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gone — as completely as the moa ! Soon also will my race vanish from the land, and the 

 white man, with his sheep and his cattle and his birds, will occupy the country!" This 

 was Ihaka's simple way of formulating the doctrine of the survival of the fittest. 



Tt is curious that although the Native Thrush abounds, neither species of Creadionh&s 

 ever been observed on Stewart Island. 



I have mentioned before the habit of this bird to follow, in flocks, the movements of 

 another native species, the Yellow-head. The following account is from the pen of Mr. W. W. 

 Smith, who had an opportunity of minutely observing this habit under very favourable 

 conditions. He writes, in 1888 : — * 



Probably no scene in bird-life is more attractive or beautiful than to observe a flock of Yellow-heads 

 followed by a flock of Saddle-backs. On June 2nd, 1887, I rambled up Stoney Creek, a small stream which 

 flows into Lake Brunner, a little above the outlet of the Arnold. I had travelled on the banks and bed of the 

 creek about a mile when I turned to the right up a small narrow gully, in search of ferns or other botanical 

 rarities. On reaching nearly the top of the gully, I heard the shrill, ringing notes of a flock of Yellow-heads. 

 As I noticed them crossing the gully some distance above me, I moved on gently until I was under the 

 branches on which the birds were passing over the gully. They numbered about two hundred, and were m 

 rich plumage. They fed eagerly for some minutes among the branches of the trees ; then, simultaneously 

 uttering their call, they flew forward some yards and began to feed, until they again sounded the signal 

 to advance, repeating it at short intervals, and passed through the bush in this order. Before the Yellow- 

 heads had quite disappeared I heard the rich flute-notes of a flock of Saddle-backs advancing. 1 climbed 

 up the side of the gully and stood on the edge. Two males were the first to appear, followed by the remainder 

 of the flock. They advanced in the line of the Yellow-heads ; not so high among the branches as the latter, 

 but more among the tree-ferns, while some fed among the ferns and mosses covering the ground. When they 

 noticed me some approached closely, twittering and elevating their tails. They moved about in a sprightly 

 manner on the lower branches, within a few feet of my face, scanning me carefully and wondering, perhaps, at 

 the intruder on their solitary domain. They were exceedingly tame, and moved with great activity, halting at 

 intervals and resting their breasts for a few seconds on the boughs, and again proceeded, searching eagerly for 

 food among the ferns and mosses covering the ground. They were in the perfection of plumage. The saddle- 

 shaped patch of rich brown extending over the back and shoulders, on the lustrous black ground, contrasted 

 with the deep green fronds of the tree-ferns. The sexes were about equal, and the plumage of some paler 

 than others, which were young birds. They remained hopping on the branches and ferns near me for about 

 seven minutes, and disappeared slowly on the track of the Yellow-heads. The purpose served in the Saddle- 

 backs' economy in following the flocks of Y r ellow-heads is unquestionably to obtain food. The latter, m 

 moving through the bush, will disturb numerous large insects, which they reject, and which are consumed by 

 the Saddle-backs following them. The rich insect fauna in some parts of the bush in Westland, at certain 

 seasons, will account for the appearance of flocks of the native insectivorous birds in these districts. The 

 flights of Yellow-heads must be entirely regulated by, or restricted to, the supply of food. Where the bush 

 remains in its primeval state they remain numerous ; where it is partly cleared or disturbed these species and 

 many others diminish in numbers, and ultimately vanish from the locality. Although the Saddle-backs are 

 not dependent on the flight of Yellow-heads for food, they are able to obtain it by following them and do 

 not always travel in flocks, as they are occasionally seen singly and in pairs, in some of the gullies of the 

 Arnold and around the lakes, but are now very rare, compared to the numbers which inhabited the banks 

 of the Arnold fifteen or twenty years ago. . . . .1 was attracted early one morning in March towards 

 some old fallen and decayed timber, where I heard some peculiar tapping sounds. On cautiously reaching the 

 place I found a Saddle-back busily digging in the decayed timber for the larvae of the Huhu-beetle {Prionoplus 

 reticularis). The tappings and actions of the bird resembled much those of the Green Woodpecker (Plcus 

 viridis) of Britain, in its mode of procuring food. 



Mr. Handley, in his notes on the 'Birds of Nelson/t states that in that province also, where formerly 

 it was very abundant, the Saddle-back is becoming yearly more circumscribed, and it is now practically 

 confined to a few out-of-the-way localities, such as Tophouse, on the road to Nelson, and the Sounds 

 district, where it is rare and widely distributed. 



* Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. xxi., pp. 218-9. 



t Idem, vol. xxviii., p. 362. 





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