and other small Crustacea contribute to its support. In the 

 stomachs of some I have found remains of the large wood-beetle (Prionoplus reticularis) ; and 

 those of others I have found crammed with moths of all sizes, or with nocturnal Coleoptera. I 

 examined some castings of the Morepork in the Canterbury Museum. They are hard pellets, of 

 an oval form, and of the size of a Sparrow's egg, composed chiefly of the hard elytra and heads 

 of various coleopterous insects, among which I noticed particularly the shining covering of the 

 Mata (Feronia antarctica), a handsome ground-beetle which is found on the Canterbury plains, 

 but does not occur in the North Island. 



The flight of this bird is light, rapid, and so noiseless that, I verily believe, it could surprise 

 and capture a mouse at the very entrance to its burrow. On examining the feathers of the wing, 

 it will be found that they are furnished with a soft or downy margin, and are specially adapted for 

 this manner of flight. From an examination of the orifice of the ear we are led to infer that the 

 power of hearing in this Owl is very acute. It is therefore the more surprising that, on two occa- 

 sions after dark, I have succeeded in seizing this species with the hand, when perched on the eaves 

 of a veranda, over which its tail projected. When caught, it manifests its anger by a repeated 

 clicking of the mandibles, while it dexterously uses its beak and talons in its appeals for liberation. 

 Besides the cry which gives this Owl its popular name, it has a peculiar call which is not 

 unlike the alarm-cry of the Australian Rosehill Parrakeet (Platycercus eximius), but louder and 

 more shrill. At dusk, also, before leaving its retreat, it utters a low croaking note, quickly repeated, 

 which is responded to by the other Owls within hearing. This note resembles the syllables kovtr 

 Jcou, uttered from the chest ; and among the northern tribes the bird is usually called by a name 

 resembling that cry. It is, however, more generally known as the " Ruru," and in some districts 

 as the " Peho." 



It nidificates in hollow trees ; but I have never been fortunate enough to obtain the eggs. 

 They are described as being two in number, nearly spherical in shape, and of pure whiteness. 

 The young leave the nest about the beginning of January, and may be heard during every night 

 of that month uttering a peculiar, sibilant, snoring sound. But the breeding is sometimes 

 delayed to a much later period of the year ; for, on one occasion, at the North Shore (Auckland), 

 I both heard and saw a young bird so late as the 11th of April. So far as I have been able to 

 ascertain, the young are always two in number. Mr. Gilbert Man found a nest of this species in 

 the hollow of a dry Hinau tree (Ela'ocarjms dentatus), containing two very young birds, which 

 were " covered with soft white down, plumbeous beneath." Mr. Potts records a similar discovery 

 in Canterbury. In a clump of wood on the banks of the Wairoa River I found a nest, also con- 

 taining two fully fledged young ones. I sent my native lad, Hemi Tapapa, up the tree to 

 capture them ; and while he was so engaged, the parent birds came forth from their hiding-place, 

 and darted at his face with a low growling note, making him yell with fear. The Maories share 

 in the almost universal feeling of superstition regarding the Owl. Hemi's conscience was 

 troubled ; and as the shades of night were closing in upon us with the call of " more pork ! " in 

 every direction, he handed me the captives and hurried away from the scene of his exploit, evidently 

 sharing, in some degree, the horrors of that luckless wight, immortalized by Mr. Stevenson in 

 his 'Birds of Norfolk,' who, having killed the church-Owl as it flitted past him, ran shrieking 

 home and confessed his awful crime — " I 've been and shot a Cherubim ! " 



