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Mount Egmont, in company with Messrs. Richmond and Hursthouse, he discovered a pair of 

 these birds on the slope of the cone at an elevation of at least 6000 feet. Mr. Travers assures 

 me that he met with it in small flocks on the Spencer ranges, in the Province of Nelson, at an 

 elevation above the sea of fully 8000 feet ! 



It subsists chiefly on small crustaceans, mollusca, and sand-hoppers, and pursues its prey on 

 foot. When disturbed it rises in the air with a rapid vibration of its wings, and flies in a circle, 

 with an occasional sailing movement, when the wings are motionless and assume the form of 

 a bow. 



On the nesting-habits of this species Mr. Potts writes : — " In the breeding-season I have 

 noticed it at such a considerable altitude as the summit of Dog range, in the Ashburton district. 

 The nest is difficult to find ; it is so slight an affair that it easily escapes observation — merely a 

 few stems of grass twisted into a slight hollow in the ground, so loosely put together that it is 

 not easy to pick it up and yet preserve its form. The eggs, three in number, just fill the nest ; 

 they are of a delicate soft brown, suffused with dark brown (almost black) marks somewhat oval 

 in shape, 1 inch 9 lines in length, with a breadth of 1 inch 3 lines. The young run with speed 

 almost as soon as hatched, and conceal themselves with much skill. I have observed eggs and 

 young in the months of October and November." 



There is a good series of eggs in the Canterbury Museum : in some examples the spots and 

 markings are blotched, in others they are rounded and distinct, while in some they are more or 

 less confluent towards the thicker end. In size they average 1*8 inch in length by T2 in 

 breadth. 



